In the past, when companies wanted to advertise their products/services, they did so through traditional marketing channels such as TV, radio or print media.
Written by: Granit Doshlaku
Until recently, this has worked well and has been efficient, however, the same cannot be said for the last decade. This is because major technological developments have already changed the way consumers communicate with brands and vice versa. As a result, it is necessary that when planning your marketing campaign you ensure that digital marketing is deeply integrated into your marketing strategy.
Digital marketing and the benefits it brings may not be new to most of us. Almost every business in Kosovo today is present in at least one of the digital channels through the website, Google, Facebook, Twitter and similar channels. This presence has come as a result of changes in the habits of consumers who spend most of their time online in social networks. reading the news or using search engines to find the information you need.
The idea of marketing has always been that the messages that a brand wants to convey to its audience appear where the consumer is spending most of the time and where the likelihood of attention is greater. A decade ago, this place would have been TV, Radio or Print Media, while today it is social networks, search engines, mobile devices and electronic media (which we have in abundance).
Changes can be difficult but in some cases they are necessary. In case you still have doubts about the effectiveness of digital marketing, below I bring you 11 reasons that will make you change your mind (or at least I hope you will rethink your strategy).
1. Return on investment is fast & measurable
One of the advantages of digital marketing is that everything is measurable. If you spend an amount x €, through the available tools you can measure how that amount was spent, how many saw your ad, how many clicked on it or made a purchase as a result of that ad and above all what was the return on investment.
2. It’s one of the fastest growing industries and it’s here to stay
Digital marketing is not a trend that will fade with time. Spending on digital marketing by 2019 is expected to be over 103 billion dollars. Although businesses in Kosovo have only started to take this branch more seriously in the last 2 years, a relatively low number of businesses have begun to understand the importance and benefits that digital marketing brings and are working on creating strategies to position themselves in this channel. of marketing.
Advice: Being a new industry in our country, you are in a favorable position to be among the first to start investing in this marketing channel and when this industry really ‘explodes’ in Kosovo, you have already created an audience around of your products/services and the more experience you gain, the better prepared you are to face the competition.
3. It is cheaper and more effective than traditional marketing
Traditional marketing is known for its high costs and is almost unaffordable for many small businesses. In contrast to this, digital marketing also gives small businesses the opportunity to achieve the goals set by them with a much smaller investment than would be required for traditional marketing, which could be increased sales, brand advertising, advertising in front of targeted audiences (by age, gender, country, etc.) and similar.
4. The ad is displayed in front of the audience defined by you
Digital marketing enables you to display the ad that you pay for in front of an audience that you define yourself. When advertising you can decide that the ad will only appear in front of a group of people of a certain age, in a specific location during a certain period of time.
As a business, you only have knowledge of what and who your ideal customers are and through digital advertising you target your ad to appear only in front of this audience so that the number of people who will convert into your potential customer is greater.
5. You earn customers’ trust by interacting with them on digital channels
Presence in digital channels should never be one-sided. By interacting with your existing and potential customers, you gain their trust, help strengthen the brand, and all this affects the increase in the number of sales/customers.
Another benefit of being a social presence is that you can monitor what consumers are saying about your brand and become part of these discussions. It would be a very pleasant surprise for these customers to see that you as a brand care what they think and that you take all their opinions into consideration.
On the other hand, your non-presence in these digital channels where your customers are spending most of their time gives a bad signal to existing customers but also to potential customers about the company and the services/products you offer.
6. It helps to grow your online business
A significant number of businesses in our country have created an online presence through the website or social networks. However, in order to justify the expenses incurred for the creation of this presence, you must achieve certain objectives of your business through it. If the number of visitors is not satisfactory or is not qualitative in the sense that they do not convert into customers for your company then it is a problem to justify the expenses incurred.
Digital marketing allows you to review your online strategy, determine the type of ideal visitor who is most likely to become a potential customer, and then target that group of audiences with advertisements and bring them to your website. From there it is then easier to convince them to buy your products/services.
7. Ad management is easier, faster and more practical
Unlike traditional marketing through TV, radio or print media, digital marketing channels are easier to manage and control. For example, a blog article or a status on social networks can be posted in a few minutes and if you are not satisfied you can change it in real time. Then platforms like Facebook Ads and Google AdWords enable you to stop, change, create different versions of an ad and test which one is performing better and make decisions based on their performance even after the ads are launched.
8. You can see the performance of the ad in real time
Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing provides data and reports on the performance of your ads in real time. In traditional marketing to evaluate the success of a campaign you need additional engagement through surveys and audience analysis to gather valuable data. On the other hand, tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights and other tools enable marketers to analyze ad performance in real time wherever they are.
9. Enables brands to interact and communicate with their customers
Through digital marketing you can convey your message to the audience but at the same time it allows the audience to express their opinions and interact with the brand.
You can do this through the blog in the company where in the comments section consumers have the opportunity to express their opinion and discuss with responsible persons from the company. The same applies especially to social networks.
Tip: Try to always respond to commenters on the company blog or social networks as soon as possible, as many experts suggest, no later than 1 hour. Even if you just write ‘Thank you’ or ‘We appreciate your opinion’ it’s better than nothing. In this way you will create a connection with customers and they can easily become ambassadors of your brand.
10. The effect of a digital marketing campaign lasts longer
Various digital marketing channels such as writing on the company’s blog or site optimization for search engines (SEO) are known for their long-lasting effects.
A website with quality content and optimized for search engines will continue to bring in quality visitors who have searched for keywords relevant to the topics you cover months after those articles are published.
11. Your competitors are only investing in digital marketing
Chances are that your competitors have already created a website, are optimizing it for search engines, are advertising on social networks and building a targeted audience of followers, are strengthening the brand and increasing consumer confidence in their services/products. theirs and in this way they are converting your potential customers into loyal customers of their services. If you still have doubts, chances are that your business will lag behind the competition.
Traditional marketing is still effective for a certain part of the audience, but in order to maximize the results, you need to make digital marketing an important part of your marketing campaign. If you are still not convinced of the importance of digital marketing, you are missing golden business opportunities. Remember, a large number of potential customers are waiting for you in the digital world.
Success!
Granit Doshlaku is the co-founder and head of the SEO department at the digital marketing agency, blackberries.
