Change as they say is the most constant thing in the world. If my memory of my biology studies in high school is correct, all humans are born as fetuses but don’t remain so. Funnily, even the most stunted people change in shape and height. I can go on and on listing the various parts of our lives, our environment, and the world. However, to be coy and honestly certain that you understand where I am going, I wonder if you would recall (if you 15 don’t bother you can’t) the emergence of GSM in Nigeria. It was ecstatic, they were so big and gigantic with antennas and it was mainly a thing for the rich and middle-class. Everybody wanted that new toy in their hands and at a point it was tagged General Street Madness (GSM). The point is if we see someone using such phones now we would be shocked. Why? CHANGE!!! What happened? Smart phones silly!!!
The same thing has happened in the world of marketing, not just with marketing but all aspects of our lives, this is the Internet. Usually, when we talk about marketing, the first thing that comes to the mind of an average Nigerian are those sales agents with branded shirts selling products across the streets, and if they hear advertising, they picture all the billboard ads, posters, etc. Arrggghh!! Don’t get me wrong they all are part of marketing but the concept has evolved. Thanks to the internet and digital technology, we now have a blockbuster hit in marketing known as Digital Marketing. Funnily, all those billboard concepts and posters, though a form of marketing and still necessary are now known as traditional marketing. Now you know where I am going because you can only read this digitally.
I would assume we don’t understand what digital marketing is, so WHAT IS DIGITAL MARKETING?
This is marketing that makes use of electronic devices such as computers, smartphones, cellphones, tablets, TVs, and game consoles to engage with its stakeholders or customers. It is mainly carried out via the web unlike traditional marketing done through offline media like print posters. In truth just like the physical world exists there’s a world known as the digital world (social media, BBM, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, online, smartphones. etc.), and most people want to remain there rather than on the streets, hence a need to market to them than put billboards.
The debate continues as to whether digital marketing is overpowering and surpassing traditional marketing or not. Over the last year or so, traditional marketing had fallen nearly 160% while in the same time frame, expenses for digital marketing increased over 14%. Are there any real advantages to using digital marketing over traditional means? Let’s find out, here are some benefits of digital marketing.
7 Reasons you should consider Digital Marketing over Traditional Marketing
1) Equal Playing Field
Through digital marketing and the web, every business has equal opportunity to market its product and it is insignificant how large your physical business is or that of your competitor. Through proper content ads, campaigns, an organized website, and other compacts of digital marketing, a persuasive business with good advert content, concept, and customer engagement would gain more regardless of size.
2) Digital Marketing is More Accessible:
The internet has a wider reach and this makes digital marketing more accessible. Digital marketing has the potential to reach exponentially more customers than traditional marketing, since most aspect of digital marketing is open to all web users such as SEO marketing (Google) unlike traditional marketing which is very restricting.
The average Facebook user has 190 friends of which an average of 12% see their liked posts – your new message has actually been seen by 15 new prospects. Now, imagine a number of them also like and share your message and their friends do the same.
3) Digital Marketing is Tracked and Measurable
You can track your digital marketing campaign strategy to see how it’s generating new leads and how your targets are responding to your marketing campaign, with that you can identify the specific strategy that is more effective as well as identify the lapses to your marketing campaign for modification. There is so much tracking you can do but we are limited by space and topic. You can also measure your progress against your business goals, and quickly adapt your entire marketing strategy to take advantage of what’s working best.
4) Digital Marketing Is Cheaper: Digital marketing is more cost-effective than advertising in traditional media. A well-executed digital marketing strategy, for a reasonable monthly investment, gives your business the power to advertise effectively against larger competitors, reach a wider audience of qualified customers, generate new revenue, and get the data you need to accurately measure your return on investment (ROI).
In digital marketing, you are provided with multiple choices from display ad, SEO, and a lot more. You can modify your budget to run a digital campaign accordingly, whether it is one on social media platforms or search engines. Digital marketing allows a budget which you can afford. Plus, many strategies just do not cost any money such as setting up a social media page or a blog.
On the other hand, traditional marketing is expensive. Whether you place your advertisement on a bill board or print media, it’s going to cost you.
5) Change in Customer Behavior: No doubt, the concept of marketing is totally customer segmented because they are the most important assets and customers are aware of this power. Before purchasing any good either online or offline, they conduct research of such products, checking reviews, referrals, and content relating to the product including information on the business online.They can only identify your business if it has utilized digital marketing through SEO, display ads, social media marketing and so on. Or else your wise competitor would be welcoming a new buyer.
6) Digital Marketing Provides Customer Engagement: Digital marketing is a two way street where customers are not only accessible but are also engaged. The business tend to interact with the customers easily, understanding what the customers need through feedbacks, identifying the customers challenges with their product and creating a stronger customer relationship which would boost sale. However it is difficult for customers to interact through traditional marketing since it is one way street with 90% awareness.
7) Better Targeting: Every brand has its target customers and those whom their product essentially caters to. Digital marketing can be conducted to specifically focus on such potential customers. This reduces arbitrariness and proper marketing concentration, unlike traditional marketing which is difficult to segment except only by location.
Don’t cross your legs thinking Nigeria is still far in digital marketing, you will be shocked to know that she is ranked 1 in the top 10 African internet countries. A time would come when 99% of our working activities would be done online/digital. The beauty of the digital community is that it has no transportation issue, so if you have been leveraging traditional marketing, it’s time to expand your vision and that of your business, go digital, and utilize digital marketing. What are you waiting for? Contact us at webcoupers@webcoupers.com to be part of the digital economy.