We’ve all had this experience before… you’re thinking about a product or service and suddenly, there it is being advertised in your social media feeds or on a Google ad. You can’t remember searching for it, you didn’t tell anyone about it, and yet… There it is.

Who is the mind reader responsible?

Well, the answer is much more sophisticated than mind reading: It’s digital marketing. The Internet doesn’t know what you’re thinking; digital marketers just know what you’re most likely to buy based on demographics and past behavior. The demographic information you’ve shared—often on social media—and your past behavior—search history and online engagement—are stored in pieces of data called cookies. