There’s still a lot of myth surrounding digital marketing and whether it’s really necessary, and I’ve seen it first-hand – particularly in more traditional businesses where there are doubts as to its value and why it can be expensive. I’ve been in meetings where companies don’t want to pay for the curation social media channels, or think that Facebook ads are too Big Brother-esque, and instead want to stick to print ads or word of mouth.
Yet what it boils down to it simple. Digital marketing means getting your business in front of more people – and more potential customers. Whether that’s by using paid search, SEO, social media, online influencers or email marketing, the end goal is that more people know about your company and what you do or sell. Done correctly, that brand awareness leads to longer-term engagement with those potential customers, leading to more sales and a growing business. Sounds simple, right?
The jargon surrounding digital marketing can be off-putting and confusing. How do you know if you need PPC if you don’t know what it is? And while content-based and technical search engine optimisation might be vital to the marketing savvy, we need to educate our clients in simple terms as to why it’s a business must-have without the unnecessary digital lingo.
Good digital marketing can be broken down into a few simple goals.
- Increasing your brand awareness – how many people know about your company and your offering
- Increasing customer engagement – it’s all very well having a million people knowing your brand’s name, but if they don’t want to engage with you and you’re not talking to them, your marketing isn’t working
- Making your customers buy from you instead of your competitors – every business wants to be the top customer choice in their field, whether they’re selling houses, doing recruitment or offering consultancy services
- Delivering return on investment – this is notoriously difficult area to measure for marketers, but with the right goals in place it’s easier to determine whether you’re getting a viable return. Those goals might not just be cash in the bank, but also increased social following, brand mentions or great press
So if you’ve been telling yourself that you don’t need digital marketing or that it’s not right for your business, ask yourself a question:
“Do I want to increase awareness of my brand so I can engagement with more consumers, and make myself the business of choice for my customers?”
It’s a bit of no-brainer!
If you’d like to speak to Yellow Bird Digital about your digital marketing strategy, get in touch today and see how we can help.