8 Reasons Why Digital Marketing Is Important

Key Points

• In almost every business, marketing is essential for growing, succeeding, and competing in the industry. However, unlike in the past, there are now more mediums where corporations can promote their brands, products, or services, including TV or radio channels and newspapers. Yet, nothing comes close to the popularity and effectiveness of the Internet.
• Thus, if you're running a new or already established company but can't quite decide whether this global platform is worth considering for your marketing efforts, this article can help. In the following sections, we'll discuss eight good reasons why digital marketing is important; please read on.

Today, the Internet is where people mainly get things done and spend their time. Whether it's for purchasing goods or services, streaming or downloading content, and communication, there's always a website and app for almost everything. Moreover, it's now harder to find households with no knowledge about the web, even in developing countries. In fact, of over 7.9 billion of the world's population, 4.66 billion are active Internet users; that's about 59%. Accordingly, these reasons make digital advertising highly important and worth considering. As such, again, since this global platform serves as the primary medium for almost all activities/transactions, including for work, school, finances, and entertainment, it's more likely for people to see and respond to marketing efforts than other places..

In the past, while larger corporations can easily advertise their products or campaigns through international promotions and local branches, smaller businesses have little to no capability of making their brands known outside certain regions or countries. However, thanks to the Internet, it's now possible for all enterprises, no matter the size, to advertise globally. Furthermore, given that digital marketing remains the only efficient way to reach people overseas, it would be best for every business to consider and prioritize it over other advertising channels. Apart from the countless social platforms, marketing tools, and websites, the legal freedom to advertise in many countries makes digital marketing the best option for most companies.

Apart from advertising, there are other things involved in the marketing process. One of those is understanding customers and the target audience. On the former, a company should ideally learn its clients' purchasing habits, responsiveness to CTAs, and other related factors. In doing so, one can identify the popular products, time periods where specific goods are in demand, and the effectiveness of ads and offers. Luckily, these things are easier to do with digital marketing. By analyzing trackable purchase records from e-commerce platforms and CMSs, short link services, and online surveys, it's possible to identify the likes, dislikes, needs, and wants of avid or new customers.

On the other hand, when advertising to potential clients, digital tools provide more benefits and capabilities to companies. In detail, thanks to social networking platforms data, it's now possible to have a general idea of what interests a particular age or gender group, citizens in a location, and target demographic. Moreover, ad platforms like Google Ads provide an insightful dashboard of ad results, graphs, and performance so that advertisers can track everything about their promotions and campaigns. Additionally, these dashboards also expand into segmented sections of in-depth information like the locations of ad viewers, time viewed, where people saw an ad (websites or apps), and how many clicked the associated link. In other words, digital marketing helps companies to keep satisfying their customers and attract more followers.

Similar to other aspects of business, when a company grows, the marketing efforts will also change and might become more intricate. If there will be more products in the inventory, acquired customers, locations to serve, and even competitors for a new niche, the old or existing marketing plan(s) will likely not work or remain applicable anymore. In this case, it's time to restructure the system and consider new things. However, besides the amount of work, this will also take time, impeding a faster generation of marketing plans that should accompany the fast-paced growth of a business.

With digital marketing, it's easier to scale the marketing efforts using generated data and flexible systems. In contrast to manual analysis and meetings, such things can help the company to reuse old plans and structures to form new ones. Again, given that most CMSs or website management tools and ad platforms provide helpful insights, companies can then compare old data to new ones and identify patterns or differences in numbers. In turn, these results will then serve as the basis of the additions to the marketing arrangements and changes that a flexible ad or related management system will easily support. Accordingly, not only can an individual or team quickly compose a marketing plan, but also, it's likely possible to predict future trends thanks to abundant and detailed information. Lastly, as the Internet provides marketing independence, anyone can quickly pivot to or adopt new advertising methods without worrying about asking for permits/grants and considering guidelines.

Right after the beginning of the era of personal computers, smartphones or handheld devices capable of doing computer tasks became ubiquitous. Apart from the ability to perform calculations, modern phones can also connect to the Internet. As a result, thanks to the accessibility of these devices, the mobile platform now accounts for almost 55% of the total global Internet traffic. While this number may not mean something for most people, it provides a new market for businesses. In practice, if a company wants to reach as many people as possible, passing on mobile users would easily defeat the statement.

Since mobile phones use the same browser technologies present in laptop and desktop computers, websites will load similarly on such devices. Additionally, this means that ad banners, media files, online promotional campaigns, and e-commerce websites are accessible to billions of users. Furthermore, besides web-based content, mobile apps (both native and universal) are also effective mediums for digital marketing. In fact, in 2021, people now spend an average of 4.2 hours a day using mobile apps. Consequently, app developers now offer freemium models where free users will typically view ads in banners, pop-ups, or fullscreen autoplay. In essence, if people are spending most of their time scrolling their phones, then it's best for companies to put their brands and focus on this platform as well.

