Marketing your products or services online is a great deal nowadays. Gone were the days when business owners rely on traditional media for exposure and increase business engagement.
With the numerous online platforms available, a significant shift in how people make their purchases have been observed. Along with such a change, entrepreneurs likewise emphasized digital marketing to cater to a growing consumer trend.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a generic term that refers to any form of online marketing effort. This may include but is not limited to email marketing, social media marketing, blogging, vlogging, pay-per-click marketing (PPC).
There is almost no limit when it comes to digital marketing. Almost everything can be turned into a digital marketing asset.
These assets may include your website, social media pages, review page, brand logo, and so much more as long as they can be turned into a tool to evoke the curiosity of audiences and encourage consumer engagement.
SEO or search engine optimization is also part of digital marketing. It employs strategies to rank a website high on Google search results. Some companies partner with a white label SEO agency if their own team lacks the right expertise to provide the service to their clients. This is a good way for many digital marketing startups to expand their menu of services without depleting their capital.
In brief, digital marketing is a marketing effort that introduces consumers to brands, products, or services where they are now: the digital sphere.
How Digital Marketing Started?
The term digital marketing was first introduced in the 1990s, along with the development and growing popularity of the internet. In 1993, the first-ever clickable banner went live, which prefigured the advertising ads as we know them today.
With the launching of the American web services provider Yahoo! in 1994, new technologies entered the digital landscape. These advancements have propelled digital marketing to greater heights.
This was further bolstered in the succeeding years when Microsoft launched MSN in 1995 and Google entered the scene in 1997. And the rest was history.
The Impact of Digital Marketing on Business Growth
Cost-effective
One of the notable benefits of digital marketing for business is that it is cost-effective. Compared to traditional media, digital marketing can help you obtain more leads while spending less.
Unlike the traditional marketing methods, largely represented by TV and radio ads, digital marketing is not that expensive. Thus, it is an ideal marketing tool for small to medium-sized businesses that want to expand their reach in the industry.
Grocery store owners, laundry shops plumbers, electricians, video court reporters, and contractors not affiliated with huge companies can easily maximize their profitability through digital marketing campaigns.
Measurable Impact
What makes digital marketing attractive for business owners is the measurability of this marketing tool. It is crucial for business owners to understand and grasp the significant benefits and output of their business campaign for any business to grow.
With digital marketing, the results of the campaign can be tracked in almost real-time. Although the traditional method of marketing can be effective, it is quite difficult to measure its effectiveness. However, with digital marketing, tracking software and apps are available to track the campaign’s progress.
Each type of digital marketing campaign has its own tracking system in place. From social media campaigns, PPC, down to Search Engine Optimization, business owners can monitor results from the comfort of their home or office via smartphone or computer.
Customer Targeting
For any marketing campaign to be effective, you must not simply reach customers, but you must reach the right customers for your business. This is one of the most simple yet challenging aspects of any business.
With digital marketing, you can reach the right people who are initially identified by a software algorithm as interested or buying customers. Additionally, most digital marketing tools also have specific settings to filter your target audience, making your marketing campaign more efficient.
Quick Changes
Once you are already signed in a contract for a traditional marketing campaign, changes are difficult to implement, especially when guidelines and limitations are set on the contract. Once billboards have been posted or flyers have been printed, changes are almost impossible to make unless you are willing to shell out more cash to implement changes.
In contrast to that, digital marketing offers flexible guidelines and settings for your benefit. With PPC and SEO campaigns, targets and goals can be easily changed with just a click of a button, and if there would be a fee incurred, it is surely reasonable.
Wider Reach
Another important benefit of digital marketing is its reach. As compared to traditional media, digital marketing can reach numerous consumers worldwide. With just a proper setting, your business based in a particular state can reach consumers in different regions.
Immersing in digital marketing is an ideal business approach if you wish to improve your business and increase engagement. With more people immersed in the digital world, it is logical to adjust your marketing campaign to fit the consumers’ digital inclination.