Why is Digital Marketing Important for Business?
Digital Marketing is communicating value to your audience digitally or marketing efforts executed through digital technologies and media.
Many companies use Digital Marketing to generate leads, build brand awareness, and convert qualified prospects.
Keep reading to learn:
- What is Digital Marketing?
- Why is Digital Marketing Important for Business?
- Three Examples of Digital Marketing you are already using and how to maximize your digital media efforts using those channels.
What is Digital Marketing?
In the most simple terms, Digital Marketing is marketing executed online.
Digital Marketing assets can include: websites, social media accounts, images/videos, animations/illustrations, online ads, email template, presentations, logos, and the list goes on.
Your Digital Marketing strategy can include: optimizing your website for speed, blog content optimized for SEO, local search marketing, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, landing pages, and more.
Why is Digital Marketing Important for Business?
Digital Marketing is more cost-effective than traditional marketing. Above all, this means it’s especially important for small businesses to build their presence in their communities and niches.
Benefits that come from a Digital Marketing strategy include:
- Increased brand awareness and visibility
- Clear value proposition
- Brand authority
- Generating more brand engagement across Digital Media assets
- Increasing traffic to your website
- Converting qualified prospects
When utilized with analytics, you can track your customer’s journey (opportunities and weaknesses), monitor actions taken, understand consumer preferences, and obtain accurate insights to buyer behavior. In fact, roughly 87% of consumers start their shopping decisions online.
Three examples of Digital Marketing you are already using and how to maximize your Digital Marketing efforts using those channels
What is your current Digital Marketing strategy? Most likely you’ve already adopted Social Media, Email, and Content Marketing.
Social Media Marketing:
As a small business, you do not have to have a big following but you do need to influence your communities (online and offline).
This is done by consistently showing up, sharing content that sparks conversations, and providing value.
How to maximize your Digital Marketing efforts with Social Media:
Don’t post just to post. You need to educate, entertain, and/or engage while working towards your overall company objectives.
Email Marketing:
You may know this one as your highest converting traffic channel.
According to VentureBeat and Direct Marketing Association (DMA), for every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 to $40 in ROI.
In fact, email can be an even more powerful tool when integrated with other marketing initiatives.
How to maximize your Digital Marketing efforts with Email:
Before you convert a qualified lead into a buying customer, you need to get them in front of your emails. This means persuading them to open your emails, and click through on them.
That being said, before you even begin creating email templates to improve your email open rate, you should consider deliverability. Does your email actually ever hit your end users primary inbox?
Google is intentionally aggressive with its filtering algorithm. Below I have listed three of many spam triggers you should be aware of:
- Images – Less is more. Too many images will get flagged as spam. Limit your use and balance your copy.
- Shortened Links – Emails with shortened links tend to have the highest spam rates. Link shortening services are useful, but have been abused by spammers to hide affiliate links.
- Ask for the Add – Asking your email list or subscribers to whitelist you can make a significant difference in your delivery rate and of course, allows readers to continue getting valuable content from you.
Content Marketing:
You are likely already providing helpful resources produced in-house to your customers (articles, blogs, FAQ pages, videos, advertisements, and more).
Blog’s for example position your brand as a thought leader in your industry; really anytime you provide helpful content you are positioning yourself as the authority.
All these resources should be housed on your website with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in mind.
SEO allows you to show up in searches AKA show up when your customers are googling questions or topics they need more information on.
It’s important to set realistic standards and understand that you won’t get on the first page of google in 24 hours or even a week. That’s the equivalent of saying if you eat a salad today, you will lose 10 pounds tomorrow. Or, as Neil Patel would say, “SEO is a marathon not a sprint.”
How to maximize your Digital Marketing efforts with Content Marketing:
Make sure to use tools like Ubbersuggest, Google Keyword Planner, and Ahref to optimize your website content.
If you aren’t already, consider creating more educational or informational content.
In addition, track engagement and choose metrics to measure performance and success. From there you can let the numbers lead your decisions on whether to produce similar content.
CONCLUSION:
Digital Marketing is marketing online. Therefore, when customers need information, you want them to turn to you.
When executed correctly, Digital Marketing will grow your business and provide powerful decision making insights.