While it may sound costly at first, digital marketing actually costs less than using conventional advertising channels like TV, radio, and print. As such, there are various options for online marketing, so there's something for every company based on the financial capacity, reach, and mission. In the process, instead of solely relying on expensive analysts, one can pay for an affordable subscription to an automated ad or website analytics service. In turn, small businesses can then independently learn their status on the market and even construct marketing plans based on intuitive results and information. Apart from that, a company can opt to only pay for viewed or interacted ads and avoid one-time non-refundable contracts like on other mediums.

Compared to other marketing channels, the digital space provides higher ROI or return on investment to businesses. As an example, in 2021, the average ROI from email marketing is a staggering 4,200%, or 42 times more than the original spending. A reason for this is that digital marketing elevates the chances for potential customers to successfully visit a site, purchase goods, or try out offers. For instance, if an ad is for a product that's available for purchase online, then most people will likely buy it thanks to the lower barrier of access. In contrast, when posting an ad through TV, radio, or newspaper, a person still has to call a hotline or visit a physical store only to inquire or get the product. In short, the convenience and almost frictionless connection of online advertising with e-commerce elevate conversion rates, making digital marketing highly beneficial.

Yes, doing all possible ways to make sure that promotional and marketing campaigns reach people is necessary. However, it's also essential to prioritize learning and deciding what groups of individuals will primarily see the ads or the company focus on connecting with more. Thankfully, with digital marketing, businesses have control over who can see their ads and are capable of delivering promotional content on webpages, websites, or apps where such people are interested and typically visit more often. Given that almost everyone in the world can access the Internet, businesses can also reach any potential customer regardless of age, gender, and location.

With current technologies and tools, it's possible to target particular individuals who are likely to respond to a CTA, buy a product, try an offer, or explore a brand. Such things are possible thanks to social networking platforms data, shared cookies among websites, and artificial intelligence (AI). Social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide companies with detailed information of a user's likes, interests, and searches, and options for targeted sponsored posts. Moreover, with shared cookies and fingerprinting technology, e-commerce platforms or other sites can show related content or product recommendations based on the previous browsing history to a person. Lastly, artificial intelligence offers more advanced and accurate consumer targeting using big data analysis, behavioral patterns, and faster processing.

Given the effectiveness of digital marketing, most corporations and small businesses now focus more and are even exclusively advertising through the Internet. Moreover, given that people do almost everything online, it's not likely that they're going to watch the TV, listen to the radio, or buy prints only to view adverts. Therefore, in order to compete with the current industry, one should also play the business like what others are already doing -in this case, adopting digital marketing. A reason for this is that, based on the world's extreme reliance on technology, even the lack of a website or online shop could discourage customers from going to a brand over others, regardless of how good its products or services are.

On the other hand, since larger corporations already control the majority of many markets, small businesses have to get creative and adopt ways to amass a following at least. In the past, there's no easy way for such companies to compete with enterprises and make their brands known. However, again, thanks to the Internet, there are now more opportunities for startups and MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) to grow, succeed, and compete, even with Fortune 500 companies. By employing effective digital marketing methods, offering less invasive effects of services, and creating good products, any business can play in the current fast-paced and competitive industry.

Aside from getting people to buy a product, try a service, or read a blog, digital marketing is also helpful for establishing a brand faster and better. As there are now more ways to spread words on the web like sponsored posts, ad banners, referrals, YouTube video sponsorships, and more, people, especially those interested in what the company does or offers, can now learn about the brand on day one. Additionally, since it's possible to link products in brand promotions, a company can even profit and gain customers during launch day.

While it may seem unbelievable, many people only trust companies with well-designed websites, HTTPS sign on the URL, and excellent online marketing efforts. Accordingly, these things also impact a brand's effect and desirability on people. Thankfully, with digital marketing, it's easier for companies to come up with pleasing and suitable websites or apps and engaging and effective adverts, all possible with consumer research and analysis. Finally, having a solid social media presence elevates a company's likeability and drives more followers. Even though it sounds distant to digital marketing, using such websites is still a form of advertising, and social media platforms are excellent channels to promote and establish a brand globally.

Revisit a section

• 8 Reasons Why Digital Marketing Is Important
• 1. Easily reach people globally
• 2. Track and understand customers and audience
• 3. Faster marketing scaling as the business grows
• 4. Cater to mobile users
• 5. Save on costs and achieve higher ROI
• 6. Target specific demographics
• 7. Compete in the current industry
• 8. Promote and establish the brand better
• Explore Digital Marketing To Grow, Succeed, And Compete