As the world is increasingly doing everything online, with 43 percent of the world’s population (over 3 Billion people) using the Internet, the importance of digital marketing and using digital marketing strategies has increased significantly for all businesses, big and small.

People are consuming more and more digital content on a daily basis using their mobile phones, laptops, desktop computers at work, and more. Those companies that have not picked up this key trend and adapted their marketing strategies appropriately need to adapt fast.

The question here is why is digital marketing so important?

1. It is the future of marketing

It appears that soon digital marketing will replace most traditional marketing media forms. Although the traditional methods of print media advertising and TV and Radio broadcasts still appeal to the older generation, the newer generation who have grown up with the internet and mobile are embracing the world of digital consumption with tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat etc. Digital methods of communication and marketing are faster, more versatile, practical and streamlined and offer just as much potential to marketers as to consumers.

2.  It is more affordable than traditional offline marketing methods

For the majority of small business startups drawing up an efficient, cost-effective budget is necessary for the company’s survival. Digital marketing makes it cost effective and affordable for businesses to be on multiple social media platforms  as well as necessary. It shows your customers you are current, delivers to-the-minute sales, promotions and contests, and allows you to have a voice outside of a static website.

For example, an email or social media campaign, for example, can transmit a marketing message to consumers for the merest fraction of the cost of a TV ad or print campaign, and potentially reach a wider audience. Businesses can also establish websites that are compatible with mobiles and desktop computers so that valuable business sales do not pass them by. 

3. The results of Digital Marketing can be easily monitored and tracked

One of the main benefits for putting together a great digital marketing strategy is the ease at which the results can be tracked and monitored. A marketer can quickly view customer response rates and measure the success of their marketing campaign in real-time, enabling them to plan more effectively for the next one. Tools such as Google Analytics, Google URL Builder and RTB Media Cross Channel have made this onerous task extremely easy to achieve.

4. Digital Media is taking over traditional forms of Information Consumption

The Internet has moulded the way we are as consumers, allowing us the ability to find things in a matter of seconds, making digital advertising pertinent for any form of business. Every single day, people are seen consuming more and more digital data on their laptops, their mobile phones, desktop computers, tablets and more.  Thus it is important for businesses today to use the many forms of digital marketing available to them and incorporate these into their digital marketing strategy, these include:

• Websites and SEO content

• Blogs

• Internet banner ads

• Online video content

• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

• Email marketing

• Social media marketing (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

• Mobile marketing (SMS, MMS, etc.)

Finally, based on the above, there are many digital marketing and new media trends that will be making a significant impact in 2016 on businesses and consumers worldwide. TV, and specifically digital TV channels will be a focus for marketers everywhere, John Broughton at Confused.com states. Mobile phone digital advertising strategies are slated to be more image-based as images will continue to be one of the most popular types of content for consumers to share via social media, and this is expected to only increase as phones get bigger and our bandwidth improves.

‘Moment marketing’ will also significantly grow, with over two thirds (67%) of brands planning to spend more on digital campaigns triggered by offline events. The research also shows UK marketers already spend 23% of their digital budgets on moment marketing; Facebook is the most common channel cited by 73% of brands, followed by Twitter (65%) and Instagram (44%). Online video (43%) and search (40%) are also frequently used to deliver reactive marketing campaigns.

To close, this informative infographic highlights some important Digital Marketing statistics which reinstates the importance of this form of marketing:

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