Why Digital Marketing is Key to Your Business
Marketing strategy is one of the cornerstones of a capitalist economy. Simply put, the more people that are aware of a product (be that an item, a subscription, or even an idea), the more likely that product is to sell and the more successful the company that produced it will be.
Originally, marketing relied solely on a group of strategies now referred to as "traditional marketing". These avenues include print, radio, television, signage, and of course word-of-mouth. While companies still rely greatly on traditional means of marketing products, the last three decades have seen the exponential growth of a new form: digital marketing.
Digital marketing (also known as online marketing, internet marketing, or web marketing) makes use of electronic devices to engage current and potential stakeholders, or customers. It is important to note that not all forms of marketing involving electronics are considered digital marketing. SMS Text messaging, phone marketing (cold calls), and television are still generally considered traditional marketing.
Major forms of digital marketing include, but are not limited to: social media ads, banner ads, popup ads, marketing with video and email ads. Within these arenas, companies use a variety of strategies to raise consumer awareness:
- Push Vs. Pull Marketing. Push marketing is an older form of marketing in which the intended product is pushed’ onto the consumer without discrimination. More recent marketing strategies favor pull marketing in which companies research consumer interests and pull’ the potential buyer toward their product by piggybacking on this information.
- Digital Brand Engagement. A type of pull marketing, digital brand engagement relies on research to target specific potential buyers. Marketers using this strategy invoke key questions regarding the consumer such as "Who are they, Where are they, and What motivates them."
- Online Behavioral Advertising. OBA is an effective yet controversial method of targeting consumers. Using this technique, companies store consumer data from previous history, web searches, or purchases and then use this data to tailor their approach to an individual. Opponents of this strategy point to the fact that it infringes on rights to privacy and data protection.
- Reputation Management. Certain companies avoid using some of the above listed strategies (specifically OBA) as a method of maintaining a certain reputation as a more dignified’ entity. It is a source of debate whether or not this is an effective or detrimental tactic.
Top Five Reasons Why Companies May Favor Digital Marketing:
- 1) Cost. While digital marketing is not free, it is generally a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. This cost savings is more pronounced the larger the advertiser. While initial marketing start-up costs may be comparable to that of traditional venues, the savings manifest as the campaign increases scope. For example, video marketing can be super cheap but highly effective.
- 2) Tracking. Due to digital tracking software and other online tools, the methods of gauging the effectiveness of online marketing are much more abundant and accurate than with traditional marketing. This is especially true of calculating return on investment (ROI), or how much a company directly profits from the money and time spent on a particular strategy.
- 3) Relationship with the Customer. By utilizing a variety of online metrics, a company is able to build a customer profile’ for individual consumers. This set of tailored information grows and becomes more accurate the more time a customer spends in digital venues such as web pages or social media. Consider a shop-keeper remembering the likes and dislikes of an individual customer when he returns to the store, but multiply that across the reach of the internet.
- 4) Proliferation of Devices. Each year, the number of people who own personal electronic devices with internet capability grows exponentially. Likewise, the number of devices owned and operated by the average consumer increases. By taking advantage of this boom, companies can increase their exposure at little or no additional cost.
- 5) Collaboration. It is not hard to see collaboration taking place on the internet. Sites link to other sites and social media platforms allow banner and pop-up ads, increasingly tailored to the individual. Collaboration between entrepreneurial entities is much easier and cheaper in the digital age.
In 2010 digital media was responsible for over 4.5 trillion advertisements, almost 1,000 times the world’s population. Spending on digital advertising increased by 48% that year alone[1]. Will digital marketing ever completely replace traditional forms of advertising? Probably not. However, as the digital world expands at an ever increasing rate, so the marketing will as well, constantly being refined to reach the most potential buyers.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_marketing#History
Originally, marketing relied solely on a group of strategies now referred to as "traditional marketing". These avenues include print, radio, television, signage, and of course word-of-mouth. While companies still rely greatly on traditional means of marketing products, the last three decades have seen the exponential growth of a new form: digital marketing.
Digital marketing (also known as online marketing, internet marketing, or web marketing) makes use of electronic devices to engage current and potential stakeholders, or customers. It is important to note that not all forms of marketing involving electronics are considered digital marketing. SMS Text messaging, phone marketing (cold calls), and television are still generally considered traditional marketing.
Major forms of digital marketing include, but are not limited to: social media ads, banner ads, popup ads, marketing with video and email ads. Within these arenas, companies use a variety of strategies to raise consumer awareness:
- Push Vs. Pull Marketing. Push marketing is an older form of marketing in which the intended product is pushed’ onto the consumer without discrimination. More recent marketing strategies favor pull marketing in which companies research consumer interests and pull’ the potential buyer toward their product by piggybacking on this information.
- Digital Brand Engagement. A type of pull marketing, digital brand engagement relies on research to target specific potential buyers. Marketers using this strategy invoke key questions regarding the consumer such as "Who are they, Where are they, and What motivates them."
- Online Behavioral Advertising. OBA is an effective yet controversial method of targeting consumers. Using this technique, companies store consumer data from previous history, web searches, or purchases and then use this data to tailor their approach to an individual. Opponents of this strategy point to the fact that it infringes on rights to privacy and data protection.
- Reputation Management. Certain companies avoid using some of the above listed strategies (specifically OBA) as a method of maintaining a certain reputation as a more dignified’ entity. It is a source of debate whether or not this is an effective or detrimental tactic.
Top Five Reasons Why Companies May Favor Digital Marketing:
- 1) Cost. While digital marketing is not free, it is generally a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. This cost savings is more pronounced the larger the advertiser. While initial marketing start-up costs may be comparable to that of traditional venues, the savings manifest as the campaign increases scope. For example, video marketing can be super cheap but highly effective.
- 2) Tracking. Due to digital tracking software and other online tools, the methods of gauging the effectiveness of online marketing are much more abundant and accurate than with traditional marketing. This is especially true of calculating return on investment (ROI), or how much a company directly profits from the money and time spent on a particular strategy.
- 3) Relationship with the Customer. By utilizing a variety of online metrics, a company is able to build a customer profile’ for individual consumers. This set of tailored information grows and becomes more accurate the more time a customer spends in digital venues such as web pages or social media. Consider a shop-keeper remembering the likes and dislikes of an individual customer when he returns to the store, but multiply that across the reach of the internet.
- 4) Proliferation of Devices. Each year, the number of people who own personal electronic devices with internet capability grows exponentially. Likewise, the number of devices owned and operated by the average consumer increases. By taking advantage of this boom, companies can increase their exposure at little or no additional cost.
- 5) Collaboration. It is not hard to see collaboration taking place on the internet. Sites link to other sites and social media platforms allow banner and pop-up ads, increasingly tailored to the individual. Collaboration between entrepreneurial entities is much easier and cheaper in the digital age.
In 2010 digital media was responsible for over 4.5 trillion advertisements, almost 1,000 times the world’s population. Spending on digital advertising increased by 48% that year alone[1]. Will digital marketing ever completely replace traditional forms of advertising? Probably not. However, as the digital world expands at an ever increasing rate, so the marketing will as well, constantly being refined to reach the most potential buyers.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_marketing#History