With all the changes the world has seen, people’s behaviors also change. Nowadays, technology has become a major part of our daily lives. No day has passed that we don’t open our smart phones and rely on mobile applications for our tasks, whether for calendar reminders, communication, road directions, entertainment, shopping, information, and even motivation. With this inevitable use of digital platforms, businesses are changing gears so as to adapt to this trend.
As a business coach, I would say that the backbone of every business is marketing, which entails the establishment and maintenance of a connection with the target market with a primary goal of encouraging them to buy your product or service. Without marketing, a business could not gather enough publicity or exposure to get them closer to their target audience. Since the consumers of today, regardless of age and gender, use technology for most of their activities, businesses ought to cover this base. This is where digital marketing comes in.
An internet-based activity, digital marketing is promoting one’s products or services through different electronic media. It differs from traditional marketing strategy in the tools it use to reach the consumers. Most businesses have turned to digital marketing in recognition of the fact that consumers spend majority of their time online, therefore, the best place to connect with them is the digital world. Hence, regardless of what type your business is, digital marketing could work wonders for you.
Here are three ways you could benefit from digital marketing:
1. Data and Analytics
Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing allows for the actual relevant statistics about the traffic information of your marketing efforts. You would know how many people have viewed or visited your business page, what are the age, gender, and interests of each of your visitors, where they are located, how much time they spend on your site, how the traffic has changed in a specific duration, and even the percentage of traffic from different electronic platforms used by visitors. With all these knowledge, you would be able to better come up with strategies on how to make more appealing products and marketing schemes for your target market.
2. Content Visibility
The edge of digital marketing is its use of technology, which is faster in reaching people from all parts of the world. Thus, when you publish content online, more people will be able to see it and share it with their peers. Also, digital marketing allows search engine optimization (SEO) tools that guarantee your content to be on top of search results. All you need is a strong knowledge of keyword use to optimize your content and make use of SEO rankings.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
Probably one of the best advantages of digital marketing over the traditional one is its cost-effectiveness. It is relatively cheaper to post content online, optimize SEO, and maintain a website and social media pages rather than advertise in television, radio, and print pages. It is also easier and cheaper to update your existing customers via email and social media posts instead of sending them individual packages and brochures. My executive coaching stint has made me realize that efficient marketing does not require lavish spending, but allocating funds wisely.
Indeed, the new era of marketing opens more opportunities for businesses. Small businesses could compete with larger ones though digital marketing. Maybe it’s time you explore more ways to enhance your digital marketing efforts.
This is Joey Gurango, your Business Technology Coach!