The Important Of Digital Marketing in Singapore.

1. Affordability

Digital marketing is considerably less expensive than other marketing methods. Specific prices vary based on what you're doing, but ad spending tends to be lower than other forms of marketing.

2. Mobile Access

You may not know this, but  77 per cent of American adults own a smartphone and are likely to use that smartphone or another mobile device for news, social networking, and countless other activities. Digital marketing helps you reach them while they're doing this. With remarketing ads, email and text marketing, and social media - you can be in front of your audience while using many different apps on their mobile phones.

3. Flexibility

There are many forms and uses of high-quality digital marketing, including banner ads, email marketing, content marketing, and social media posts. Thus by learning how to market yourself digitally creatively, you open up a wide range of possibilities for future publicity strategies. With digital marketing, you also have the flexibility of testing and stopping poorly performing campaigns in real-time.

4. Expansion

Many consumers do almost all of their shopping online. Digital marketing lets you appeal to these people and thus expand your company's reach. Between Google Shopping Ads and brand awareness campaigns, you can expand your brand recognition and boost sales.

5. Multimedia

Customers tend to engage more with marketing materials that combine multiple types of content, including photos, video clips, and audio. It is far easier to incorporate all these content types into digital marketing than any other type of publicity - and it is essential.

6. Interactivity

Digital marketing lets you communicate directly with the customers who see your content, notably through website comments, messages, reviews, and social media posts. This shows those customers that you care about what they say and think, making them feel respected and part of the community you're building. It also allows you to gather invaluable information on customers' reactions and preferences.

7. Tracking

Besides communicating with customers, digital marketing lets you track their activities. You can monitor which ads and types of content they have seen shortly before they purchase. This tells you which marketing methods are most effective, allowing you to refine and improve your strategy.

8. Authority

Digital marketing makes it easy to comment on issues and controversies related to your product or industry. In this way, you can establish yourself as an authority on such topics, leading readers to trust you, come back for more information, and eventually make a purchase. Digital marketing allows you to come off as the industry expert and will instil trust in your business.

9. Influencer Engagement

Many of the most influential figures in modern culture promote themselves online or through social media. Digital marketing allows you to engage with these influencers and gain their respect. If you play your cards right, you can get them to endorse you, leading their followers to become customers and spread brand awareness.

10. Print Enhancement

Digital marketing lets you expand on your print marketing efforts. By writing online content that explains claims you make in your print ads, you can go into greater detail, maximising the effectiveness of all forms of publicity and integrating your campaigns.

Why Choose Digital Marketing Takeaways:

The benefits of digital marketing for businesses include:

• Lower costs and higher flexibility for your marketing efforts
• Access to consumers who rely on their mobile phones or do all their shopping online
• The ability to speak with authority on topics related to your product or industry
• A chance to engage with influencers, earn their respect and get them to endorse your company
• Opportunities to incorporate multiple types of media into your marketing
• The ability to track customers' purchase journeys

For more information on the art and importance of digital marketing for your company, or if you need help developing a digital marketing strategy for your business, contact Obizmax today and explore our past digital marketing works!

The article below was written in February 2017 and has since been updated.

There once was a time when developing and implementing marketing campaigns meant running ads on television and radio and placing print ads in newspapers and magazines. However, as the world of commerce moves more and more toward a digital marketplace, businesses now have the opportunity to expand their reach and connect with their target market through digital marketing tactics.

Any modern brand that wants to get ahead in the current business climate will need to adopt digital marketing tactics as part of its overall strategy. This doesn't mean that you have to throw out the traditional print ads, especially if your business is already seeing great responses from these types of ads. However, by using digital marketing tactics in combination with your current traditional marketing strategies, your business can start to optimise your campaigns for maximum results.

But don't take our word for it! Industry trends and statistics show that digital marketing works, regardless of your industry or company size. Below, we will outline the top 10 undeniable reasons that your brand needs digital marketing to attract new leads, connect with customers, and close more sales in 2017 and beyond:

1. More Modern Consumers Are Going Digital.

The modern consumer is increasingly moving toward a more digital experience when researching and making purchases. Search engines like Google remain the most popular channel for consumer research. Whether consumers are at the beginning stages of the customer journey or ready to buy, they often use search engines to find the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision and research specific brands. Companies' work must be visible during these digital searches to engage the customer and work to influence their purchasing decisions by providing valuable information.

