If you aren’t online, you don’t exist. The popular saying serves as a poignant reminder to businesses who make light of the potential in digital marketing. There’s a grain of truth behind this slightly exaggerated claim, and it’s important to understand why. The majority of the world’s population is connected to the World Wide Web. And the number of encounters with new businesses occurring in the digital sphere is increasing.
For some businesses, they caught the wave early on, and have been reaping the benefits. For those who are late to the party, here are a few reasons why improving your online presence can guarantee your business greater success in the future.
1. Affordability
Social media is FREE (or low-cost) marketing. If your startup is short on advertising dollars, to start, utilising social media is a great alternative. Popular social networks include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. These apps allow for content sharing, photo/video uploads, and so much more. The latest phenomenon, as seen on Snapchat and now Facebook is the “Stories” feature. As a company, your brand story, and the message is important, and what better way to showcase it through branded stories. At no additional cost.
The short-form visual content trend is here for the long run, and it has affected the social media strategies of brands, from all niches, and sizes. Not exactly sure where to start? EZSiteBuilders has created a lengthy, informational article as a guide for your marketing efforts.
2. Staying competitive
Your competition is hip to the game. And you should be too.
Odds are that three out of four of your top competitors already have a foothold in the digital space. “Everyone is doing it,” and yes, while your company should strive to be different to stand out, ironically, you need to do what everyone else is doing in order to do so. And that is, marketing your brand online.
This is where the differentiation begins. How you market your brand in the digital space is what makes or breaks it. The digital space is limitless, and your competition will be finding ways to take advantage of it. It keeps you on your toes!
3. Your customers are online
81% of shoppers conduct research online before they make a purchase. This says a lot!
Whether it’s social media or search engines like Google, your customers are logged on – as most of them have their smartphones glued to their hands. And this is where you need to be. Gone are days of relying solely on traditional marketing methods, such as TV commercials, newspaper ads, and radio spots.
Boosting your online presence should be the first course of action – especially if you want to succeed in this day and age. Keep in mind that old rules of marketing still apply in the digital space.