Did you know that over 60% of the global population is online, and more people are joining them every day? That’s why every business, big or small, needs an online presence to be competitive. There may be a lot of people online, but there are also a lot of companies that want their attention and their business. Your target audience needs to know you exist, how you can help them, and what makes you different from the competition. That’s when digital marketing comes in. Digital marketing is more than just selling products. A successful digital marketing effort guides all of the company’s customer interactions. It allows companies to think strategically about how to reach customers through digital channels before, during, and after a purchase.

Imagine a company that makes running shoes decides to invest in digital marketing. They create some video ads and place them on a popular news site. They create accounts for several social media platforms and start posting content. But their posts don’t get much engagement, and their ads don’t attract many new customers. What’s worse, they don’t even know why they aren’t getting results.

Now, let’s think about what could have happened if that same company made an effort to learn about their audience. Instead of posting ads on a news website, they targeted sites that focused on running. Because they did research, they knew where to find their new customers online. This information allows them to plan and set meaningful strategies. A clear goal allows a company to measure its success accordingly.

Advantages and challenges of digital marketing

Traditional marketing is marketing that isn’t online such as printed media, television, radio, direct mail, phone calls, or billboards. Digital marketing is entirely online through search engine results, email, video, blogs, or social media.

Digital marketing has certain advantages over traditional marketing because it can reach target audiences with more precision by adopting new technology. It reduces wasteful spending. Despite the goods, digital marketing comes with challenges mainly because of the low barrier to entry.

Digital marketing challenges

Spending

Advantage: Digital content is easier to create.

Challenge: Organizations engage in omnichannel marketing – the integration or synchronization of content on multiple channels – so customers can have a consistent brand experience. This increases the amount of content required, so even if it’s easier to create digital content, much more content needs to be created overall. Furthermore, it’s not just about the amount of content created, but its quality. Advertising is a crowded space. Content must be distinctive to positively impact customer awareness and change their behavior.

Advantage: Digital marketing is more cost-effective than traditional marketing.

Challenge: If an organization is working towards an omnichannel presence, the cost for marketing on all channels adds up quickly. Getting support or buy-in for extra or additional budget to cover the cost can be difficult.

Technology

Advantage: Digital marketing adapts to new technologies.

Challenge: As a marketer, learning and keeping up with new technologies and tools is a constant requirement. Marketers must also stay up-to-date with and follow all user privacy and data sharing regulations worldwide. Omnichannel marketing also makes it more difficult to track where sales come from. Marketers must rely more heavily on analytics tools to help them do that.

Target audiences

Advantage: Digital marketing tools expand customer reach using specific audiences.

Challenge: The digital space is a crowded field that’s getting even more crowded. It’s harder for marketers to stand out with their advertising, even when they are targeting the right audiences.

Key takeaways

Digital marketing has a lot of advantages over traditional marketing, but it comes with challenges as described above. In a digital space that’s both crowded and noisy, it’s harder for a company’s brand and advertising to stand out. Marketing professionals must keep up with technological advances and customer behaviors that change rapidly.

Happy learning and good luck!