10 Reasons why Digital Marketing is Important
In the wake of recent world events, more people than ever before are choosing to consume their news and media digitally rather than in a physical format. Whether that is due to rising costs in the production of print media, changes to prevalent lifestyle choices or simply a lack of storage space, a much wider range of people are tending to move towards streaming services and digital purchases. With potential consumers gravitating to a more digital and online world, the need for marketing strategies within these spaces has naturally increased.
Why is this important?
1. Increased reach
While analogue marketing formats such as print and mainstream media have an in-built captive audience, this is reliant on the audience size of the host media. With the number of people consuming most of their news and entertainment online continually rising, there is much greater scope here for visibility.
2. Easily transferable
Designing for print or television comes with rigid constraints in terms of image size, quality etc. Most digital marketing will adhere to a small range of formats which means that one set of marketing materials can be used in multiple places, saving time and money for where it will be most effective. A digital-first marketing design strategy can also be ported to analogue media afterwards increasing its range further.
3. Visibility across brands is more even
Print and physical media are expensive, and so the biggest and the best advertising spaces will naturally go to the companies with the greatest influence and the deepest pockets. Digital media is much more cost-effective to set up and maintain, making it more accessible for smaller companies and allowing them to compete with more established brands.
4. Easier to change
Unlike print-based or recorded advertising, digital marketing materials can be very quickly and easily replaced if details change, or mistakes are spotted.
5. Measurable results
Traditional media is very difficult to track. You can find out how many people bought a magazine or watched a certain television channel, but not how many immediately flipped to the next article or left the room to make a drink while the adverts were playing. With digital advertising, you can track both how many presentations of your advert were displayed throughout the month and how many people clicked on your advert to find out more. You have access to real-time information on just how effective your marketing strategy is.
6. You can imbed your marketing within your content
A catchy advertisement will grab attention on its own, but for the most part if something looks like advertising then people will automatically keep scrolling. Clever marketing from within content can garner interest and keep attention for longer.
7. It’s all connected
Interested potential customers can click on your advert and automatically be linked to your store or website. If people see your marketing and then have to looking for you they might lose interest, but good web marketing does all the hard work so your customers don’t have to.
8. Opt-in for longer-form content
Since the advent of GDPR legislation, all email marketing must be opt-in rather than opt-out. While this does mean that fewer of these emails are being sent out, it also means that the people receiving them are the people who are really interested. Newsletter style advertising can be an effective way of making sure that your established customers or clients get the information they want without having to go looking for it.
9. Searchable
A good digital marketing agency will build SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) into your marketing materials, making it more likely that your content will be seen by the people that it is relevant to.
10. It’s much quicker.
While the design process arguably takes the same amount of time, production for digital advertising is a much faster process meaning that you can get your message out in front of potential clients and customers as soon as possible.
Next steps?
If you don’t have a designed-for-digital marketing strategy, then this is something that will become essential for the current climate. Working with a digital marketing agency can be helpful here if you don’t have the expertise within your team. And if your digital advertising is already robust then check back later in the year as we visit other ways to enhance your online presence and visibility.
Matthew Cowell
