Online marketing is very often quite low down on the marketing agenda, and is often furnished with leftover scraps of the budget. If this sounds like something happening in your business at the moment, it’s time to stop, read this article, and plan your investment in digital – because whether you like it or not, it’s currently the best marketing investment you could possibly make. Don’t believe us? Read on for a very convincing argument:
1. More Cost Effective
Offline marketing isn’t cheap. Sure, there may be some things you can do that won’t break the bank, such as flyers and little brochures, but when it comes to really spreading brand awareness and getting results those methods simply won’t do. Utilising everything the online world has to offer, however, can – and it’s a fraction of the price of traditional marketing.
Forget painstakingly printing and distributing marketing literature; design a Mailchimp newsletter and watch it fly into your prospects’ inboxes by lunchtime. Set up a free social media account. Invest in bringing people to your online store with SEO. Every single aspect of digital marketing is cheaper than traditional and you’ll soon find yourself with some spare cash to invest in other areas of the business.
2. Reach Further Than Ever Before
Forget targeting the odd commuter with a giant billboard on the M6: aim higher and reach further than ever before with global possibilities. There’s a huge audience online for you to target with your website, social media and PPC campaigns – and you can drill down into that audience to find your key markets. Why limit yourself to the few when you can literally market to the world? Using digital, you can also interact with this newly reached audience with relative ease – millions of individuals use Twitter and billions use Facebook. It’s never been easier to speak to customers before.
3. It’s Expected of You
Once upon a time, customers could expect to reach you via phone or email. Now, consumers expect to be able to logon to Twitter and find you there, or they Google your name looking for a website to find out more about you and your products. If your customers are looking for you online and either don’t find you or find a presence which is markedly sparse or different to how you portray yourself in offline marketing, then their opinion of you is instantly changed. And in cases such as that, the damage usually leads to them seeking out a competitor instead.
4. Builds Credibility
Blogs, news items and interaction with consumers/industry leaders is going to do a lot for your credibility. With credibility and online authority, you’ll be building trust between your brand and your audience. Investing time, money and effort into credibility pays back dividends because that sense of being a credible source ripples into the offline world and stays with the brand for a long time to come. It’s also an excellent way to ensure your opinions are being propagated across the internet by other brands and customers who agree.
5. Everything Can Be Measured
Another huge advantage that online marketing has over traditional marketing is the fact that everything can be measured: clicks, likes, downloads, queries, conversions, traffic – the lot. Rather than guessing who’s seen your posters or flyers, you can know for sure who’s seen your Facebook adverts and Google ads, and know their browsing habits, country, age etc. With all this extra information comes greater analysis to fuel your strategies and ensure a healthy ROI when employing digital marketing.
6. Your Competitors Are Already Doing It
We don’t mean to instigate a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ mind set, but if your competitors are already doing it, then you’re a step behind – and that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. Ask your business contacts how much they’re investing in digital and you’ll either find them in the same boat as you or enjoying success. If you get a chance to find out how much your competitors are investing, even better – but don’t try and match their spending straight off the bat, as they’re likely to have built themselves up to that point.
Have we got your attention now? Find out how you can invest in digital in an effective way by getting in touch and having a conversation with the Christian Michaels agency. No sales talk, just a conversation about where your website, social media and SEO could be taking your business.