Digital technology has changed the way businesses operate today. There is a massive repository of prospects online that your business can not be missing out on. But, big companies are not the only ones who can benefit from online marketing. As a small business owner, you can too.
Let’s first dive into these two different forms of marketing.
Includes all marketing channels and methods you can use to promote products or services on the internet, but also via electronic devices such as mobile phones.
Digital marketing makes it easier to calculate ROI so you can make sure your ad spend is driving conversions. Also, your efforts can be highly targeted to a specific audience, demographic, etc. - something traditional marketing lacks.
Promotion or advertisement on print advertisements, billboards, flyers or pamphlets, TV, newspaper, radio, etc.
Traditional marketing has its place, especially for large businesses that don’t need to be as laser-focused on immediate ROI, but it’s much more challenging to track results. You can’t add a tracking pixel to a billboard!
For your business to be successful, knowing what your competitors are up to is critical. The most successful companies continuously analyze the marketplace and learn from their competitors to compete. Take what you like from their strategy, improve upon it, and make it your own.
By conducting online analyses, you’ll be able to determine these critical questions about your competitors and allow you to compete with them:
The average consumer searches for things they need and want online. More often than not, there is a pretty high success rate finding these products/services, such as “things to do” or “where to get the best ice cream.” Without an online presence, these are opportunities you can be missing out on.
Long-lasting relationships with your customers or prospective consumers can be formed in ways traditional marketing cannot offer. Some ways it improves the methods of traditional marketing with your customers are through:
Remember how we said that traditional marketing makes it difficult to track results? Well, you don’t have to worry about the difficulty of monitoring specific metrics with digital marketing.
Every digital platform you use should come with specific tools to help you measure and track your results, ultimately giving you an ROI for your time and money (think Facebook pixel for Facebook ads).
Tracking allows you to evaluate your performance and inform key decisions for your business, such as where you should be allocating your money and resources. You can measure results in real-time and pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of your digital marketing strategy.
One of the ways digital marketing outperforms traditional marketing is in the way you’re able to target a specific segment.
When you interact and engage with this particular segment, it can give you insight as to what your targeted audience's interests are.
This information can help you create a better experience for your prospects/customers and can allow you to develop a better understanding of your target audience.
You may have fallen into the notion that digital marketing is expensive. On the contrary, it has proven results while being cost-effective.
Better yet, tackle digital marketing with the help of an agency partner and experience results like this 85% increase in return on ad spend.
Digital marketing has become the most powerful way to help businesses thrive and is becoming more prevalent every day. While some small businesses have not tapped into the digital world yet, those who have can relate to the following:
If you’re unsure where you should start, contact us, and we’ll take care of the rest.