This week we’re wrapping up our digital marketing series by discussing why your business should be using the tools we outlined in the first part discussing the “what” of digital marketing.  Hopefully, the previous blog about how it all works together has also gotten your brain thinking.  But in case you need a little bit more convincing, you’ll want to keep reading.There is nothing that answers the “why” question better than a look at some recent stats:

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  • Email opens on smartphones and tablets have increased 80% over the last 6 months. –Litmus
  • Inbound marketing delivers 54% more leads into the marketing funnel than traditional outbound leads. – HubSpot
  • 57% of marketers acquired a customer from blogging. – HubSpot, State of Inbound Marketing 2012
  • 44% of online shoppers begin by using a search engine. – Interconnected World: Shopping and Personal Finance, 2012
  • 70% of mobile searches lead to action in one hour. – Erik Qualman, Mobilenomics

So the question begs to be asked – how is your business lining up when it comes to digital marketing? Are you still shrugging off Facebook for a mailer? Are you clinging to your outdated website because it was made by your favorite nephew? Do you get frustrated with marketing because you think only the big companies with staff, budgets and creative teams can make social media “work” for them? Or are you one of those businesses that don’t market at all and when you do, its a random few hundred dollars thrown at some random marketing channel? Perhaps you believe that your industry has to stick with only traditional marketing because that’s what you think people expect of you?

Here’s the long and short of it. I can’t think of one industry that can’t use digital marketing (unless you’re an assassin-for-hire and then you might not want the world to know).  Even the financial industry that is strictly regulated can come up with creative ways to generate traffic and leads via digital marketing.

Social media levels the playing field so that a small, relatively unknown business can take on the big dogs with 1/100th of the budget…and still walk off with a win.  Because let’s face it, you don’t really need all the customers of your big competitors.  Just a small fraction can breathe life into some small businesses.

The idea is not to replace traditional marketing, but to incorporate digital marketing to decrease costs and increase revenue. Outbound marketing is not entirely without use. Most importantly, digital marketing can be just as ineffective if not driven by a strategy. Way too many businesses jump on the digital marketing bandwagon because its the “new fad” (which it most certainly is not). The key is to do marketing on purpose in the most efficient, yet effective manner and channel as possible.

Missed Part 1 and 2?

Part 1 – The Benefits of Digital Marketing: What is Digital Marketing?
Part 2 – The Benefits of Digital Marketing: How it all works together.


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If you want to do digital marketing on purpose, contact us for a free consultation. 419-318-9881