Though search is an essential digital marketing tactic, it is not the modern consumer's only tool to make an informed purchasing decision. Blue Nile Research shows that between 79 per cent and 82 per cent of consumers use to search brand websites and customer reviews for research. Between 14 and 25 per cent use social, mobile and blogs to discover new solutions, products, and brands. These digital marketing tactics work together to help your brand deliver information to consumers who are looking for products or services just like yours. If you do not engage in these digital marketing strategies, you may be missing out on an opportunity to reach these customers.

As more and more consumers use their smartphones and other mobile devices as part of the consumer buying journey, digital marketing tactics will become even more important. The marketer should aim to deliver content to the consumer in their moment of need, such as looking for a local Italian restaurant while on the bus or researching the best vacuum cleaner when their current vacuum breaks. Using digital marketing tactics is one of the best ways to be reached consumers who are looking for products or services just like yours in a time of need.

2. Digital Marketing Strategies Are Affordable.

Even big companies with large marketing budgets need to be conscious of spending their marketing dollars. One of the most significant benefits of digital marketing is that these tactics are both affordable and effective. Businesses can market through email, social media and SEO-driven content marketing at only a fraction of the price it costs to produce and distribute print advertising or develop and place ads on major radio stations or television channels.

Not only can digital marketing strategies be more affordable, but they also often offer an attractive ROI for business owners. Content marketing costs three times less than some traditional marketing tactics.  Additionally, marketers who consistently publish relevant and valuable blog content are 13 times more likely to experience a positive return on investment. Content marketing is not the only affordable digital marketing tactic that offers an excellent ROI. Overall, digital marketing tactics can help you get more for your money.

By investing in more cheap tactics that provide a positive ROI, business owners and marketers can better optimise their marketing budget. Business owners can save money by implementing affordable digital marketing tactics for some campaigns while still being able to allocate funds to campaigns that may require more expensive, traditional marketing materials. These affordable and effective digital marketing strategies help businesses get the most out of their marketing budget.

3. It Is Easy To Track And Monitor Your Digital Campaigns.

The modern marketer must have a way to track the success of their marketing campaigns. This helps brands see what is working and what isn't regarding their marketing tactics. With this information, companies can more accurately measure their return on investment. Still, they can also identify areas of improvement and work to create more successful campaigns based on the findings. Digital marketing makes these tasks more accessible than ever by taking the guesswork out of tracking and monitoring marketing campaign success.

Digital marketing offers marketers and business owners the advantage of having valid campaign data at their fingertips. Business owners and marketers can test different ad content with easy-to-use digital marketing analytics tools and software to see what resonates best with their target audience. Whereas traditional marketing tactics require you to wait until the campaign has run its course to review what worked and what didn't, digital marketing analytics tools allow you to see how your campaigns are performing in real-time and make adjustments to your campaigns.

Overall, tracking and monitoring your digital marketing campaign success closely allows brands to get more out of their marketing budget. By having access to real-time analytics, you can work to make changes to improve campaigns before you waste any more money on ineffective tactics. By reviewing these analytics periodically, you can also work to optimise your marketing budget by allocating more of your budget to the tactics that provide the best results.

4. Your Brand Can Provide A More Interactive Experience Through Digital Marketing Channels.

Digital marketing channels also allow companies to provide a personalised experience through interactive video ads and tailored product recommendations. Online video has quickly become a part of consumers' daily lives. Cisco predicts that by 2019, 80 per cent of the world's internet traffic will be video, with video accounting for 85 per cent of total U.S. internet traffic. This presents an excellent opportunity for brands to engage their target audience. Businesses can use online video to grab the attention of their on-the-go audience and inform, entertain, and engage their ideal consumers.

