Introduction
Every business wants to keep on growing and evolving with changing times. Physical brick and mortar stores need to establish their digital presence in order to reach out to newer audiences and markets.
From a cost effective point of view, digital marketing is much more affordable than standard and traditional models of advertising. This means that marketing does not remain the monopoly of only the big brands and businesses.
Individual standalone businesses like bakeries, cafes, fashion designers and home décor experts are using digital to ramp up their business presence. Let me begin with a small example-
A fashion designer who had a store in one city, wanted to grow her sales and generate more revenues. She did not have any experience of digital and asked us for help. All this was requested at a shoestring budget.
We set her up with a customised WordPress website, which showcased her works, a small blog section and how people could get in touch to purchase her designs. Note- she could not afford to create an e-commerce store. We also created social media profiles on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Within a few days, she received her first order from social media. In a month, without any additional ad spends, she had already closed 50 new orders. Her customers spread all over the country.
In this article, we will look at the top 5 benefits of digital marketing for businesses looking to make the transition.
- Digital Marketing helps reach Brands reach new audiences-
The internet is a powerful medium of change. This means that it is easy for brands to reach their target audiences across geographical distances. Most brands and businesses use digital for discovery and closing clients. They then ship their goods by taking help from players like DHL and others.
By unleashing the power of the digital, you can make new consumers across cities, countries and continents. Google search helps users find businesses like yours not only in a local capacity, but also in a national and international way. In 2019, digital marketing supersedes any other form of advertising in terms of reach and exposure.
- Digital Marketing is highly affordable and cost-efficient-
One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is its cost effectiveness. Some years back, single store brands could never afford to indulge in any form of mainstream advertising. The prices were and are still too high.
Could you imagine your local barber running a TV advertisement at 8 p.m. right after your favourite show? I guess not. As compared to any form of traditional advertising, digital marketing is cheaper, offers higher ROIs, provides data, analytics and is far superior at reaching targeted audiences.
- Digital Marketing is constantly evolving-
Dynamism as a component is inbuilt into the digital marketing platform. Whether it is search engines or social media, all platforms are changing and evolving to help users get the best possible information. For example, Google frequently updates its algorithms to check manipulations, bad practices and other discrepancies.
To keep up with the changes, digital marketing strategies also keep evolving. For example, in 2019, the most ROI driven strategies are guest posting services and blogger outreach services. These strategies are considered as 360-degree digital strategies as they help brands across multiple fronts.
- Reach targeted audiences only-
Every business has a specific consumer base, which it wants to target. In marketing circles, this is called as the target audience. Traditional models of marketing and advertising are too broad and generic. Everyone sees a hoarding and a billboard. There is no way in which you can make a hoarding appear only to your target audiences.
On the contrary, digital platforms offer scientifically and technologically driven audience targeting capabilities. You can differentiate your audiences based on-
- Age
- Gender
- Geography
- Profession
- Interests
For any brand, this is a great thing to target. This helps that your marketing and advertising budgets are only being spent in front of your target audiences.
- Marketing and Analytics are guided by Analytics, Data and Reports-
How wonderful would it be if you could account for every penny spent in a marketing campaign. Whenever you are implementing a digital marketing campaign, you can be rest assured that all your investments are trackable and work according to the way you would want it to work.
Similarly, the benefit of analytics and reports can help brands and businesses plan future campaigns and spends. Analytics help you with a roadmap, as to how the strategy is playing out as against the campaign targeting and monetary spends. You can always use this data as a reference for future campaigns.
Conclusion
Even though there are multiple benefits of digital marketing and advertising, it can never be a one-size-fits-all kind of a model. The nature and basics differ according to the industry you are in, your target audience, the kind of investments you are looking to make, and the strategies you are aiming to follow.
Do let me know what you thought about the article in the comments section below.
