Digital marketing is where individuals or enterprises utilize digital technologies to sell their products and services. This type of marketing requires internet and can be done via various digital technologies including mobile applications, websites, digital boards and blogs. There was a time where marketing was only possible by a few methods like billboards and face-to-face interaction. However, like every other aspect in a person’s life, the advance in technology has changed it forever.
With nine out of every ten individuals using a smartphone, the number of people using the internet has increased drastically. In digital marketing, we utilize this opportunity to reach out to potential customers and keep them updated about products and services.
The world moves forward with a huge leap in technology and has turned highly competitive. It was once when companies became successful by showing their products and services and telling people how their problems will be solved. Nowadays, people have started trusting consumers more than how much they trust a brand or its advertisement. According to a research by ODM group, more than 70% of the consumers consult social media and check the reviews before purchasing a product. This clearly proves that businesses need to not only provide authentic products and services but also expand their social media presence. For businesses to stay on par with their competitors and reach out to more customers, they have to stay updated with the upcoming technologies and adapt to the competitive environment.
Generating paid traffic:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) also known as paid search is the form of digital marketing where individuals or businesses generate web traffic by purchasing advertisements on search engines. Marketers either pay every time their advertisement is displayed or when a user clicks on their advertisement. Businesses harbour a dedicated team that scans through all the available platforms and decides the platform, according to them will advert most traffic to their sites.
Still holding on to traditional marketing methods, most entities end up in a loss as they are not able to reach the targeted audience. Research states that nearly $46 billion was spent on programmatic advertising for the Financial Year (FY) 2018. It was further predicted that by 2020, around 86% of all display advertisements will be presented by automation. This leap towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) is said to provide a more efficient, seamless, and accurate approach to SEM while cutting the cost at the same time.
Voice optimization:
Various voice assistants including Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google assistant, the popularity of voice search has shot through the roof. Instead of typing or manually performing a task, all the user has to do is just speak directly to their device. With more and more people using voice assistants, marketers need to consider optimizing their websites to recognize voice search.
Furthermore, the way a person speaks is completely different than the way they type and marketers also need to optimize their websites accordingly. A research states that nearly 72% of the people who own a voice assistant use their devices as a part of their daily routine. Eventually, the idea of a completely hands-free assistant will take over soon enough.
The era of digitalization:
As the world moves forward towards a completely digital environment, along with the scope of digital marketing, numerous towns, cities and villages are also advancing towards the digital age. This change is leading to a huge increase in the number of consumers turning marketing into a highly competitive field. According to a research, the number of internet users in 2015 was 259 million which further shot up to 331 million in 2017. It has been predicted that the number of internet users might double up multifold by FY 2022. Businesses need to be in a state where they can not only engage multiple customers at a time but also expand their reach to every potential customer in order to gain more traffic.