Nearly 90% of adults in the U.S. and Canada are online (Internet World Stats). Moreover, 97% of them use online media for shopping. If you’re a business owner looking for tools to increase sales or gain subscribers, digital marketing is a sure-fire way to accomplish just that.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is defined as “the marketing of products or services using digital channels to reach customers” (Lexicon.ft).
Unlike traditional marketing such as billboards, print ads, and magazines which occupy tangible real estate, digital marketing exists within media such as websites, SMS, mobile apps, and other electronic channels. It allows you to reach your customers at a personal level without being intrusive.
A good example is the Pizza Hut mobile app. The app bypasses the traditional delivery call system and allows customers to customize orders and track deliveries from the convenience of their mobile phones. The result was a $1 million growth in sales, increased customer satisfaction, and improved delivery turnover.
Here are 3 reasons to go digital with your marketing campaign:
- Less Expensive
Studies on Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM) show that social media advertising ($2.50 CPM) costs much less than advertising via billboards ($5), radio ($10), newspaper ($16), magazine ($16), television ($28), and direct mail ($57). What is more, social media allows you to reach your market in more ways than traditional media outlets.
Digital marketing allows your business to advertise using videos, mobile apps, online articles, social media sites, and many more all in one place. This gives your customers the option to choose how they want to receive your ads. In other words, you get to meet them where they are comfortable, which does a lot for customer satisfaction in the long run.
If you’re lucky enough, you may see one of your campaigns go viral without having to break bank on your advertising costs.
- Levels The Playing Field
Because digital marketing is inexpensive to implement, even small businesses can stage international campaigns and compete with much larger corporations. As mentioned above, reaching a thousand people costs only $2.50. Moreover, digital media such as social media allow you to adjust your settings to target specific markets. This allows you to zone in on potential clients without having to go through other demographics.
If you’re new to this, Sherwood Integrated Solutions helps companies craft digital marketing strategies that are effective, efficient, and cost-friendly.
- Provides Valuable Feedback And Insights
Online media is surprisingly easy to track. Software like Google Analytics and Sherwood Integrated Solutions allows you to view customer feedback, impressions, cost per lead, and other metrics in real-time. This makes it much easier to identify strategies that work and scrap those that don’t on the fly. Certainly beats administering surveys and performing market research.
Getting feedback and insights on the fly also allows you to meet customer needs almost immediately. Not only does this save you time and effort, it also makes your audience more attuned with your brand.
