Digital advertising is a new weapon in the struggle of small businesses for survival. If you’re not promoting your goods and services online, you might be missing a huge audience that could benefit from your business.
Ways of promoting are diverse and give different results, depending on the type of activity you go with. The growth or decline in your sales directly depends on the types of advertising you use on the Internet. There are many platforms to choose from, but sometimes it’s a trial-and-error sort of thing to see what works best for you. And you don’t have to spend a ton of money to try different advertising techniques. Moreover, small businesses earn an average of $3 in revenue for every $1.60 they spend on Google AdWords.
Let’s take a look at why you should be advertising digitally:
You can create ads that are seen by qualified prospects and target audience members. Because you can be specific about who sees your ad, you’ll know you’ll be piquing their interest and can probably convert them.
Traditional advertising is hit-or-miss, but digital platforms are changing the game. SEO and PPC can put your brand name and your content marketing in front of customers at every stage of the buying cycle. Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn offer flexible ad options that allow you to segment by geographic location, demographics, interests, and more.
The keyword for success in digital advertising is “multi-channel.” With digital advertising, a piece of content can be shared across a variety of platforms, which means that you are no longer confined to one page, 30 seconds, or whatever format your traditional ad was designed for.
Videos are a great way to promote in a way that your buyers want to listen. And they’re sharable which means you can reach more potential customers on various platforms. According to Forbes, videos are shared 1,200% more than text and links combined.
Digital and mobile marketing go hand-in-hand. Digital advertising allows you to reach your audience on the go, wherever they are, whenever they are online. It’s an especially great place to reach Gen Z and Millennial customers. According to a study conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), mobile phones are the place Gen Z and Millennials are most likely to see relevant ads. Nearly half of all typical smartphone users have taken action based on seeing relevant ads on their mobile phones.
Market conditions and trends change quickly, and that requires agile marketing. Digital campaigns can be executed much more quickly than traditional advertising, and they can be modified on the fly if needed.
Digital campaigns metrics are built-in. You know exactly who clicked on your content, opened it, referred it, shared it, etc. You also can trace the source of your traffic from entry to the shopping cart and eventual purchase. This will help you determine which platforms and strategies yield the best results, and which deserve more investment.
A study by Baymard Institute revealed that the average online shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.53%. And that’s where digital advertising has a major advantage. Through remarketing and retargeting, you can stay in front of the customer to suggest one more time that they liked your product, so go ahead and purchase it. Abandoned shopping carts can be recoverable by retailers who use marketing automation software to offer a sweet deal, like a discount or free shipping. Digital advertising can keep that sale from slipping away.
When you consider the myriad of benefits digital advertising provides compared with traditional advertising, it’s easy to see why big brands continue to utilize all forms of digital advertising platforms as an integral part of their strategies. But it isn’t just for big brands, it’s for your small business, too.