No matter what kind of business you start, you are anxious to see those first customers, clients, and orders come through the door.
You may be tempted to rush out and place ads in printed magazines, local papers, billboards, and even on television and radio, believing this is how to get the fastest flow of business.
But is this the fastest way to connect with your future customers?
There is an ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of traditional marketing versus digital marketing.
Even experts seem to vary in their opinions. There is a place for each of these, but there are proven advantages to using digital marketing in today’s marketplace.
What is the digital age?
We hear the term often. If you ask someone what living in the digital age means, you will probably hear something along the lines of people using the internet for everything.
That is minimally correct. Forbes Magazine explains it well. We are living in a time when technology is widely available.
The technology that we use grows at rapid rates and allows businesses to reach global markets at high rates of speed.
This is very important especially when you start a business and want people to hear about your products and services at once.
However, the computer systems that we take advantage of and give little thought to are actually powerhouses of information with extraordinary artificial intelligence and quantum computing functions.
The technology side of the digital age is not the only change. The other side of the coin is the change this has had on the way companies must manage their businesses.
For digital marketing and digital tools to make a company successful, the company must invest in revolutionary methods of management.
This usually comes down to the concept of people providing value and service to people with the help of their digital systems.
The combination of these two methods makes the digital age the greatest marketing system to date.
Example
Lottoland Ltd, in its conception, had the goal of becoming the world’s leading online lottery company.
It was understood they would have to have a state-of-the-art computer system, a rock-solid digital marketing plan, and marketers that understood the global client base challenges.
They knew the challenges they would face were not for the faint of heart. They would have to reach out to millions of people in various countries.
This means communication in different languages and taking different laws, cultures, and demographics into consideration with each new step they took.
It meant effectively communicating via email not only with end-users, but with government agencies, marketing firms, advertisers, and others that would impact their message. The success of Lottoland is renowned.
Of course, punters do not have to think about any of this. To them, it is as simple as going online to place their lottery bets.
If they are Irish fans, a simple search of “Irish lotto online here” will bring them to Lottoland, and in a moment or two, they have placed their bets. That is one of the perks of digital marketing.
Good Business
Digital marketing is all done via computers. With computer-generated advertising, you can track your social media ads, email marketing campaigns, and hits to your website.
The system you use can tell you where your customer or lead came from. It can tell you if they visited your website, and if they clicked through, and how long they spent on each page.
You can easily compile their information, so you know what type of client your ads are attracting and how to better reach others.
Pricing is much more effective because you can see exactly how much each sale costs you and the return on that investment. This is invaluable information that has never been so easy to harvest.
Keeping up with the competition
Every business has competitors. It has long been a problem for small business owners, knowing what the big guys are offering and how to get their share of the market.
The digital age opens up everything – anyone can access someone’s website.
While a small business owner may have to get creative to offer service in a way that the industry giants cannot touch, they will not be caught off guard when they find out about a promotion that they were unaware of.
In many ways doing business on the internet levels the playing field.
Marketing in any form is about connecting with and creating a relationship with your customers. In the age of technology, you have a global base to choose from.
You do not have to hope someone sees your shop, finds a coupon, or hears about you on the radio and decides to stop by.
You can reach thousands of people, and they can easily visit your business with a touch of a button. Digital marketing is the key to putting your business start-up on the fast track to success.