Product recommendations are the best way to encourage repeat sales, cross-sell, and up-sell to your current customers when it comes to personalisation. Fifty-six per cent of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand if given a personalised shopping experience. Businesses can utilise the wealth of digital marketing data cent to provide customised recommendations based on user behaviour. You can target your current customers through email and social ads and provide personalized recommendations based on past purchases or browsing behaviour.

What's more, digital marketing allows you to reach back out to customers who have visited your site, filled their shopping cart, and left without purchasing. With remarketing ads on social media, you can increase sales by showing consumers what they left behind or reminding them why your brand is excellent. By re-serving personalised ad content to customers who have not yet followed through with their purchase, you can stay top of mind and work to encourage their future purchasing.

5. Digital Marketing Channels Allow You To Be A Part Of The Conversation About Your Company.

Social media marketing is a popular digital marketing tactic that allows your company to be part of the online conversation about your brand. Over the past few years, it has become clear that social media is here to stay, not just for young people. Research shows that 79 per cent of all internet users in the United States have Facebook profiles, and 68 per cent of all Americans have profiles.  These statistics show an attractive opportunity for brands who want to reach their target market and start a conversation on social media.

What's more is that consumers are not just using social media sites frequently, but they are often influenced by the information they find there. According to Ironpaper, 93 per cent of shoppers' buying decisions are influenced by social media. This shows the power that social media can have on consumer purchasing decisions. Whether consumers are looking at reviews on Facebook or asking their friends and family for advice before making a purchase, social media engagement can go a long way in determining a consumer's ultimate purchasing decision.

Businesses can use social media marketing to participate in conversations about their brand online. Through consistent engagement and posting of valuable content, brands can work to develop a stronger relationship with current customers while also starting a conversation with potential leads. By answering questions and concerns on social media, brands can also improve their customer service processes, contributing to a better overall online reputation.

6. With Digital Marketing, You Can Respond To Trends In Real-Time.

Digital marketing allows you to respond to popular trends in real-time. This helps your business take advantage of consumer response to current events, trends, topics and technologies. Whether your brand uses the latest technologies to reach out to customers, communicate in conversations about popular current events, or use the most popular platforms to deliver targeted ad content, digital marketing makes it possible to stay ahead of the game. By taking advantage of what's popular at the moment, businesses can increase their visibility online and reach more leads and customers.

One example of this is using digital marketing channels that social media and blogs to deliver relevant and valuable content on popular trends in your industry. No matter what type of product or service your business offers, their conversations are trends in your industry that change over time. With digital marketing, you can respond to these trends in real-time by participating in the conversation or delivering targeted content that speaks to the current concerns of your target consumers. This can help build brand loyalty and establish your business as a leader in the industry.

The immediacy of digital marketing allows you to respond to these trends quickly. Whereas it takes time to develop, produce, and distribute traditional marketing collateral, digital marketing tactics work a bit faster. For instance, if you need to communicate something to your customers and leads quickly, you can work to develop and publish a blog or social media content within the hour or use SMS marketing to deliver the message to your customers and leads immediately.

7. Your Business Can Significantly Increase Reach.

Traditional marketing materials can be quite effective for reaching a targeted audience. For instance, radio and television ads can be a great way to reach that local audience if you want to target a specific geographical location. Similarly, print ads in newspapers and magazines effectively reach the specific demographic who spends time reading these publications. However, suppose you are looking for ways to move beyond these targeted audiences or reach new targeted audiences across the nation or the globe. In that case, digital marketing can help you increase your overall reach.

Consumers across the United States are online searching for information about products and services or looking up brands that might help them solve their biggest problems. Why limit your reach to local consumers or a limited publication audience when you could be engaging with consumers across the country? If you provide a product or service that may be useful to a larger demographic, you can use digital marketing tools to reach this audience online.

In addition, digital marketing provides new ways to target your audience. With traditional marketing, you might place a print ad in a magazine read by consumers who are most likely to buy your product or service. This is a great way to gain exposure in your target market and build brand recognition. However, there is a good chance that this publication does not reach every consumer who is part of your target demographic. This is where digital marketing comes in. With digital marketing, you can reach out to more consumers in your target market. Through tailored blog content, relevant social media platforms, and search engine marketing, you can reach those consumers who may have missed your initial ad or need a bit more engagement before making a purchase.

