Part 2: Why Digital Marketing?
In the first article in our digital marketing series, we reviewed the need to adapt to the changing and uncertain conditions we are witnessing at present. Creating a list identifying how you could pivot your business operations, or in fact leverage stronger demand, is a great starting point.
In this piece, we explore why digital marketing is an important consideration in your overall marketing plan.
You’ll notice most people no longer flick through newspapers and magazines, they’re in fact scrolling on their digital devices. In a world where we are constantly consuming media, digital is one of the easiest ways to do it. We look to connect with like-minded people, groups and communities and share our lives on social media.
Digital media covers a range of subsections including online search, email, websites, social media and eCommerce. And the statistics don’t lie.
- 93% of online experiences start with a search engine
- 72% of Australians are on social media
- 34.8m = active monthly combined audience on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter in Australia
We are spending more time than ever engaging with digital media and being on our digital devices.
The top five websites by traffic in Australia show exactly how customers act online. Google is easily number one, followed by YouTube (owned by Google), Facebook, eBay and Instagram (owned by Facebook).
You must be where your customers are, in order to be part of the conversation, understand their needs and ultimately gain their trust and business.
In identifying the importance of digital marketing for your business, review your website and social media statistics to gauge how any people interact with you online. Weight that up against other statistics that indicate how many offline interactions or transactions you receive, perhaps the number of walk-ins, phone calls or vouchers redeemed.
Traditional thinking had some believing that only younger audiences consumed their media digitally. This is simply not true.
If your audience is online, there is an opportunity to have a more personalised and often more cost effective conversation with them through digital marketing.
So, by now, what we’ve asked you to do is:
- Create an ideas list – how can our business get on board with changes to our customers’ behaviour or new social norms?
- Once you understand where your new or potential sources of business may come from, now note the digital and offline footprint your customers make in researching, communicating and transacting with you. This is all part of getting to the heart of solving your customers’ questions.
Next up, we start to look at the role your content plays in the digital marketing process.
Catch up on previous articles in this series.
