The decade of the 1990’s marked the gradual shift from traditional methods of marketing and promotion to digital marketing, due to the increase in the usage of Internet. A statistic from Global Web Index (GWI) 2017, shows about 50% of the 7.4 billion population in the country now uses the Internet on a daily basis. Information on the Internet can be easily accessed by a widespread audience. Thus, businesses can utilize digital channels to acquire a large number of consumers. Visual content such as images, product videos and infographics can be easily shared. This drastically increases consumer engagement and leads to brand loyalty. Hence, numerous businesses are now implementing online marketing along with traditional methods, for positive results.
- It is economical and helps spread information across a wide range of devices such as Smartphone, Tablets, PC, etc instantaneously.
- Traffic on brand websites can be easily measured using Google Analytics
- Immediate results on promotional strategies can be observed.
- Promotion and marketing strategies can be continuously improved and refined.
- Digital marketing establishes a direct contact between consumers and retailers.
Some of the different Internet marketing strategies that brands can use for promotion include:
- Search-Engine Optimisation
- Pay per click Ads
- Social media marketing
- Websites
- Content marketing
- Affiliate marketing
- Viral marketing and
- Influencer marketing
The two most effective digital channels are websites and emails. Websites can be made SEO for mobile viewing. On the other hand, email marketing is stronger since it can be sent directly to the consumers. Social media platforms also play a major role in this respect. Facebook is the most popular platform with 1,871 million users as of January 2017 (Statista). Hence, brands can target customers using contests, online discounts, and viral videos to increase brand awareness.
For effective digital brand promotion, understanding the target customer is vital. Focussed assimilation of their habits and daily internet usage can increase conversion rate. According to a survey by Campaign Monitor, conversion rates increased by 28% by including a call to action button instead of a text link. This is due to the fact that customers found it much more convenient. In conclusion, digital marketing holds a massive stake in marketing and promotion strategies globally and will continue to grow in the future. US e-commerce sales have reached $396 billion in 2016 and has been predicted to double the number by 2020, according to a forecast by Statista. Marketing via digital channels is major game changer and hence is being adopted by many brands.
