The influence of digital marketing

Your job as a business owner is to make sure there is a steady stream of new revenue flowing in month after month. Your employees count on this so they can put food on their tables. Your customers count on this so they continue to benefit from your products and services.

That’s a lot of pressure placed on you. You need to find a predictable way to market so leads and sales become automatic. Digital marketing is the most effective way to accomplish your overall advertising goals. Let’s explore the influence of online advertising and how to take advantage of its benefits.

What is Digital Marketing?

Simply put, it means you’re using Internet technology to advertise to your target market. The goal is to get the attention of your future customers and either attract new leads or make direct sales. Here are the various techniques that encompass the online advertising world.

• Content distribution

• SEO (search engine optimization)

• Email advertising

• Pay-per-click (PPC)

• Social media advertising

• Inbound advertising

How Digital Advertising Affects Your Company

Take a look at how advertising online impacts how businesses operate in the digital world.

• Customer information

You gain the ability to track customer data in a way that provides you with everything you need to know about their preferences. Following customer data helps hone your messaging so it has an impact on customer decisions.

• Customer communication

You can quickly communicate with your audience.

• Transparency

Advertising is no longer a one-way street. Customers want to know about you and what your company is all about. Digital platforms like social media allow your customers to understand your company’s personality. This information helps them make decisions about buying from you.

• Content distribution

You gain the ability to share an immense amount of content with your audience via digital advertising. Communicate through emails, social media, newsletters and apps.

• Gain a Competitive Edge

Most small businesses are behind the curve with digital advertising. Learn how to leverage this medium so that you gain an edge over your competition. Advertising online also helps you compete against larger companies because it levels the playing field.

• Cost-Effective Advertising

You don’t need to invest large sums of advertising dollars online to bring in leads and sales. There are even free methods you and your team will benefit from. These include partnerships with influencers and social media posting.

• Improve Overall Conversions

It’s simple to track important ROI numbers online. Track views, open rates, click-through rates and other metrics, so you know which digital mediums are producing the best results. Once you know these numbers, you can focus on what’s already working and improve sales conversions over time.

• Increase Revenue

Your company revenue will improve as your conversions get better. Use a combination of social media advertising, web content and email distribution to drive sales throughout your entire online sales funnel.

• Target Your Best Audience

Digital advertising has become favored over traditional advertising because it allows companies to target specific market segments. You have the opportunity to drill down and target your audience based on age, income level, professional position and even zip code.

• Use Mobile Marketing

Mobile use is on the rise. Getting seen on the mobile devices used by your target market has become simple. Facebook advertising, for example, makes it easy to show your ads on smartphones. Instagram and other social apps do the same. Optimizing your website for mobile will help you get found in search more often than competitors who fail to upgrade their websites.

• Improve Brand Recognition

Some business owners think traditional media is the only way to increase brand exposure. The reality is that digital advertising provides your company with the same advantage. Not only can you gain maximum exposure online, but you can do so with an audience that will most likely turn into leads and sales.

• Influencer Marketing

Don’t underestimate the world of influencer marketing and how it can bring in new customers for your brand. Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube have influencers with huge audiences holding their breath with every word they say.

Create partnerships with these influencers and get them to talk positively about your products and services. This method of digital marketing leads to direct sales once you’re introduced to an influencer’s audience.

• Get Measurable Results

Tracking software like Google Analytics provides ways to track each advertising channel for your company. Evaluating performance in a detailed manner helps when making decisions about your next campaign.

• Influence Buying Decisions

Use the power of messaging and copy to get into the minds of your target market. Digital advertising is most effective when you understand your avatar and its basic needs and wants. Craft calls-to-action that guide your prospects down the path of understanding why your products and services are the best solutions on the market.

Now, you've learned why digital advertising benefits your company's need for more leads and sales. Your next step is to make a plan that selects the best digital platforms for your specific type of business.

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Meet Nour Alhamwi:

A serial strategist and visual designer at heart, I’ve been helping companies reach their branding, sales, and outreach goals through a myriad of multichannel solutions through both leading teams of existing marketing and branding pros and taking on the challenges of improving firm reputations, boosting brand awareness, and skyrocketing bottom lines. I’m anxious and honored to bring my unique combination of experiences as a professionally trained visual designer, master of brand strategy, and authority on proven sales techniques to your firm.