Since the onset of COVID-19, the world has made efforts to contain its spread. These efforts included locking down inter-state borders, limiting movements within the boundaries and shutting down non-essential businesses. While these limitations are flattening the curve of disease spread, they are diminishing regular business operations, meaning businesses need to find alternate solutions to keep providing services for their customers and stay afloat during these challenging times.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is an aspect of managing relationships and communications which uses digital or online platforms to promote services and products. Simply put, digital marketing involves the use of digital and information technologies to carry out marketing procedures.
Digital marketing services have evolved through the years, from radio and television adverts to digital billboards. Currently, marketing has grown from out-of-home advertisements to include marketing products and services online; through channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, LinkedIn and more.
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Why does a Company Need Digital Marketing?
Irrespective of the COVID-19 crisis, digital marketing has increasingly become a company’s foremost asset. Digital marketing helps businesses grow their reach and generate leads, which eventually lead to sales. Some of the benefits of digital marketing include:
Being More Affordable
Although there are a variety of prices for different digital marketing options, digital marketing services are substantially cost-effective compared to other marketing options. Organic social media posts for start ups can just be the cost of time, and the varied pricing options make it an essential element to every online business, big or small.
Broader Reach
At least ninety-nine million in every one hundred million people in the world own a minimum of one electronic device. Because so many people own either radio, TV sets, or any form of a smart device, using digital marketing services reaches a large audience. Due to its online reach, companies can expand their customer base to places where they have no physical branch locations.
Flexible Range of Uses
With digital marketing, companies have many options and strategies for publicity. Some of these options include:
- Social media advertising
- Email marketing
- Search engine advertising
- Direct messages
These are some of the innovative options that make digital marketing useful for a variety of businesses.
Incorporating Multimedia Options
With digital marketing, businesses have a lot of room to include a variety of media options. Companies would not need to use bland adverts that only use text, and there is room to add videos, images, sound, and even animation to bring ads to life and catch the customer’s attention.
Tracking and Monitoring Campaigns are Easier with Digital Marketing
More traditional marketing options like billboards don’t give tracking information. Nobody confirms how many people look at a company’s billboard advert or if it is effective. Digital marketing has analytic tools — like Google Analytics — which help companies track their ad performance and monitor how their campaigns are doing real-time.
Digital Marketing is Good For Public and Customer Relationships
Traditional mass marketing strategies are great for one-way interaction, as there is no provision for immediate hands-on communication. Digital marketing allows for two-way communication and feedback, which makes customers feel more included. Inclusion and building trust is a business owner’s most significant asset for customer relationships.
The Competing Company is Already On It
Most competitors have already included digital marketing to their strategy giving them a competitive edge. Utilising digital marketing platforms ensures that companies are competing on a level playing field.
How Digital Marketing Services Can Help Businesses Amid the Pandemic
With the new lockdowns in place, everyone who has to stay at home all day has resorted to finding new options for entertainment. With libraries closed, bookworms cannot find solace in hardcopy books, so e-books are growing in popularity. People that own phones spend more time online since the onset of the lockdown measures.
Having a large number of people focused on their smart devices means that companies can reach even more people during this time. With an increased rate of smart device usage, some of the following is expected:
- People read emails more because they have more time
- People pay attention to adverts more than they would have before
- Different applications are gaining recognition
- There is a larger chance messages are received immediately when they are delivered to a device
- People are binge watching TV shows with their free time
But, knowing this doesn’t do much if companies cannot figure out how it benefits them. Firstly, spending money on any available advert platform now is bound to get more engaged viewers.
Secondly, emailing customers now makes them feel cared for and can create brand loyalty during these uncertain times. Throwing in a bit of advertisement when customers are emotional can help a company. Even a simple reminder that your industry is willing to help them will boost patronage and loyalty.
Thirdly, curious people may be researching the internet currently on a broader variety of topics, so updating digital marketing strategies will increase discoverability across various platforms. Digital marketing services put companies where they can be seen, and with the COVID-19 crisis, any brand can achieve a global reach.
Many researchers and professionals also believe that the habits developed during the lockdown will be with us for a long time. This statistic means that being able to reach anyone at this point increases a company’s chance of having them in the long term. So, creating new digital marketing networks right now is an excellent way to reach new lasting customers, hence, meeting the need for growth. Having digital marketing services also helps a company to continue delivering daily services through online shopping, conferencing, delivery, and more.
How to Choose A Digital Marketing Agency
Making this decision can be challenging, especially with something as sensitive as marketing. The right digital marketing agency can make an enormous difference in effective marketing.
Making digital marketing choices yourself is not a bad idea, but running a company requires delegation. So, having a trustworthy digital marketing agency can be beneficial. These are some helpful tips in picking the right digital marketing agency for your business:
- Understand the company’s budget and needs so that it is easy to describe expectations to prospects.
- Demand transparency from possible candidates
- Try to ensure credibility from reviews
- Ensure the prospective agency has experience in the relevant field and can adapt to changes effectively
- Check for experience with technicalities
- Choose an agent that has a similar personality type, as it makes communication less tedious.
In conclusion, digital marketing services can boost many companies’ growth during this challenging time and help them get through to the other end of the pandemic. However, leaving more traditional methods behind requires work, so it is a good time to establish a digital foundation now more than ever before.
References
https://www.ballantine.com/10-undeniable-reasons-need-digital-marketing/