How businesses attract and reach customers is constantly expanding. For example, marketing might have started as newspaper/magazine advertisements, window displays, and TV spots but has now extended to social media, websites, and search engine queries. Not to say that the traditional form of marketing doesn’t still exist because it certainly does; however, now it is combined with the digital world.
What is Digital Marketing?
Put simply, marketing is promoting a business’s products and services. Digital marketing, as defined by Marketo.com, is “advertising delivered through digital channels to promote brands and connect potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication such as search engines, websites, social media, email, mobile apps, text messaging, and web-based advertising.” Both marketing and digital marketing have a main shared goal: to lead consumers to a company, show them what they offer, and encourage them to purchase a product or service.
Benefits of Digital Marketing
Think of your business as the hub of a bicycle wheel. All the spokes that lead to the hub are different ways
customers can access your business. The more spokes, the more ways prospects can find your business, and the higher chance you will make a sale. For example, suppose you only participate in traditional marketing. In that case, you will have spokes for newspapers, mailings, billboards, etc. In this modern, digital world, we know you are cutting yourself short because not everyone can access these channels or even consider using them to find your business.
When considering all the potential customers missed without digital marketing, it is easy to see the value for a company and its brand awareness. Almost all businesses have a digital presence through a website, social media, or digital ad strategy. Digital marketing has become a standard for customers to rely on when purchasing or learning about brands. In fact, a staggering 63% of the shopping experience begins online with research before a purchase.
Generally speaking, utilizing digital marketing strategies has a much lower cost per conversion and a greater reach when compared to traditional forms of marketing. This is because with online channels you are not responsible for as many costs as traditional ads, such as printing and postage. The most significant advantage is reaching a larger audience for less money.
Digitally you can reach more clients because more people have access to digital channels than traditional channels. Most people will use social media every day but will not pass by your billboard or be handed your flyer. This has a lot to do with how customers get information now. We have replaced listening to the radio with Spotify, newspapers with online articles, and television commercials with streaming platforms that may have no ad presence.
In digital marketing, companies can reach more customers they wouldn’t have access to through traditional marketing, no matter the day of the week or time of the day – all thanks to the internet providing access to information on demand. Waiting for a newspaper or commercial to release to attract new customers is no longer required. Your website or social media platform can be visited anywhere, whereas a billboard or newspaper will have a much smaller targeted area. There isn’t an industry today that doesn’t take advantage of digital marketing in some fashion.
Tracking the performance of your hard-earned cash in action for your marketing efforts is essential. It helps you know what is working and what isn’t. Seeing the progress of your campaigns will be much more efficient digitally vs. traditionally. For example, newspapers, radio, and TV ads can be challenging to see and attribute traffic to your campaigns. However, with digital campaigns, you have the ability to see how many people viewed your advertisement, clicked on it, and in some cases, how long they viewed a specific page, often in real-time.
People Are Making Buying Decisions Online
The recent pandemic emphasized the ease and convenience of purchasing goods online. Groceries, products, music, movies, games, food delivery, medication, and more are conveniently accessed through digital routes. In 2022, there were an estimated 268 million online shoppers in the United States, which is predicted to increase to 291 million by 2025. What does that translate into a dollar amount? It is projected that in 2023 the US e-commerce revenue will be $740 billion. With eCommerce having a growth of over 70% from 2019, it is clear people are making more buying decisions online, and it is a necessity for businesses to participate in digital marketing.
Using Digital Marketing Successfully
Some might be under the impression that businesses don’t need to dedicate a budget for digital marketing. They believe they can get it by using only a free Facebook page and posting every couple of months. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Digital marketing is like any other form of marketing and requires time, attention, consistency, multiple campaigns from different platforms, and a healthy budget.
Something else to take into consideration to make the most of digital marketing is keeping your ads current. Because digital marketing campaigns can be activated quickly and frequently, it requires more attention to trends, competition, local and world news, and current events to attract the highest audience possible. Trends, for example, can have erratic and unpredictable life spans, and businesses do not want to market dated strategies that are not as effective.
The Code & Color Benefit
It can be difficult and daunting to keep track of all the different digital channels; rest assured, there is an easier way. The professionals at Code & Color can keep all your digital needs up to date, hit target audiences, and ensure your company gets the highest traffic possible. Whatever your marketing, website, mobile app, or design requirements, we have the tools and experts to get your business where it needs to be. Contact us at sales@codecolor.com to get started today.
In Summary
One sure thing is that digital marketing will be around for a while and has become necessary to reach a wider audience and make businesses thrive. When you think of marketing for your business, you want to cast the most extensive net you can, and without digital marketing in your strategy, you are only catching a percentage of consumers. We get it; running a business has an endless to-do list that is continuously added to daily. But, with the assistance of Code & Color, all your digital and marketing needs are handled so you can focus on the other aspects of your business.
Jimmy Cooper, Marketing Coordinator