Why a Digital Marketing Strategy is Essential for Success

In today’s world, companies need a strong online presence to be successful. Some business owners take this for granted. It becomes an assumption, at a certain point; as long as a company has a website and social pages, their customers will find them, right?

So let’s look at exactly why you need a strong strategy for digital marketing if you want your business to succeed.

Putting commercials in television shows was a major breakthrough for advertising. Companies could now show off their companies to potential customers directly in their homes. Most people are now on their phones, so companies need to adapt to reach people where they are.

One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is that you can specifically target your audience, down to the interests that matter to your business. This can be done through pay-per-click advertising, where you can narrow your audience to a specific age group in your local area who are interested in things related to your company.

This can also be done through creating high quality content on your website, with a strong SEO strategy that brings in search traffic. However, you accomplish it, targeting your audience is more effective than most traditional methods such as billboards or ads in a paper that reaches out to the general population, whether they're interested or not.

If you run a small business, digital marketing gives you an edge. You can get on social media and post a tweet that will appeal your ideal customer, based on their search history and interest in your company. Digital marketing makes it cost-effective for you to compete with bigger businesses and grab your customers’ attention.

If you don’t have a strong online presence, your competition will. When your customer goes to search for an option, they will find your competition on social media and internet searches. Where will they find you? Once they have already found your competition online, they aren’t likely to continue searching to find you by other means.

Digital marketing gives customers a way to not only find you, but ask the questions they need answers to. By having a Facebook account and a website with a chat box, you are giving your customers ways to contact you that they feel comfortable with. Content marketing can even give your customers the answers to questions that they didn’t even know they had.

Customer interaction is easier online, both for you and for your customer. It also helps you connect with your customer. By taking advantage of this opportunity to prove your company can be helpful to them, you build trust and create a bond with your potential customer. There are few opportunities to build relationships with customers that are so easy.

Beyond social media and websites, digital marketing can be used to keep current customers up to date with the company and their products. Nurturing your customer’s relationships through newsletters is a very effective form of marketing and can be done through print (sent through the physical mail) or through email.

Case studies, testimonials, and Q/A’s can help expand your customer’s knowledge of your product and keep a relationship going through simply sending a summary of information to their inbox.

Digital marketing is an accessible, affordable, and essential way to connect with your customers and expand your business. The internet is full of opportunities for businesses to reach new customers and better connect with them, you just have to have a strong plan for how to make that happen.