Whether you’re a business owner or freelancer, you should care about digital marketing. But, first things first, what actually is it?
Put simply, digital marketing is using the internet, phones, search engines and social media to attract customers. To be the most successful, you should try to target a complete range of digital marketing channels. So, if you’re not already convinced, here are some reasons to care about digital marketing.
Reaching customers
Digital marketing is a great way to reach customers. Think about it. Most of us spend hours of our lives scrolling through our phones. Most young people have social media profiles and connect, comment and share on a regular basis. So, by using digital marketing you’ll able to connect with a wider audience. If you can direct people to your website you’ll increase sales and raise your profile. Posting regular relevant content on social media will encourage conversations and direct traffic.
Research and monitoring
Another great thing about digital marketing is that you can monitor your accounts and work out what is performing well. This means that you can get a better understanding of your customers and clients and what they want to see. If you do testing, you can save money on marketing, too. You’ll determine which ads are working well before you spend more money on them. This means that you have a better marketing strategy and reach more people.
Staying relevant
It’s important to stay relevant, both as a freelancer and a business owner. Digital marketing helps you do that. You can analyse what people are identifying with and tailor your products or services. If young people are your main demographic, make sure you stay up to date with the language they’re using and things they like to post. TikTok, for example, has become widely popular over the last few years and is a great place to raise brand awareness among young people. It’s important to stay relevant and keep updating your products if you want to have a business with a long shelf life.
Competitors are doing it
If no other reasons will convince you, perhaps this one will. Most of your competitors will be using digital marketing strategies. They’ll have websites and social media profiles. If you don’t, you’ll fall behind. They will attract more customers and people will talk about their brand more. So, keep up and start caring about digital marketing. How else will you beat your competitors?
Competing with big companies
Big companies will have more resources than you. They’ll have more money, which means more office space, more employees and more public attention. The great thing about the internet is that anyone can use it. There’s no reason that your website can’t be as good as a big company you’re competing with. So, get smart with your digital marketing and use it wisely. Monitor your results and research what works. Sure, your office might be small, but your digital marketing can be big.