Most companies are spending between 10-50% of their marketing budget on digital marketing activities, with the average at 25%. At present, 75% of that digital marketing budget is spent on activities and management and 25% on maintaining a presence. This is the reason why digital marketing strategy has become the focus of most marketing strategies. It is because consumers and businesses are consuming information, products, and services on the web. This change itself is a result of technology that has made searching, buying and paying so easy on the web. We also cannot forget that mobile is our closest buddy, in an arm’s reach and always there to help.
There are many other aspects that make me believe that Digital Marketing shouldn’t be considered just as the additional skill to add in the businesses and resumes by the marketers, it should be taken as a necessity.
- Increase in Global Internet Users: As our Prime Minister’s “Digital India Campaign” has been acknowledged very well over India, there are already more than 465 million internet users and this campaign aims to transform the whole India into a digitally empowered society. Worldwide it has been reported that by 2019, there will be 3.9 billion global internet users, just over half the world’s population. Smart companies and smart marketers will have to learn digital marketing. This will make it possible for them to specifically and personally reach out to each of these people.
- Social Media Marketing: As generation is reluctantly depended on social media, it has been revealed that 78% of the respondents said that the social media posts by the company influence their purchase decisions. But then these are posts that aren’t random but are strategy driven to meet an objective.
- Video Marketing: Videos create a lasting impression on viewers than words. It has been estimated that by 2017, as much of 70% of consumer internet traffic will be online video. Videos can be in the form of graphics, pictures, gif, animation and more.
- Mobile Marketing: As mobile has gained more importance in our life, it is the most essential and result oriented platform if you want to target the masses. 62% of the companies that created a website specifically for mobile, mobile-friendly website had increased their sales. Now, with smartphone users checking their devices up to 150 times in a day, the importance of a mobile first website is well understood.
- Content Marketing: A true marketers and businessmen know the importance of content. It has been acknowledged as the “King of the Marketing” by the marketers. 82% of consumers surveyed felt more positive about a brand after they read custom content from that brand. This means that companies will have to produce contextual and informative content. They will also have to distribute it where it will be found by the target audience.
- PPC: Pay Per Click Advertising is the great way to target a particular niche and bring new customers to your brand or website. PPC ads are displayed along with the search results and entice users to click them to find out what they are looking for. It can be a fantastic investment as you only need to pay when someone’s click on your ads.
- Leads to Customer to Action: Digital Marketing consists of great marketing strategies that drive people to take actions in the very short course of time that benefits your business or brand. The best way to convert your visitors into customers is to add CTAs (Call-To-Actions) buttons in your every marketing strategy. It is a button that can be of many forms like Buy button, Sign Up form, Download, etc., as per the business requirement which drives your visitor to do what you want them to do. For better results, use the button of proper action keywords to entice the visitors and colored them appropriately. The color scheme, graphics, and even their right positioning create a psychological effect and meaning to them.
- Builds Brand Reputation: The traffic that your digital marketing strategies consist of the audiences most probably wants to know more about your brand and purchase what you are offering. If your brands and businesses deliver what you promise, you will build a quality relationship with your audience, helping them to be your consistent and loyal customers. This helps to build a brand reputation as customers who are satisfied with your engagement and performance will glad to share their experiences with others and helps in the word to mouth kind of promotions automatically. It will also lead to your reputation going viral and open up new opportunities and scope to grow more and reach bigger markets.
- Better Return on Investment: As Digital Marketing is a very cost effective medium of investment and improves your branding with revenues, it will provide a better ROI than any other form of marketing. It is easy to track and monitor through tools like Google Analytics so that you can measure your results as soon as you target your audience and when the same audience takes the desired action.
Digital marketing can be a golden opportunity for anyone who desires to have a presence on the internet, and with all the different types of clients, and wants to make the career in the same. Even those who have a pretty good understanding of internet are probably still going to need help with marketing, because that’s a specialization, one that will always be needed.
