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In Canada, companies are allotting 61% of the total ad budget for digital marketing in 2020. Understandably so because the internet via any device is the most used media among adults with 5.53 hours of daily engagement.
So, if you want to reach your audience without losing much money, digital seems to be the answer. And that applies to the before, during, and post-pandemic market environment.
Marketing your business online is cheaper than marketing it on traditional platforms. Also, internet marketing generates a higher ROI when done correctly.
For example, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you make $44 in revenue. And you can enjoy an average of 26% of traffic from Google CPC alone. That may not seem like much but it’s measurable, which is the major problem with traditional media. You can’t measure the latter.
Think about it. Can you write an accurate number of eyeballs your billboards generate? You can give a ballpark, surely, which is how billboard companies decide their fee, but you can’t say anything for sure.
So, when you’re losing money or are on a tight budget because of the failing economy, which one would you choose – one that’s measurable or one that isn’t?
Digital marketing can improve your customer retention rate
In 2019, Keap’s respondents confirmed that keeping customers was their fourth-biggest challenge. Interestingly, it was also their third biggest marketing goal.
So, if that was the case last year when the economy was relatively stable, it’s safe to presume that a poor customer retention rate must worry more businesses in 2020.
You can use online marketing to target specific customer segments and leads, so you can understand the reason for them not coming back.
For instance, a high churn rate is a common problem among SaaS companies that offer free trials. People try the service only to never return. For this reason, it requires email marketers to engage with such customers to create strategies that allow them to reduce anywhere between 60% to 80% churn rate.
This goes to show that once you solve problems, you experience high retention rates, which is only possible through digital marketing’s two-way communication feature.
It’s a way for small businesses to compete with large corporations
Gone are the days when referrals controlled your product’s demand. Nowadays, 78% of internet users prefer doing their own product research before making a buying decision. That’s your cue to shine.
The reason so many businesses love SEO is that it’s one of the few ways they can compete with large businesses that have more resources. Producing good content may be tough, but it isn’t expensive. It’s doable.
So, even if you can’t spend millions of dollars on marketing and advertising, you can improve your organic traffic with SEO and social media advertising while spending less than $5 per day.
That’s a great way to ensure you’re cutting down on your expenses while still having decent brand visibility across all platforms in the post-pandemic market.
You can test the waters with digital marketing
Here’s the problem with sticking to traditional marketing methods. Once you push out a campaign, do it at scale to justify the costs and get better deals on your media plans. It’s a gamble after that.
Obviously, it isn’t always a terrible miss because marketers usually perform a test run on focus groups, but traditional marketing can’t guarantee your results.
Today, close to 5 billion people use the internet and it’s possible to filter them till you’ve narrowed your search down to an accurate buyer persona.
Once that’s done, digital marketing allows you to carry out A/B testing on your actual audience, not just a focus group. Through feedback, data analysis, and behaviour observation, you can improve your marketing activities before launching a full-blown campaign.
By running test campaigns on small groups, not only can you perfect your campaigns but also ensure that your investment generates high ROI.
It’s the only way to target individual buyers
People check their social media immediately after waking up. So, you know exactly where your buyers are. All you have to do is find them.
As mentioned before, online marketing allows you to super-specify your search. But did you know you could individually choose your customers?
There are a bunch of marketing automation tools that help you find your ideal buyer one by one. It isn’t as time-consuming as it sounds because it automates everything. But you can choose whom to sell – a feature that newspapers can’t offer.
A cost-effective way of getting through the pandemic, isn’t it?
Google Analytics and Search Console can help you personalize your campaigns
Speaking of choosing ideal buyers, personalization is yet another benefit of online marketing. From sending customized buyer journey emails to creating online campaigns for, say, ‘30-year-old single mothers,’ you can weed out the deadwood and save a ton of money.
But wait, there’s more.
By using free tools from Google to personalize your marketing activities, you can increase your conversions by 42% spending no more money.
You can use Analytics to find out who’s interested in your products, where they’re spending most of their time on your page, and analyze the heatmap of your website to see what works and what doesn’t.
Through Google Search Console, you can also get a list of the keywords people are using to land on your page and use them to improve your SEO strategy. Kind of like playing by your strengths.
It’s easier to do focused advertising and retargeting online
There’s no way of knowing who interacted with your business offline if you don’t record their personal details. So, you can’t reach out to them when you have something that might interest them.
But when you market your business online, it’s a little different. You can use cookies to get back to your customers not only because you have something for them but also because you want to follow up on them regarding their previous interaction.
Now that the pandemic has made it uneconomical to spend more on finding new buyers, re-targeting can help you find people who are already interested in buying from you.
Besides, it’s much easier and cheaper to sell to a customer who’s already bought from you or has shown interest in your products than to one that’s never even heard from you.
Once again, customer retention is a major benefit of marketing your business online. And when done correctly, internet marketing can prove to be the most cost-effective way of growing and surviving your business in the post-pandemic market.
