Digital marketing has become increasingly vital in the 21st century.
With potential customers who regularly go online and competitors exploiting resources to gain higher sales, digital marketing is the only way to stay ahead.
Although millions of people have been exposed through various digital marketing campaigns, only some of them actually realise the importance of digital marketing. And even fewer people actually capitalise upon the valuable opportunities that digital marketing offers.
To get you started, here is a list of reasons why you need to learn digital marketing immediately.
1. Kickstart your Own CAREER
Ever wanted to become an entrepreneur or freelancer?
Or simply want to build your digital presence to enhance your employability for large businesses?
If you begin investing in digital marketing, you’re able to build your online brand and business faster than ever before. Any aspiring individual can learn about digital marketing and use it to build momentum for their future career. There are so many relevant skills and up-to-date knowledge that you can acquire, from infographics design to data analysis to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for articles.
These practical skills and qualifications will look great on your resume and are ultimately applicable in any professional field, especially since digital marketing skills are highly desired by many businesses seeking to promote their product through online platforms. Digital marketing will give you that extra edge over your other competitors or job applicants, who may continue to prioritise outdated channels of marketing.
Working in the digital marketing industry is also incredibly rewarding, because according to AIMIA’s 2016 Digital Industry Salaries Report, 45% of digital professionals stated that ‘career progression’ was a primary job motivation. This is great for anyone who seeks a progressive work culture and opportunities to engage in quality work within a vibrant, dynamic industry.
2. Innovation is Key for SUCCESS
Innovation is the key for business success. Innovate or die.
These lines may be cliché, but within the rapidly growing industry of digital marketing in the 21st century, it has never resonated so powerfully.
With 50% of jobs becoming obsolete within the next 15 years, and 60% of Australian students training for jobs that will not exist in the future, digital marketing offers a fantastic avenue for businesses to remain sustainable, and for aspiring individuals or young entrepreneurs to remain relevant in the job market. But how?
The simple reason is that digital marketing is constantly changing – it’s fast-paced, dynamic and rapidly evolving, as businesses are taking advantage of new online channels and social media platforms to promote themselves. As a consequence, the need for innovation and experimentation is always at our fingertips in a flourishing online marketplace.
Both multinational corporations and SMEs are using digital marketing to keep up with this growth of online channels and the proliferation of advanced technology in the 21st century. The only way to overcome these obstacles of constant change and competition is to keep innovating through the diverse opportunities provided by digital marketing.
3. Open up HUNDREDS of Opportunities
The amazing thing about digital marketing is that it is extremely versatile and diverse. There are multiple categories you can choose to specialise in, unlike traditional forms of advertising. As such, digital marketing offers you hundreds of opportunities to gain all kinds of skills and experiences that can be applicable to any profession.
These opportunities can include promoting your business or selling a product through social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This gives your brand a great amount of exposure. It also gives a much-needed voice for small entrepreneurs or businesses to tell a unique story about their brand in a highly competitive digital arena.
Additionally, digital marketing can open up new pathways to gaining valuable market research or examining customer behaviour and trends. This can be done through data analytics on electronic media such as Facebook Insights or Google Analytics, which can be very effective in implementing and tailoring campaigns to a certain demographic.
Content creation is another fantastic aspect to digital marketing, which involves generating professional and engaging content in the form of podcasts, emails, articles, infographics, apps, blogs, electronic newsletters and videos. Due to the continuous updating of technology, digital marketing will always evolve in content creation, which means you can always find innovative ways to promote your business.
4. UNDERSTAND Your Customer.
If you want your business to thrive, building a loyal customer base is a must. With so many other competitors harnessing electronic media to promote themselves and their products, it makes it all the more vital for you to be able to better interact with customers and therefore facilitate long-term engagement.
You need to deliver what customers are promised and be that trustworthy responsive business they rave and share about to their friends.
You need to be relevant, interesting, communicate VALUE.
Digital marketing does this exceptionally better than traditional marketing precisely because it is able to create these personalised products, experiences and communications.
Analytics services like Google Analytics allows you to monitor consumer behaviour, needs and preferences so you’re able to cater more strategically to their demands. You understand what strategy works and what doesn’t to appeal to your target audience.
Similarly, learning how to effectively harness social media channels allows for strong dynamic customer interactions from which you can learn to optimise your content and business functions through comments, messages, reviews, and shares. You don’t get the same data through direct mail or by releasing huge PR campaigns.
Informing your followers or subscribers through these mediums about new promotional offers, discounts, products, events or giveaways also drives traffic to your website.
With digital marketing, you can simply build a higher level of trust and credibility for far less the cost.
5. SURVIVE in the Real-World.
The reality is that the Internet and the Digital Revolution have changed the way we interact with one another, from communication to business transactions. Everything has become digital, be it our consumption of news, entertainment, even our shopping ventures.
As of October 2017, Social Media Statistics Australia reveals that 60% of the Australian population are active users on Facebook, with 50% logging in at least once per day. An increase in smartphone ownership, with 81% of Australians preferring to access social media through their phones, is testament to our obsession with everything electronic. Meanwhile, the growth of digital marketing reflects this growth in digital media, with predictions that Australian marketers in 2018 will dedicate more than half of their advertising budgets to online and mobile.
It’s now more important than ever to navigate this rapidly growing dimension of our lives and keep up-to-date with the latest events and online developments that will prove crucial to business success. From Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) on Google to blogging basics, digital marketing is all about experimenting with modern strategies, platforms and technology to be one step ahead of everyone else.
It’s also true that the classic billboard that you look at for a fleeting moment or the brochure lost amongst your tide of mail is quickly becoming obsolete: You need to learn how consumers operate and what really makes them ENGAGED and not SKIM, especially for a generation that spends more and more time absorbing Internet-based content.
6. EVERY Business Needs Digital Marketing.
A business that relies solely on traditional marketing will be at a sore disadvantage compared to its competitors who go digital.
Not only do they bolster existing marketing efforts, but they actually spend time cultivating a (hopefully generous) widespread online persona that customers enjoy receiving timely updates from.
Digital marketing is powerful and widely accessible…yet also cost-efficient. This means that whether you’re a freelancer, budding entrepreneur or SME owner, you can easily use the same digital marketing channels and resources that large corporations use to achieve sales and visibility. You want to able to get more output from your input.
Digital Marketing also TRACKS results. If you’re marketing goods and services online, you can easily measure the success of your efforts through how much of your traffic gets converted into leads, subscribers or sales. Businesses are constantly looking for ways to improve their conversion rates (from non-customer to customer), which is why digital marketing is so relevant and necessary:
It’s highly tailored and helps you make use of tactics and strategies that make the customer TAKE ACTION instead of mindlessly coming and going.