Is Digital Marketing the Answer for Your Brand?

How do you effectively reach and engage with your audience? It has been a question asked by many marketers and business owners over time and the harsh reality is that if you cannot send the right messaging to your target demographic, no matter how good your product or business is, you will not improve your business. Everyone knows about traditional advertising platforms such as billboards and newspaper clippings, but a lot of people get completely lost when it comes to digital marketing. Many questions we often hear as marketers are: Where do I begin? What platforms do I use? Should I pay for all my social media posts? And so the list goes on.

Understanding the Value of Your Marketing Investment

The correct answer is, of course, that there is no one correct answer. Depending on your target demographic there could be any number of digital strategies that would be effective for your business. The important message to take away is not what platforms to use for your business, but to understand why digital platforms are effective if managed properly. It is often a common thought that marketing is just another expense and, don't get me wrong, marketing is an expense! Just like when we purchase anything else though, we purchase it for its value and as long as you aren't making random guesses, marketing spend will often result in increased exposure for your brand, which in turn should bring profits. A 5:1 ratio is typically considered a good return on investment for marketing campaigns.

The Digital Advantage: Accessibility and Analytics

The advantage of digital marketing platforms like Facebook and Google is not only that they are easy to analyse, but they also have no minimum costs and therefore are open platforms from your side hustle to your big time ASX 200 brands. On the other hand, some traditional marketing platforms like billboards and newspapers are expensive to book spots and can be hard to analyse. Digital marketing platforms allow us to target our audiences based on a range of demographic data without any additional costs and if you don't exactly know who to target then they can help you out too. They also allow us to track our analytics after content has been posted to see who exactly has interacted with our brand rather than taking an educated guess like traditional media.

Strategic Timing and Seamless Customer Experience

The other advantage of digital media is that we can target our audiences at certain parts of the day. For example, if you're a sandwich shop you might want to target your potential customer just before their lunch break. This way we can reach our audience whenever they consume media on their laptop or smartphone. These smart devices also become convenient for an advertiser or business when digital media allows for click throughs to submit online forms or go straight to a website or an email address. This not only makes it easier for your customer to perform an action, but it can also help brands to realize where their leads are being generated.

Geographic Reach and Community Building

This is also a massive help when you run a business that may stretch further than your local suburbs. If you run a business that serves everywhere from Brisbane to Perth it may be hard to keep track of the advertisements that you run away from home, but with the help of digital platforms you can not only keep a track of the results and engagement with your content, but you can also quality control your content with much more accuracy and keep in better communication with your furthest reaching customers helping to build a positive virtual online community.

Digital Marketing: The Modern Solution for Small Business

Don't get me wrong, traditional marketing still has its place and value in the communications world, but digital marketing especially for small businesses is a proven method for successful advertisements. It is not only cost effective, but allows us to reach far and wide whilst still narrowing down to the audience we actually need to speak to. It allows brands to truly engage and communicate with their potential clients and create positive brand communities and most importantly ongoing relationships with their audience.

Digital marketing used correctly can be extremely beneficial to your brand. The platforms offer unparalleled targeting capabilities, detailed analytics, and cost-effective solutions that work for businesses of all sizes. Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale your existing efforts, digital marketing provides the tools and insights you need to connect with your audience effectively. If you need help with your online digital media presence and strategy, the team at Delto is here to guide you every step of the way.