8. Digital Marketing Can Help Brands Improve Their Customer Relationships.

Another reason why digital marketing is a must for most modern brands is that it allows companies to foster better customer relationships. Whereas most traditional marketing provides one-way communication with the consumer, digital marketing allows for real-time two-way communication. This makes it easier for brands to effectively address their consumers' questions and concerns without delay while fostering brand relationships through quality consumer engagement.

Social media is an excellent tool for improving customer relationships. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow brands to communicate with customers and engage them significantly and genuinely. When customers have questions or concerns, they will often contact a business on social media for information or resolution. The fast-paced nature of social media allows companies to address these questions and concerns quickly before they escalate. By improving customer service relations, social media also helps improve overall customer satisfaction rates, leading to repeat sales and customer referrals.

Digital marketing tactics like social media are great for improving customer service. Still, they can also help improve customer relationships by allowing brands to know their customers' needs betterprovideswill and wants. Companies can better understand what their customers and leads need by engaging with customers on the brand website, blog, and social media accounts. By understanding the customer's most significant challenges, brands can work to develop better products and services to meet their needs. This improves customer relationships but also helps boost overall sales.

9. Digital Marketing Tactics Pair Well With Traditional Print Marketing.

Many companies are under the assumption that once they go digital, they can't go back to traditional marketing.  However, using the two in conjunction allows "the best of both worlds" when attracting and engaging your customers. The key to finding success with an integrated marketing strategy is to consider the strengths of each marketing tactic and take advantage of these strengths to maximise results.

Many modern brands find success in pairing traditional marketing tactics like print ads with digital marketing tactics like social media to maximise the overall success of their marketing campaigns.  Traditional marketing tactics like print and television ads successfully offer many a broad reach to build brand recognition and help you stay top of mind in your target market. Whereas many digital marketing tactics like social media, blogging, and SEO can help you deliver more targeted content that informs and educates your audience. Not to mention, some consumers respond better to one type of marketing over another. These marketing approaches are valid and successful, but combining the two can make for a more robust marketing strategy that covers all the bases.

10. Your Competitors Are Doing It!

If you want to remain competitive in your industry, you must keep up with your competitors. And there's a good chance that many of them are already using digital marketing strategies to reach new leads, engage current customers, and influence purchasing decisions. According to Content Marketing Institute, 76 per cent of B2C marketers and 88 per cent of B2B marketers are currently using content marketing strategies like blogging to engage their target market. With the majority of brands reaching and engaging consumers through digital marketing, consumers have come to expect this type of digital engagement from the brands they buy from.

In addition to gaining organic or unpaid traffic, modern brands also use paid digital marketing strategies to reach out to their ideal customers online. One report found that 66 per cent of B2B marketers report using SEM, making it the most used paid marketing tactic for B2B brands. While, B2C marketers (64 per cent) also say that SEM is the most effective form of paid advertising. Paid channels like search and social media ads are just as crucial to a brand's digital marketing strategy as those aimed at driving organic traffic.

Not only are brands using digital marketing strategies to reach their audience, but they are continuing to increase their spending on these strategies. E-Marketers' 2016 predictions forecast shows an increase in digital ad spending to reach $23 billion by 2020. It is clear to see that digital marketing is here to stay. If you do not work to integrate digital marketing tactics into your company's overall marketing strategy, there is a good chance that your company will get left behind.

We could write a book on how digital marketing can positively impact your brand, but the ten reasons illustrated above should be enough to at least peak your interest. Suppose you don't currently have a digital marketing strategy in place. In that case, you may be losing out on a significant opportunity to reach out to more consumers and make a stronger connection with your current customers.

Get Started Today With Obizmax

Are you ready to see the difference that digital marketing can make? The team of digital marketing experts at Obizmax would love to help you discover the power of these online marketing tactics. Contact us today for digital marketing consultation and see how you can get started.