Our ways of doing business have always been in flux as we adapt to new technologies, but never has that happened as rapidly as it is now. On the one hand, this is an extremely positive development. Anyone can now start an online business. The internet has allowed us to connect with customers anywhere in the world, and to find our audience no matter the niche. What’s more, web technologies open up the world of business and create a more democratic marketplace. For those who choose to use them, the tools are all there to initiate and grow your online enterprise, as the barriers to entry are broken down.

However, the downside to a tech revolution is that it’s easy to get left behind if you don’t make an effort to keep on top of new developments. The changes come so rapidly that it can sometimes feel a little chaotic, and it’s easy to be pulled in several directions at once as you try to follow every innovation. As such, it pays to stay focused and figure out one thing at a time, so let’s zoom in on one of the most indispensable tools at our disposal: digital marketing. In order to get a better understanding of why it’s so useful, let’s run through how digital marketing can benefit your business.

A wealth of professionals

If you’re new to digital marketing it can seem overwhelming, but you needn’t worry, since there are experts to whom you can easily turn for things like local search engine optimization services. And even if you’re savvy with digital marketing yourself, it’s likely that you have a lot of tasks to deal with (running a business is time intensive, especially at the beginning) and could benefit from outsourcing to professionals.

Part of running an efficient business is gathering a great team and delegating responsibilities, and also deciding what should be dealt with in-house and when to utilize external specialists. Many entrepreneurs recognize that digital marketing is an area where there is a lot of very strong talent to be tapped into.

Reduced costs

In the analog age, the costs of an effective marketing campaign could have been through the roof, and as a result advertising might either be low quality or take a big chunk out of your budget. Nowadays though, digital marketing has changed all that. This is an effect of the web itself, which has lowered costs for many aspects of business, but particularly for tasks centered around communication and reaching out not simply to as many people as possible, but to the types of people who will be receptive to your message.

Measurable returns

A great point about digital marketing is that you can very quickly and objectively assess whether it is working, and how much return you are getting on your invested marketing budget. The applications used in digital marketing campaigns monitor huge amounts of data, meaning that you’ll never be in any doubt about how your campaigns are going, and you can easily make tweaks and adaptations according to the figures.

As digital marketing tends to be worthwhile, what you’re likely to find is that return on investment is very healthy, and you’ll be able to track and monitor effectiveness with a precision that simply wouldn’t have been possible in pre-internet times.

Harness social media

Think about how much time the people around you spend on social media, and the extent to which it has become embedded in our daily lives. What’s striking about social media, when coupled with mobile devices, is how people access in at any time, from any location, and in all circumstances. From a marketing perspective, never before have we had this capacity to reach people no matter what they are doing, and it would make no sense to pass up on the opportunity to harness the power of social media.

Develop your brand

As startups expand and scale, they tend to acquire a distinctive character. It might sound secondary, but your brand identity is actually very important as it’s a core part of what your customers will become loyal to. It’s important to listen to your customers, and it’s also critical that they feel they know who you are as a company.

Digital marketing can be a core component of this, as the tone of your marketing may be the first thing that new customers encounter, and as we all know, first impressions last. Perhaps you have a bricks and mortar shop or studio, or perhaps you’re entirely online, but either way it’s likely that you have not only a website, but also social media channels, perhaps a blog or newsletter, and you might venture into podcasts and other media.

This all ties together with your digital marketing campaigns to form your brand identity. In the digital age, businesses are sociable and interactive, and react instantly to their customers. Make sure that you’re on top of these changes in the ways we do business by embracing digital marketing.