The importance of digital marketing cannot be emphasized enough. It has benefits that are not present in traditional marketing. For one, digital marketing provides access to the target market at a more affordable price than you would pay for using other marketing methods like TV or print.
This is just one significant benefit of digital marketing, though. There are more, and these benefits are worthy of discussion.
It bears repeating: why is digital marketing important? What benefits can it bring to a brand? Below are the answers.
Benefits of digital marketing
Digital marketing allows small brands to compete with big companies.
Digital marketing levels the playing field, allowing brands to have an online presence regardless of their nature and size. Small businesses can compete with big brands because they are trying to penetrate the market using the same platform.
The goal is to reach out to target customers by choosing a strategy that falls under the umbrella of digital marketing. Not to mention the diversity in costs wherein even small brands can set aside a minimal marketing budget to drive local and international consumers.
So there is no such thing as limited range when it comes to digital marketing. Every brand, particularly one that is willing to learn the ins and outs of digital marketing, has a chance to compete and earn a market share by reaching out to its target consumers.
Digital marketing compels companies to spend wisely.
Speaking of marketing budget, there are no guesstimates in digital marketing because every dollar spent is backed by data and analytics. For example, you will know the exact number of users currently using your website and which page they opened or browsed in real-time. You will also know their:
- Historical visits
- Demographics (gender and age) of visitors
- Geographic location
- Dwell time (the time spent on the site)
- Device and browser used
- Bounce rates
- Interests
- Conversions
Traffic data, including how it changed over time and data on dwell time and bounce rate, can help determine which pages are working and which needs more work to be more search engine-friendly. Additionally, you will know which marketing channels to prioritize because they give the highest conversion rates. All the information is accessible with real-time results.
Data leads to actionable insights, aligning which marketing tactics are the most effective. Naturally, you’d want to spend more on the tactics that bring in traffic, lead, conversion, sales, and thus profit. The digital marketing budget must be optimized, too, with the primary goal of investing in campaigns that generate the desired outcomes.
Digital marketing improves conversion rates.
Conversion entails a portion of the digital marketing budget. While business is all about taking risks, business owners like you would want to spend on marketing tactics that offer guaranteed returns. Digital marketing involves calculated risks because the tactics are geared toward maximizing conversions.
There is a need to make the strategy more targeted, targeting convert-ready people (ready to buy, subscribe, download, etc.). Targeted traffic has a higher chance to convert. One way to give them an impetus to convert is reaching out to them at the right time, the right day, using the right device and browser, and so on, while also making content highly engaging.
Businesses can leverage what they know (data-backed) to improve conversions. There is a solid lead generation and nurturing strategy that leads to higher conversion rates.
Digital marketing is more cost-effective.
Compared with traditional marketing strategies, which are technically offline strategies, digital marketing saves you marketing costs substantially. We say substantially because there are still costs involved, though not as exorbitant as TV advertising, for example.
Higher revenues are possible because you can navigate various digital marketing channels, each contributing to the income stream. Additionally, another highly observable benefit of digital marketing is understanding how your target audience interacts with your sales channel一the customer buying behaviors, and purchase patterns.
In optimizing conversion rates and maximizing the returns, digital marketing can fetch a better return than traditional marketing. This more than offsets the expenses associated with advertising on social media, for instance. What’s more, the business can generate returns faster than traditional channels would.
Therefore, digital marketing ensures business survival. Done right, results would come if you can effectively target purchase-ready traffic. These are the online users who are deep into the sales funnel, from the logo to a unique palette
Digital marketing targets prospects that are ready to buy.
To reiterate, digital marketing helps in identifying and targeting a specific audience. Through certain tools, you may send high-converting and personalized marketing messages.
Retargeting is also possible. It happens when tools are used to target users who have initially searched for or been exposed to a specific product or service but chose to digress. Ads are continuously served to these users for deeper exposure, which may compel them to make a purchase.
Other than this, social media has an entire platform that encourages businesses to target audiences demographically. This includes age, gender, and location. Social targeting through interests, behaviors, and networks also works.
Digital marketing allows users to create a buyer persona to target. This serves as a guide in refining the digital marketing strategy to ensure that the campaign reaches the right target audience. The campaign can also be subdivided based on goals and channels to maximize the results if the target audience is too broad.
Digital marketing improves outreach.
A brand can reach a global audience because digital marketing takes place online一it does not limit your business to a certain geographic area that traditional marketing would. Such accessibility translates into more qualified traffic than turns into more qualified leads.
Additionally, digital marketing allows you to interact with your target market, interacting with the customers easily on your chosen platform. It can be your own e-commerce website, an app, or on your social media profiles. Indeed, it is like having a storefront that’s operational 24/7, even on holidays.
Responding to inquiries in real-time is also possible, a process that also enhances prospecting. It also allows the business to gain publicity while responding to the customers’ needs promptly. These are golden opportunities that are only possible with digital marketing.
Digital marketing is measurable.
With dedicated tools, digital marketing can provide you a comprehensive look into how the campaign is performing. Dashboards provide you with a start-to-finish view of all relevant metrics to know whether your campaign is performing the way it should or not.
For the latter, you may easily change – or in the digital vernacular, tweak – your campaign to make it work better. Some of the metrics to look at are impressions, shares, traffic, views, clicks, dwell time, and more.
No matter what metric you want to measure, measurability is one of the biggest benefits of digital marketing. This is because digital marketers can always look at results in real-time. As such, businesses can measure the success of the marketing efforts based on the campaign’s performance, which, in turn, is based on ROI.
Digital marketing emphasizes branding.
From the logo to a unique palette, a brand needs to stand out from the rest of the competition. The effectiveness of this tactic leads to brand awareness and loyalty.
Brand reputation can be enhanced by consistency and synergism一seeing the same branding elements across all channels. This also earns people’s trust and, thus, business. Trust rate is critical in digital marketing. Af brands that collect personally identifiable information.
Other than gathering information, every information you publish will also matter. The trustworthiness of your posts and updates will eventually translate to meeting people’s expectations from your brand, widening reach and scale.
Digital marketing topples the competition.
Competitive analysis is a fundamental part of digital marketing. First, of course, you want to know what your rivals are doing to succeed in the digital landscape. This allows your business to capitalize on opportunities that you learn from your competitors.
There is nothing wrong with this initiative一taking the strategies that work and mimicking them as your own. However, do this while also discovering tactics that work uniquely for your brand. This gives you the upper hand, widening your reach and reaching more targeted traffic.
You can easily track the progress of your campaign as well as that of your competitors. As such, another benefit of digital marketing is gaining a solid competitive edge.
Digital marketing enhances participation in the “Internet of Things.”
Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the interconnection of devices in a global ecosystem. It means interaction would happen at the system and device level. IoT is more than just a contingency. Instead, it would become the norm in the future if it is not happening already.
Digital marketing empowers any business to participate in IoT, penetrating various aspects of the digital consumers’ lives. Think of this as a survival strategy that allows the business to get included in the interconnected grid. Thus, every individual in this grid would form part of your target audience.
Optimind offers a full range of digital marketing services that aim to propel your business to success. Talk to us! We can start with understanding your digital marketing needs.