The past 2 years have seen a change in direction for the commercial advertising industry.
We all knew that digital marketing would someday surpass and replace traditional marketing. Digital marketing has definitely taken a huge portion of the advertising market and it seems like this share will only grow.
The question is: Will it work for everyone?
Digital marketing not only works for all businesses but is a must-have for anyone looking to build a successful venture online. Regardless of your industry, digital marketing continues to provide the greatest return on investment by allowing businesses to interact with a wider audience and genuinely engage with their target market.
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3 Reasons Why You Need To Have An Online Presence
If you’re not convinced yet, here are 3 HUGE reasons why you should start looking at building an online presence:
1.) Everyone Is Moving Online
Stuck at home during the pandemic, with movie theatres and malls closed and no restaurants to dine in, everyone has been spending more of their lives indoors.
Data from Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix, for example, shows over 100% growth in users since the First U.S. Covid-19 death. Zoom grew from 2 million daily users to well over 7 million daily users and local news sites experienced average monthly readership gains of over 150%.
These numbers show the increasing reliance on the internet, a trend that had started prior to the pandemic but was accelerated due to the lockdowns.
2.) Engaging With A Community
Whether you’re a niche consultant, an online content creator, or a Fortune 500 company, the benefits of building an online community are undeniable.
Engaged communities can turn even the most uninvolved watcher into a loyal follower, drive heavy traffic into your website, retain customers, and increase your revenue.
Perhaps the best part of building an online community is the ability to generate firsthand feedback and immediately respond to market shifts – where digital communities can help you maintain touchpoints with your audience without having to be in the same physical area.
3.) High Return on Investment
A crucial part of any successful marketing research team is the ability to measure the success of their campaigns and establish baselines that serve as a reference for future efforts. One key metric is ROI.
Chris Leone, a marketing expert from Web Strategies, mentions that a 5:1 return for your digital marketing efforts is considered normal. Anything above that is considered high and represents a highly efficient marketing team.
Because of the nature of digital marketing, where many of the options are free, your efforts naturally create higher returns on investment. The average ROI from email marketing, for example, stands at 42,000% or $42 for every dollar you invest, based on Litmus Report.
Do I Need A Big Budget For Digital Marketing?
Absolutely not. In fact, you could get started building your online presence for absolutely free using social media platforms and search engines. While you might find accelerated growth through paid advertising, the money would be better spent if you invest more into quality content and a sustainable marketing plan.
Truth be told, there’s no fixed marketing budget that applies to all businesses. Perhaps your best bet would be to base your budget on a percentage of your revenue.
B2B companies, for example, should spend between 2 and 5% of their revenue on marketing while B2C companies often use a greater proportion – something akin to 5 and 10%.
Despite the high ROI that comes naturally with your digital marketing efforts, that doesn’t mean that you should jump in headfirst, a smart business owner will come up with an actionable plan outlining the steps needed to create a positive online brand presence.
How Do I Get Started Building An Online Presence For My Business?
While your plan definitely doesn’t have to be anything crazy, here are three steps I make sure to do when I start working with a new client:
- Identify Your Target Market – it’s not enough to have a vague idea of who your target market is, conduct a proper research and generate specific consumer insights to help create better and more effective ads. Get to know their lifestyle and attitudes towards competitors and your own brand, then use this knowledge to build a unique value proposition.
- Build Your Google My Business Page – local SEO for small businesses is an often overlooked but extremely important aspect of your brand. 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else and 92% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results. Thus, it’s important to make sure that your business has a strong online presence with engaging content and enticing deals.
- Set Up Social Media Accounts – With everyone and their mother going on social media, it’s become one of the most powerful tools you could use to generate brand awareness and engage in a meaningful way with your customers. Hubspot has reported that 84% of marketers are able to generate increased traffic with as little as six hours of effort spent on social media per week.
While this isn’t everything you should look to do, these three steps are definitely a good starting point for those looking to build their online presence. From here, you could look to build your local SEO strategy and start showing up on more search results using free marketing tactics.
