The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving, and the latest crop of measurements hints at what channels and mediums will be important moving forward.
They’re interesting tidbits for consumers to think about, but they’re essential knowledge for marketers and business owners. Take a moment to ponder the following findings and consider whether your current marketing plan has what it takes to keep delivering results.
1. Global mobile data traffic grew by 63 percent in 2016, and it’s grown 18-fold over the past 5 years (Cisco Visual Networking Index; 2016-2021).
The Takeaway: If your website isn’t optimized for mobile or designed to be responsive, it’s quickly becoming dated and likely frustrating an increasingly high proportion of users.
2. Seven in ten Americans now use social media to connect with others, engage with news and online content, share information and amuse themselves. 79 percent of US adults between ages 30 and 49 use Facebook, as do 61 percent of those between ages 50 and 64 (Pew Internet).
The Takeaway: At one point, social media might not have been a good way to reach your target market but ongoing shifts in user demographics could warrant re-examining the situation.
3. A study by BrightEdge found that organic search traffic accounted for 73 percent of all traffic to business services sites. In 2016, companies spent around $65 billion on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (Borrell Associates, via MediaPost).
The Takeaway: Local competitors getting in on the SEO game could be dominating search results and squeezing your company out! It’s worthwhile to search for some of your key products or services and see where you come up to get a read on whether you’re falling behind.
4. Roughly eight of every ten Americans (82%) say they check out online ratings and reviews when buying something new for the first time (Pew Internet).
The Takeaway: Claim your listings on various directory sites where customers can leave reviews, then encourage your customers to leave a review online. It can be scary to open the door for complaints but as long as you make a point of satisfying your customers and provide a genuinely positive experience, you’ll do yourself far more good than harm.
5. In a survey of 2,057 adults in the U.S., 86 percent noted that they’d like to receive promo emails at least monthly from the companies they do business with (Marketing Sherpa.) Marketers, both agency pros and in-house marketers, named email marketing most frequently as a tactic able to provide strong ROI, at 80 percent and 73 percent respectively.
The Takeaway: Neglecting to do any email marketing could mean you’re disappointing your customers and overlooking a powerful marketing tactic. If it’s not currently in your marketing plan and you’re interested in trying new tactics, email marketing should go to the top of your list.
Whether you want to build a user-friendly website that works perfectly on mobile, get an SEO plan together, try email marketing or test another digital tactic, Compulse can help. As a full-service digital agency, our experts excel at helping growing businesses use their marketing dollars to achieve the biggest impact. Ready to make a big marketing move? Learn more about available services or request a free consultation.