Digital versus traditional; it’s an ongoing debate, especially if you have been in business for a long time. It is fair to say there is still a place for traditional advertising, but digital is the future for a number of reasons.
Digital marketing is data driven. Instead of printing leaflets and distributing them at random in the local area, you promote your products and services online. Businesses analyze digital data to find out what content their audience likes, what works and what doesn’t. For young startups, there is no substitute for a well-crafted digital marketing campaign.
If you are new to the concept of internet marketing for small business, here are the five main benefits of embracing digital advertising.
Reach.
A digital marketing campaign has far greater reach than traditional advertising. In the past, the only way to reach a wide audience was by placing ads in high-profile magazines or paying for an advertising spot on TV. Today’s entrepreneurs don’t have that kind of budget, but it doesn’t matter one bit.
Thanks to the power of the internet, their digital ads are disseminated far and wide, to every corner of the earth. There are no barriers for internet marketers.
Cost.
Cost is a big issue for startups. If you are trying to get a business off the ground, your budget for marketing is likely to be non-existent. It costs money to print leaflets and run radio ads whereas it costs virtually nothing to implement a digital marketing campaign, aside from your time and effort, of course.
Building Relationships.
Big brands have cottoned on to the power of relationship building in the online world. People want to feel connected to the brands they love, so they enjoy interacting with them online.
Online marketing puts the human touch back into advertising. Instead of a nameless person narrating an advertising jingle on the radio, customers can offer feedback on Facebook or ask questions. Digital marketing is all about building lasting relationships with loyal customers.
Personalized Campaigns.
When you run a leaflet campaign, you can’t differentiate between different customers. A print run of 5,000 leaflets will all look the same, even if your customers are different. The great thing about digital marketing is that you can personalize content according to the channel. Analyze data and find out who your customer is, so you can target them more directly. This is what makes digital marketing so much more effective than traditional advertising.
Social Media.
Social media is hugely influential. Harness this power by using social media to drive your digital marketing campaign. Maintaining a regular presence on social media costs nothing other than time, but your return on investment is high.
Assessing the effectiveness of traditional advertising is difficult, but thanks to an almost endless stream of data from digital marketing, you can easily track how successful your digital marketing efforts actually are. Run A/B testing to see which strategies are the most effective and don’t be afraid to try multiple channels.