In the last one decade or so the world has shown a paradigm shift from analog to digital. More and more people are consuming all kinds of information online hence making digital marketing the best way to reach out to your targeted customers. We ask why Digital Marketing is so important.  The importance of digital marketing works not only in favor of marketers, it provides something innovative to the consumers too. Let us have a look and understand the importance of digital marketing.

When small businesses get started, their focus is often on how to get their first group of customers through the door. They may rely on traditional forms of advertising, such as print ads and coupon mailers or even big signs on the side of the road. They may trust that since they know they offer a good product or service, it’s only a matter of time until customers will find their way to them.

While this strategy may bring in a trickle of business, there is a better and easier way. Small businesses should consider the huge marketplace of prospects online. No small business, no matter how new, should overlook this vast marketplace.

 

 

Benefits of Online Marketing

When small businesses get started, their focus is often on how to get their first group of customers through the door. They may rely on traditional forms of advertising, such as print ads and coupon mailers or even big signs on the side of the road. They may trust that since they know they offer a good product or service, it’s only a matter of time until customers will find their way to them.

While this strategy may bring in a trickle of business, there is a better and easier way. Small businesses should consider the huge marketplace of prospects online. No small business, no matter how new, should overlook this vast marketplace.

What is Digital Marketing all about and why is it Trending?

Every small business has a dedicated target audience which is active on certain digital channels. Say for example, even if you describe your business as a small and comparatively less popular food joint. Still we can say that a good Social Media strategy and maintaining a clean profile on Food rating apps are the best bets to manage your reviews, get more brand mentions or PTAT (commonly known as People Talking About This), offer discounts to the customers who tweet about your food joint, or click pictures and give reviews on any of the online platforms. It is all about building a base and increasing visibility! Isn’t it?

 

Now let us dive into more technicalities of the uses and role of Digital Marketing and why everyone is going gung-ho about this career stream:

    • Today everything is going digital, including your simplest apps that facilitate your job require you to be aware of online methods. Would the knowledge of required tools not help you think of creating a new business in that domain? There is always a scope to create something new in an already established industry.
    • Creating trends and hashtags and rolling your business online with a good initial push on Social Media platforms are the added advantage of learning Digital Marketing.
    • Digital Marketing teaches you how to maintain your business portfolio through Google Business Page, so that even if you are not a renowned business, your customers can reach you.
    • Today’s World is all about Online visibility. Your customers or your business/professional network will take you seriously if you have a good online reputation, as explained in the blog above.
    • To add to the above point, to earn your customer’s trust, you need to manage your online reviews efficiently. Digital Marketing includes Online Reputation Management (ORM), which teaches you to maintain and boost the online reviews for your Brand.
    • Accepting payments digitally is the latest trend, which enables you as an individual or as a business to accept payments from your customers through a variety of options viz. mobile wallets, UPI transfers, bank wires, etc.
    • With the rise of new age millennials spending much time on their smartphones watching video content, the rise of OTT marketing over TV consumption is inevitable. Today a lot of OTT platforms have captivated the attention of users between the age group of 18–42, which has drastically hit TV viewership in the metro and Tier 2 cities.
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)—whether it is a simple Robot easing your work or doing programming for you—is now slowly becoming a reality in Digital Marketing. The next 5 years are going to be crucial with respect to its advent in Digital Marketing.
    • Today a lot of third-party integration and CRM software can be made for your customer service teams to track the status of complaints, queries, or feedbacks; manually these were cumbersome. (Don’t you think?)
    • With the introduction of Chatbots on websites and Social Media accounts, companies are seeing a steep rise in the amount of time a user spends on their website/social media pages with each year.
    • Last but not the least, the World always needs something new to explore. You must know that you cannot create new desires, you can only leverage the existing desires in the market. And basis your creative idea in the Online space, your brand/company can take a successful turn, even if you are not the pioneer in your industry. With sufficient knowledge of Digital Marketing and tools, you can get the required push to think of many new business ideas for yourself, your business, or your company.

How does a business define digital marketing?

Digital marketing is defined by the use of numerous digital tactics and channels to connect with customers where they spend much of their time: online. From the website itself to a business’s online branding assets — digital advertising, email marketing, online brochures, and beyond — there’s a spectrum of tactics that fall under the umbrella of “digital marketing.”

The best digital marketers have a clear picture of how each digital marketing campaign supports their overarching goals. And depending on the goals of their marketing strategy, marketers can support a larger campaign through the free and paid channels at their disposal.

A content marketer, for example, can create a series of blog posts that serve to generate leads from a new ebook the business recently created. The company’s social media marketer might then help promote these blog posts through paid and organic posts on the business’s social media accounts. Perhaps the email marketer creates an email campaign to send those who download the ebook more information on the company. We’ll talk more about these specific digital marketers in a minute.

 

Key Digital Marketing Elements essential to optimize your Business

  1. Websites and SEO content
  2. Blogs
  3. Internet banner ads
  4. Online video content
  5. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
  6. Email marketing
  7. Social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
  8. Mobile marketing (SMS, MMS, etc.)

In addition to over-mentioned Digital Marketing elements, new types of digital marketing techniques like augmented reality, artificial intelligence are arriving constantly. Let us go through some of the latest digital marketing trends to understand the importance of digital marketing–

Digital Marketing Trends that boost ROI of E-Businesses

  1. Influencer Marketing
  2. Content Marketing
  3. App Store Optimization
  4. Big Data Personalization
  5. In-store Marketing
  6. Social Media Marketing
  7. Live Video Streaming
  8. Site Optimization as per the Wearable Technology
  9. Consumer Engagement Strategy

 Few forms of advertising are as cost-effective as digital marketing. Small businesses frequently try to get as much as possible done on a small budget. Many forms of digital marketing allow you to communicate your brand and reach a wide target audience even when your budget is very tight.

Compared to advertising on TV, radio or through direct mail, digital marketing costs considerably less and reaches a much wider audience at the same time. Using digital marketing to promote your small business will help you to have a much better chance of business success.