Small businesses have few resources and even capitalization. That is why Digital Marketing provides them with a better and much more economical market
For it is the process of attracting audiences online that will mean the difference between a successful business - and a failure. Even if you get tons of daily traffic to your site, they would mean nothing unless they convert to leads or sales. In the digital arena where commerce and business are headed, Digital Marketing tools and techniques provide business owners with the best chances for competition, survival and even business growth.
The following 12 reasons will show why using digital marketing is not just an investment decision, but also an effective marketing channel that can help you grow your business.
1. Why digital marketing levels the playing field online
Gone are the days when businesses still welcome the notion that Digital Marketing is only for companies like multinationals and large corporations that have enough resources needed to set up an online marketing campaign. Digital marketing actually levels the playing field, giving small and medium-sized businesses the chance to compete against big ones and attract their share of targeted traffic.
With digital marketing, small businesses now have the resources to carry out sales and marketing processes that were previously only available to large corporations. Without a call center, small businesses can interact effectively with multiple customers, even customers from anywhere in the world, even if they don't have physical stores or branches in those locations.
2. Why digital marketing is more economical than traditional marketing
Small businesses have few resources and even capitalization. That is why Digital Marketing provides them with a better and much more economical marketing channel that offers results. Gartner's Digital Marketing Spend Report highlighted that up to 45% of respondents said they had achieved considerable savings using digital marketing promotion methods for their services and producuts.
That is why, according to the Gartner survey, 28% of the business owners interviewed will change the marketing budget allocations of traditional media channels and invest them in online digital marketing tools and techniques. HubSpot endorce this, as shown in the chart below, which confirms how digital marketers get a better cost per lead (CPL) compared to other marketing channels.
3. Why digital marketing offers conversion
Online product and service marketing companies measure success by the percentage rate of incoming traffic converted to leads, subscribers or sales, depending on their site's intended goals. Without conversion, all of your traffic would mean nothing and all of your marketing efforts will simply be wasted. That's why business owners are optimizing their digital marketing campaigns for conversion optimization, making it a priority above all else.
There are several techniques and tools that you can use for your digital marketing campaign, such as Search Engine Optimization, social media marketing and email marketing. As can be seen in the chart below the HubSpot 2013 Inbound Marketing Status Report , those three that generate fast and effective communication and interaction with audiences will provide better than average results in terms of higher conversion rates.
4. Why digital marketing helps you generate better revenue
Higher conversion rates generated by optimized digital marketing techniques will provide many profitable benefits for you and your business in terms of higher and better profits. Google endorce this in a study with IPSOS Hong Kong, claiming a 2.8 times better revenue growth expectation for companies that use digital marketing strategies for those that don't.
With a better expectation of revenue rise, small and medium-sized businesses that use digital marketing techniques will be 3.3 times more likely to expand their workforce and businesses - opening their doors to better, bigger and far-reaching markets, both locally and internationally. Google's head of SMEs for Asia Pacific, Kevin O'Kane, describes the Internet as a fuel for the growth of small and medium-sized businesses.
5. Why digital marketing facilitates interaction with target audiences
One of the factor why digital marketing is taking over traditional marketing channels is the ability of Internet marketing tools to interact with audiences in real time. Engagement in any possible form is what your customers expect to receive when interacting with your brand or company. The way your company handles such commitments and interactions will mean the difference between business success and failure - just as eMarketer's 2014 Key Digital Trends report is saying as shown below.
Interacting and providing your customers with appropriate engagement points can give you a vision of what your target audience wants. This vital information will guide you in making the right set of next moves, providing your customers with an even better experience, developing good relationships with them - gaining the loyalty and trust you will need when your business starts to grow.
6. Why digital marketing serves the mobile consumer
Undoubtedly, the mobile internet will be the next wave of information communication and dissemination channel, caused by the rapid proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other internet enabled devices. These mobile devices have become a central element of American life, as 91% of adults in the United States always have their devices within reach.
Now would be the crutial time to have digital marketing campaigns aimed at mobile consumers, paving the way for them to achieve better growth and faster expansion. Mobile devices have evolved from mere alternatives to laptops and personal computers, to something that is influencing their purchasing decisions, as confirmed by another eMarketer report .
7. Why digital marketing builds brand reputation
The power of digital marketing is in its ability to attract targeted traffic. These types of audiences for your content are probably ready to learn more about your brand, products or services and may be interested enough to buy what you have to offer. Providing on what you promised will help you develop a better relationship with your target audiences, help them transition to paying customers who will come back and interact with your site a little more - on a regular and ongoing basis.
This will be beneficial to your brand reputation, as satisfied customers are likely to tell others about their experience with your service, brand or product. Your brand reputation will go viral as expected, opening even more new doors of opportunity to reach larger markets and achieve business growth.
8. Why digital marketing offers better ROI for your marketing investments
With better revenues and a better brand, digital marketing can provide a better return on investment (ROI) than traditional media and marketing channels. With traditional media, the cost is too high to leverage small and medium-sized businesses, and the results received are somewhat vague and difficult to measure.
Digital marketing, on the other hand, can be easily tracked and monitored, with results immediately perceived and measured as soon as the target audience provides contact information, subscribes to a newsletter or training program or makes a purchase. The key to success in digital marketing, however, is to generate a constant flow of targeted traffic that converts to sales and leads. The more your company generates this type of traffic, the faster you can get your ROI.
9. Why digital marketing wins people's trust
Digital marketing follows the current online trend that focuses more on social media signals resulting from a direct and more personalized interaction between a brand or company and its target audiences. At Nielsen Online, which involved 25,000 consumers from at least 50 countries, 90 percent of respondents said they would trust information about a particular brand, product or service if the data comes from people they know.
Digital marketing takes benefits of social media signals, social proof and testimonials from real consumers who have already purchased, joined or benefited from a product or service marketed by a particular brand or company. The more reliable these social signals, the higher the confidence rate they can generate from target audiences - most of whom can be potential customers.
10. Why digital marketing encourages people to take favorable actions
While social signals and testimonials help to gain the trust of the target audience, Digital Marketing uses effective strategies that will motivate people to take a favorable action that your brand or company wants them to take. Conversion into leads or sales is still underway and is under the total control of the site visitor. They are not required to do this, but digital marketers can make use of smart and innovative ways to stimulate conversion using calls to action.
Call-to-action phrases specify what web visitors should do next - sign up, like, download, call or buy - specific steps that will motivate them to take a favorable action. Innovative shapes, buttons and texts are optimized according to the copy, color scheme, graphics and even placement on the page to generate the best results in terms of generating favorable actions.
11. Why digital marketing gets you ready for the Internet of things
The “Internet of Things” is a international ecosystem of connected devices - tablets, smartphones, gadgets, devices and more - that can interact with each other through the Internet. It looks like something out of a sci-fi thriller, but that's what the 24 billion gadgets designed by 2020 will actually do. Digital Marketing will prepare your business for this eventuality, an interconnected ecosystem that will permeate all aspects of people's lives. Survival for your business in the “Internet of Things” era means inclusion in this interconnected network - giving you an access window to reach target audiences belonging to this online network.
12. Why digital marketing guarantees the survival of online businesses
It is normal for physical stores to find visitors entering their stores, leafing through and inspecting products, and then leave without buying anything. Many types of people like these come and go, but a few will actually make a purchase and, if they are satisfied, will come back to buy more at a later date. If you get less from the last and more than a few, sooner or later your brick and mortar business will cease to exist.
Your business can be compared to that. Even if you have a lot of website visitors, but none of them are converted, your business will also cease to exist. Digital marketing helps you use proven strategies and techniques that do not necessarily attract more traffic - but highly targeted traffic that delivers results. Targeting the right type of person who delivers the right type of results is the goal of Digital Marketing - ensuring the survival of your business.
