As of January 2016, the number of active companies in India, as per the PDF list published on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website, was 10, 00,000. In words, this would be ten million. Remember the following things; this data is from 2 years ago and is restricted only to India. Imagine the number of companies operating on the global level at present and these are just the listed ones.
The motive of every company, apart from the not-for-profit ones is to do business and earn profit. If you were to ask any business house, what are two of their biggest challenges, undoubtedly the answers would be ‘What to produce?’ and ‘For whom to produce?’ Production here does not only refer to manufacturing goods but also providing a service.
Answers?
There is no need to worry for the answers have been discovered. Innovation answers what to produce. Marketing pertains to the question for whom to produce. In terms of ranking, marketing is second, only because innovating is a bit more complex job. Once you know what you have to produce, you figure out to whom you will sell it.
Over the years, the methodologies of marketing have changed drastically. What started with personal marketing, when producers would put up stalls in markets to display their goods or services or go door to door, now get the latest updates about our favourite brands and companies sitting right at home. Newspapers, television, mobile phones, we get everything, everywhere. Although, it would be safe to say, that compared to a decade earlier, people now use more of digital media.
The internet; it does make the world a smaller place. The use of such digital technologies, mostly on the internet, for the marketing of goods and services is more commonly known as digital marketing. With the pace of advancement in technology, digital marketing methods such as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), SEM (Search Engine Management), Pay-Per-Click (PPC),content marketing, social media optimisation, content automation, campaign drives are becoming more and more common.
The number of companies operating in the market is increasing, and the number of consumers is, well remaining almost the same. Hence, it is very difficult for business houses to maintain as well as attract new customers. There have been many talks regarding data protection and consumer privacy, but we cannot deny the fact that digital marketing is the future for every business and here are the reasons why:
Why Digital Marketing Is The Future For Every Business:
a) Around 82% of customers, conduct research about new products online.
b) According to e-Marketer, mobiles will account for 72% ad spends by 2019.
c) As of 2016, 34% companies have already formulated an integrated digital marketing plan.
d) In a recent survey, 72% marketers were of the belief that by end of 2017, digital marketing is what will help companies to generate 30% higher revenues.
e) At present”Being digital means being global”. As now online platforms such as search engine, social media helps you to connect with users worldwide and globally. Thus digital marketing helps to establish business globally.
Why Digital Marketing Is Important For Every Business
a) Digital Marketing is more cost-effective than Traditional Marketing:
As per Gartner’s Digital Marketing Spend Report, 40% respondents claimed getting a considerable amount of savings upon using digital marketing methods. Another advantage with this is for the small business houses. Since they have very limited resources and an even limited capital budget, digital marketing gives them an opportunity to compete head-to-head with the big companies, by providing them a better marketing channel, which gives results.
b) It delivers conversion:
The success of any business is not measured by the traffic coming on its website but by the percentage of that traffic which is converted into sales. There is no point in investing money if we do not get a return on it. Hence, conversion optimization is so important for a business. Apart from SEO, SMO, emails are a very effective way of generating new leads and getting customers to purchase new products again. These methods help in establishing a fast and viable communication link with the target audience, ensuring better customers. The following data supports the claim
c) Helps in generating higher revenues:
Small and medium scale business enterprises that utilize digital advertisement strategies, earn higher revenues and have a 3.3 times better chance to optimize their business. As per Google, companies using DM strategies have a 2.8 times better revenue growth expectancy.
d) Helps in building Brand Reputation:
Marketing is all about engaging with your customer and making sure all their needs are fulfilled. A happy customer is the best goodwill or brand ambassador. Digital marketing helps businesses to stay in touch with their target audience and a major part of this is carried out through social media.
e) Helps in tracking :
Digital marketing tools can help in tracking your conversion, you can create a funnel accordingly. There are different tools in tracking the conversion you can track the visitor and make the decision that where you are lacking behind. With the help of tracking, you can make the change to your product also.
f) Helps in targeting the right audience :
If want to target your right audience, you can do it with digital marketing only as there is no way in traditional marketing you can target your potential audience. Digital marketing gives you the comfort to target different demographics like age, gender, and other interests.
Creating a social media page, strategic placement of ads, relatable content for the masses, helps a business to increase relation quality by providing real time marketing, between new and existing customers, it also helps in maintaining a strong social media presence. Moreover, DM caters to the mobile consumer. Close to 85%, adult Indians have a mobile within reaching distance and this dependability is only going to grow.
This chart shows the growth in usage of mobile phones. So when we know where to find our customers why not stay there and make them happy? Here is how real time marketing benefits business houses.
In the end, no matter size of business it is that we are talking about or the model on which it is based, be it B-2-B or B-2-C, if they want to survive, digital marketing is what they will have to rely upon.