Why companies are increasing their digital marketing spend

People are spending more time online. They are doing business digitally, and many of the activities they used to do in bricks-and-mortar establishments are now performed in the digital marketplace. For example, e-commerce is dominated by transactions performed by mobile users. In 2018, e-commerce transactions that originated on mobile devices increased by 55%.

These statistics show people are using digital mediums as a way of concluding transactions, and marketers are increasing their digital marketing spend in key areas such as mobile marketing, search-engine optimisation (SEO) and content marketing to reach consumers where they are spending time online.

Mobile marketing

With more people spending time online, consumers are already conditioned to make purchases using their smartphone or tablet. An appealing ad for a product or service that is well optimised for mobile channels increases the chances of a purchase.

“The average adult in the US spends approximately three hours and 35 minutes on their mobile devices,” says Lisa Schneider, MD at the Digital School of Marketing. “To take advantage of this potential buying power, you would need to make sure that your adverts are optimised for mobile.”

SEO

SEO is the practice of optimising your site and its content so that you can ultimately get onto the first page of Google’s search results. Companies continue to spend money on this aspect of digital marketing, as the results are longer lasting than taking out Google pay-per-click ads. This is because when you stop paying for the ads, they stop appearing – while well-optimised content continues to show good results even after you’ve paid to have the article created or you’ve created it yourself.

Content marketing

The practice of content marketing generates three times as many leads for a company as opposed to outbound marketing. In addition, the price tag for content marketing comes in at 62% less than other forms of digital marketing. Therefore, a sizeable portion of the digital marketer’s budget goes towards content marketing. The return on investment could be huge.

Says Schneider: “This means the time is ripe for you – as a small-business owner or someone who wants to get into the content marketing industry – to do a content marketing course. Consumers are responding well to this type of marketing and digital marketers are desperate for good writers to help them provide articles for their website.”

Marketers are seeing the benefits that digital marketing brings to the table, which is why they are investing heavily in this area. To become an accredited digital marketer, it’s recommended that you do digital marketing course through the Digital School of Marketing. Accredited by the MICT SETA and endorsed by the IAB SA, this course will give you a thorough grounding in all aspects of digital marketing.

To find out more about the digital marketing course, as well as other online digital marketing courses, visit the Digital School of Marketing website, call 0861 428 710 or email info@digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za.

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This article was paid for by the Digital School of Marketing.