Does My Business Need Digital Marketing?
Yes. Obviously, your business needs digital marketing. It should be no surprise that this is true for businesses in Indianapolis and everywhere. However, many people struggle with it due to costs and other resources. Perhaps you don’t know how to get started or how to set up and understand the data. It’s important for businesses to get on board with a digital marketing strategy quickly if they’re not already.
Fundamentally, there is data available that validates how important digital marketing is.
As for February 2020, Statista reports a 13% increase in digital marketing budgets compared to August 2019 (11.8%). The tool, trends.google.com, is valuable for knowing what is being searched for on Google and the phrase ‘digital marketing agency’ shows a steady increase in trajectory. That means people are searching more and more for information on digital marketing and agencies.
Do You Believe in the Internet?
You should believe in the power of the internet. And thus, you should believe in online marketing. It’s a fact that people are online. In 2020, over 85% of the total U.S. population can access the internet from anywhere via any device. According to TNW, individual users will spend more than 100 days online this year. The average internet user now spends 6 hours and 43 minutes online each day. And keep in mind that there are people who use it even more.
Do You Believe in Marketing?
You should believe in marketing. It’s a fact that people can be influenced to buy products and services. Digital marketing is not manipulation but rather it’s targeted placement that shows your audience why your product or service is better. Without marketing, no one knows who a business is. To sell products and services, visibility to the right audiences is essential. So, when considering the data related to internet users, it’s very clear that businesses need to have a digital marketing strategy.
Can You Afford Digital Marketing?
Actually, businesses can’t afford to do digital marketing! Look at what happened in 2020 – the world changed to where our time and presence online became even more prevalent. Many small businesses have started closing because they didn’t adapt. Businesses that do digital marketing successfully can not only survive, but they can thrive …and it’s not too late to make a change. Businesses that don’t understand digital marketing believe that only making ‘free’ organic posts is adequate. Organic posting is not enough to be effective for any business’s marketing strategy. The online world is constantly changing and it can be tough to keep up with. But—accurately tracking, understanding, and using your digital marketing data to get in front of your audience makes a measurable difference for any thriving business.
Here’s Why You Need Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is affordable. Digital marketing is the most affordable form of advertising available. Your strategy needs to change to match your budget but there
Digital marketing is targeted. You can build a highly personalized funnel for people at different stages of the buying process.
Find out more about how ad targeting works on different networks in the article links below.
- How Does Facebook Ad Targeting Work?
- How to Target Audiences with Google Search Ads
- How Can You Target in Twitter Ads?
- How to Target on LinkedIn
Digital marketing is measurable. Results can be accurately tracked and results can be measured. It’s true that attribution is tougher and more advanced, but your competition is already doing it. You’ve got to keep up so you don’t become obsolete.
Digital marketing meets audiences. You never know when the next person you need to talk about your products or services to is listening. But they are online and you’ve got to be there to meet them! Digital marketing informs, engages, and it shapes reputations.
Digital Marketing is an equalizer. You can be who you are and get in front of the same relevant audiences as competitors. Digital marketing allows businesses to offer their products and services as they are intended. And smaller businesses can get in front of the same audiences as their larger more corporate competitors.
Digital Marketing Is Sales
We know that sales and marketing work together. But digital marketing is what sells and grows a business. You can grow your business by using digital marketing to overcome people’s objections to buying your products and services. Businesses need to understand that their website is the central hub of their online presence. It has got to be maintained, improved, added to, and kept current. You can’t just build a website and walk away. Having a website is work and marketing your products and services in a meaningful way on your website creates value for your customers that affects sales.
Understanding Digital Marketing
Lots of people want to understand digital marketing. While people like to overcomplicate it, digital marketing is not easy. There are so many terms that mean the same thing for example SEM, PPC, and Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords). And—there are many different types of digital marketing.
- Mobile
- Ads on any online platform
- Social networking
- Video (often a function of being on social platforms)
- Content marketing and SEO
- Influencer and viral marketing
- Radio/TV ads
- Electronic billboards
- Online PR
- Marketing automation
Where is Your Business With Online Marketing and Where Should it Be?
Make sure you’re tracking existing data on your current website and presence. The best way to know what to do is to research the data over time and let it guide you. There are no one-size-fits-all marketing strategies and while it’s suggested to take an omnichannel marketing approach, the results cannot be rushed.
Are You Taking a Targeted, Data-Driven Marketing Approach?
Trust marketing experts who look at data over time to create unique solutions. Data-driven marketing is targeted because decisions are informed. At Elevated Marketing Solutions, we will start with a business profile of where you think your business is. Our team will clean up any marketing data or tracking inaccuracies and compare that with the actual data to figure out where you’re at and where to go. Then we strategize a targeted plan and monitor it.
Who Owns Your Digital Marketing Data?
It is very important that businesses have their data and tracking set up correctly but it is also imperative that you own (and have access to!) all of your data. You should own everything, not your marketing agency. Be sure that passwords and accounts are set up and that only the appropriate parties have access. It is recommended for security, that two-step authentication is set up wherever possible.
What Expectations Do You Have for Online Marketing?
Digital marketing’s medium, the internet, has its challenges and it’s important not to get hung up on this. We all expect results immediately. But no one can just push a button and automatically get leads or results. Business reputations have to be built online just like they are built offline. Set the right expectations and don’t expect instant results.
What Online Marketing Techniques Are Best?
There are a lot of techniques but data is needed to prove what’s best for any individual business. Digital marketing needs to be integrated through several channels–not just a one-channel approach. Your audience is made of people who are all over the internet on different platforms and at different stages of buying. There are different strategies to match where people are at in the marketing funnel.
How Can You Know What Digital Marketing Channels Are Working?
There are different stories being told because digital marketing is often oversimplified and misunderstood. Consumer actions and objections to buying your products and services are not simple—And online marketing is not simple either. Digital marketing attribution gets complicated so remember, “It wasn’t the last beer you drank that got you drunk.” And when it comes to digital marketing, one channel didn’t bring the lead but rather the different types working together fill the funnel.
Your Business Needs Digital Marketing Now
Large companies and small companies are really moving too slowly. This allows competitors and startups the opportunity to get in front of their targeted audiences. It can be scary to jump into digital marketing or to adjust budgets but businesses that move quickly will be ahead. The more data tracked over time, the more is understood about buying patterns and how to target. Now is the time to adapt and step up your digital marketing strategy.
