Is your small business utilizing digital marketing? Today, digital marketing is considered the most effective way to attract and retain customers. However, not all small businesses are taking advantage of its benefits.
While traditional marketing still plays a key role, there is no question digital techniques have taken over. Below, we will look at some of the biggest benefits digital marketing has over traditional marketing.
What is digital marketing vs traditional marketing?
Digital marketing refers to online methods of marketing your business. This includes, but isn’t limited to, paid ads, social media posting and email marketing.
Traditional marketing refers to offline marketing methods. These include newspaper ads, leaflets and radio or TV advertisements.
The Benefits of digital marketing over traditional methods
There are quite a lot of benefits of using digital marketing over traditional marketing. While both can greatly benefit your small business, digital marketing does have a few exclusive benefits.
Let’s look at some of the biggest benefits digital marketing has over traditional marketing…
It is cheaper
Did you know that digital marketing can be significantly cheaper than traditional methods?
If you run print ads for example, they can potentially cost thousands of dollars. With digital marketing on the other hand, you have full control over how much you spend. There are even free methods you can utilize.
So, if budget is a factor, digital marketing is a great choice over traditional methods.
You’ll reach a wider audience
When marketing your small business, you want to reach as many people as possible. Digital marketing opens you up to over a billion potential customers. Facebook alone has over a billion users, giving you endless marketing potential.
Traditional marketing tends to rely on local advertising only. However, even local marketing is more successful online these days.
If you are looking to grow your business and appeal to a wider audience, getting online is the best way to do it.
Better targeted to your audience
Digital marketing can be highly targeted, ensuring it reaches the right audience. On Facebook for example, its paid ads can be targeted towards a huge range of users. You can show your ads based on demographics or as specific as what people do for a living.
Similarly, email marketing can be targeted towards a specific audience through segmentation. The more targeted your ads are, the more effective they are going to be.
It is easier to measure and alter
In order for any marketing method to be effective, you need to track and measure its progress. All digital marketing methods allow you to easily measure results.
You can track traffic on your website to see which of your digital marketing methods are working better. You can also identify where you might be wasting money.
Not all digital marketing methods will be effective for your business. However, it is easy to identify which aren’t working compared to traditional marketing. This means you can alter your approach and put more money into the efforts that are working.
It helps to build up your brand
Online, you can set up a website, show off your reviews, and build up a social media presence. This helps you to build up a strong brand reputation.
Today, consumers care a lot about trust. Due to how many options there are, they pay attention to the reputation of businesses before they buy from them. If you have a strong online reputation, it is going to help you to attract new customers.
Traditional marketing does get your name out there, but only very briefly. Leaflets are easily thrown away and radio and TV ads provide a couple of minutes at most of advertisement. Online marketing ensures your brand is consistently in your customer’s minds.
Overall, digital marketing does have a lot more benefits than traditional methods. However, it is important to use a combination of the two if you want to be really successful. Experts suggest using a variety of digital and traditional methods to reach the biggest audience.
If you are not proficient in digital marketing, you can always hire somebody to do it for you. When done correctly, digital marketing can generate a much bigger return on investment.