Why Digital Marketing Is More Vital Than Ever

In an age where everything happens online, the quality of marketing can make or break a business

Standing out from the crowd in a crowded online space can sometimes feel like an impossible task in 2020. With so much noise in the digital sphere, you’d be forgiven for wondering how you have a chance of being heard. Having led a North East digital marketing agency for many years, I can tell you that effective digital marketing isn’t about who can shout the loudest, but rather who understands their audience and knows how to offer something authentic, credible and of genuine value.

It’s 2020: everyone is online

More than 4.5 billion people – that’s more than half the world’s population – were using the Internet at the start of 2020. In fact, the Office of National Statistics reports that 87% of adults used the Internet daily in 2019.

For modern businesses, it’s clear that digital marketing channels can no longer be ignored. And as lockdown has shown us, even those industries that have always relied on face-to-face interactions, print marketing and physical interactions can thrive online.

Digital marketing has a crucial role to play in helping businesses establish a strong web presence and build trust with their audience. As a Newcastle based digital agency, we’re often approached by companies that have something valuable to say, but perhaps don’t know how to convey their messaging in a way that will engage prospects.

A quick look at a sparse and barely touched company blog often tells us why a new client’s website may not be performing as well as it could. A well-constructed blog creates a hub for thought leadership pieces, advice articles and other great material that will help to set a business apart from its competition. It will also significantly contribute to a website’s performance in search engine rankings.

We regularly support our clients to create informative and insightful content that helps to drive traffic to their website. And you might be surprised to hear how often a casual website visitor is convinced to get in touch off the back of an engaging article. For those not convinced of the value of running a website blog, it’s worth noting that recent research carried out by Hubspot showed that companies investing in their own blog received 97% more links to their website than businesses that didn’t.

Reputation is everything, and people do their digging on Google A brand is only as good as its reputation, and when people are considering the products or services of a business they haven’t used before, their first instinct is usually to ‘Google it’. This form of audit has become the norm and the truth is, if you aren’t presenting yourself in a credible light via your website and social media accounts, then you’re likely to be missing out on new business. In fact, one study from 2016, suggested that 47% of buyers choose to read three to five pieces of brand content before engaging with a sales rep. Conversely, an informative website that’s easy to navigate, filled with engaging and exciting content, will help to provide your potential customers with reassurance and peace of mind. Upping your content game in the face of digitalisation There’s been plenty of talk about digitalisation in recent weeks as businesses have scrambled to take their services, products and experiences online. And as all facets of the business world grab a foothold in the digital space, organisations will need to place more emphasis on their blogging and content creation.

For those companies that have historically traded on a local scale from physical premises, the challenge now is to offer the same personal touch and sense of community through a device or computer that they have always been able to offer in person.

For a local butcher, this might be a recipe article posted online that would previously have been shared over the counter; for an independent financial advisor it might be valuable market insight that would until now have been discussed over a coffee.

While it’s important to acknowledge that the Pandemic won’t always restrict traditional business practices, my belief is that digitalisation is here to stay – and that means that businesses must work as hard to build and consolidate relationships online as they have always done in the physical world.

If you are looking for a Newcastle based digital agency to help you negotiate the fast-changing marketing landscape, ROAR Digital Marketing is here to support you. Creating your own blog or planning a content marketing strategy doesn’t have to be difficult, and with our help it can be entirely hasslefree.