Is Digital Marketing The Only Marketing That Matters Now

It’s no secret that we’re well and truly in the digital era now. Nearly everything we do involves the internet in some way. For example, over 60% of customers now prefer to shop online.

And, according to a recent study, digital marketing expenditure will now account for 46% of the global marketing spend by the end of 2021. That brings into question whether digital marketing is the only marketing method that matters?

There are many factors to consider, and of course, the other forms of marketing are highly effective. The real question is, how effective is digital marketing, and why has it become so popular? Keep reading to find out.

‘Traditional’ Marketing Methods

Traditional marketing methods is a term used to describe marketing that happens offline. They’re traditional because they’re the old-school marketing methods that businesses once couldn’t live without. Yes, some brands still use these marketing methods, but they’re more on the back burner. Take the iconic newspaper ad. There was once a time when an advert in the newspaper was a big marketing tactic.

Nowadays, there’s been a shift from newspaper ads to digital newspaper articles that might have an affiliate link advertisement somewhere on the page. But, yes, these marketing methods still matter. In 2019, one study found that 39% of consumers would try a business because they received direct mail. And, 56% find print marketing to be a trustworthy form of marketing.

When combined with digital marketing, businesses have access to powerful marketing combinations that benefit each other. For example, TV advertising is classed as a traditional marketing method that., when combined with a social media campaign, for example, can have a big impact on customer onboarding and sales.

The Rise Of Digital Marketing

Now onto the topic that everyone is talking about. The rise of digital marketing happened rapidly. As soon as the internet — and perhaps Google’s search engine — became as widely accessible and advanced as it is today, digital marketing came to fruition. Although, some will argue that digital marketing began in 1965, the year that birthed email marketing.

The digital marketing methods that we’re interested in are PPC, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, and other methods like SEO.

These are the marketing methods that have defined digital marketing that we know today. SEO, in particular, is huge right now. Companies such as iNET VENTURES have developed revolutionary link-building services to help brands get higher in those all-important search engine page results – which is arguably more important than ever before. To put it into perspective, the SEO industry alone is worth over $80 billion.

Why Digital Marketing Trumps The Rest

If digital marketing is becoming so popular, why do many think it trumps the other methods? One of the reasons is it’s much easier to track the progress and results of digital marketing.

For example, it’s easy to track an online campaign using Pixels or UTM codes. Additionally, you can use Google Analytics to track website traffic and bounce rates. With traditional marketing methods, such as direct mail, it’s far harder to track the success of the campaign.

There’s also the fact that you can reach an enormous amount of people. Billions of people worldwide browse the internet casually every day. Businesses can utilize blog posts, for example, as a way of securing more custom. Blog posts have the potential to spread brand awareness without even trying.

For example – you could create a blog post about a current market trend, such as a new product release that isn’t your own, and people will click on the article that leads to your website. That’s just one example of how you can market without even trying.

It wouldn’t be right to talk about digital marketing without talking about social media and how its rise has contributed toward the success of digital marketing. According to studies, 420 million people are active on social media, and 75% of them say they prefer to check out a brand on social media before they trust them.

And, it’s just so easy. You don’t need fancy marketing tools or tons of money to market on social media. You only need an active social media page and engaging content. Of course, there are social media marketing agencies out there that will run your pages and do the hard work.

Maximizing Marketing Efforts

Like with any marketing method, there are ways of maximizing your efforts to ensure you get the best out of any campaign. The first is to ensure you’re tracking everything. If you start using a marketing agency, they’ll do the hard work for you. Marketing agencies have the tools and the know-how to ensure they maximize any method you go for.

You could also ensure you use a mix of traditional marketing methods combined with digital. As mentioned before, a combination of some marketing methods works better than one on their own – the TV advertisement and social media campaigns being a prime example. Using just online marketing methods could be detrimental to your overall goal.

Another great example is the use of link building and PPC. Search engine page results are so important now that more people than ever before prefer to shop online.

Traditional marketing methods are great, but there’s no denying that digital marketing methods trump the rest. Companies are prepared to spend hundreds of thousands on their digital campaign to put them ahead of competitors, and the total global spend is only predicted to increase.