No one starts a business today without having a proper digital marketing strategy. This is because digital marketing today has to be at the center of any marketing strategy for any business whatever its size. If you are in the initial stages of starting a business you probably have a tight budget and a small group of employees. You, therefore, need a proper plan if your startup is going to grow as fast as it should.
One of the main reasons why startups fail is because they do not have a proper digital marketing plan. You could have a great product that everybody wants to buy, but if you do not have a proper plan on how to get people to know about your product, few people will buy it. According to CB Insights as many as 17% of startups that fail can trace their failure to poor marketing. Here are some major reasons why digital marketing is important for startup growth:
1. The potential for mass reach and brand awareness
With the internet being available in most parts of the world, the sky really is the limit when it comes to your ability to reach new audiences.
There are more than 1 billion active users on Facebook alone – that’s a lot of opportunities to grow your business! With a strategic approach to digital marketing, the potential to tap into the masses and grow your brand awareness is both simple and cost-effective.
2. Your ability to reach a more targeted audience
Digital platforms such as Google and Facebook are known for the algorithms they have created that give consumers the best, and most personalized experience online. In doing so, they provide a platform that brands can utilize to target digital marketing campaigns to their perfect audience.
In allowing the consumer to dictate their interests, businesses can avoid disrupting the wrong audience with advertising that isn’t relevant to them, potentially damaging brand reputation as well as providing no return on your marketing investment!
3. The Stats.
With every campaign you run online, whether it’s via social media, AdWords or retargeting, you are leaving a digital footprint and setting up for analysis. With tools such as Google Analytics available, it is possible to accurately measure where your consumers are coming from, what they are engaging with and at what point they disengage.
Data analysis gives you the ability to adjust and redirect your digital activity based on the insights you gain in real-time from your campaigns.
4. The rise of mobile
Did you know, the number of users browsing online with a mobile device has overtaken desktop computers? Mobile has revolutionized how consumers interact with businesses and in this age of immediacy, they expect to search, browse, buy, and engage whenever and wherever they are.
The consumer of today is on the move and by reaching them where they are spending the most time, you vastly improve your chance of making an impact.
5. Meaningful customer engagement
Digital marketing makes getting to know and understand consumer behavior relatively easy. The internet’s interactive nature allows businesses to connect with individuals on a personal level, breaking down formal barriers and inviting consumers to build a relationship with your business.
Utilizing social media, blogs, and forums to create a place where you can interact with consumers, gives them the opportunity to express opinions, comments, likes, and dislikes and businesses the opportunity to react and respond.
6. It’s cost-effective, effective marketing
There is a reason why so many marketers believe that content marketing is the way of the future. Why? Simply, it works.
Traditional marketing mediums are quite often costly and difficult to measure, if you think about how the everyday consumer interacts with content and where they are spending their time, these days there is very little interaction between traditional mediums such as print and radio and potential customers.
7. It earns people’s trust
Digital Marketing leverages social media signals, social proof, and testimonials from actual consumers who have previously purchased, joined or availed of a product or service marketed by a particular brand or business. The more reliable these social signals are, the higher the trust rate it can generate from targeted audiences – most of which can be potential customers.
8. It provides better ROI for your marketing investments
With better revenues and better branding, Digital Marketing can provide a better Return of Investments (ROI) than traditional media and marketing channels. With traditional media, the cost is too exorbitant for small and medium enterprises to leverage on, and the results received are somewhat vague and difficult to measure.
Digital Marketing on the other hand can easily be tracked and monitored, with results immediately realized and measured as soon as targeted audiences provide contact information, subscribe to a newsletter or training program, or make a purchase. The key to success in Digital marketing, however, is to generate a steady flow of targeted traffic that converts into sales and leads. The more your business generates this kind of traffic, the faster you can realize your ROI.
This is where digital marketing takes the lead.
With little to no budget, a strong digital marketing campaign can yield a greater ROI, with the content being seen by a much larger and more targeted audience.
In this day and age, digital marketing is something that all businesses should be embracing. Without a digital marketing strategy in place, you may be missing out on opportunities to generate leads and establish stronger connections with your current customers.
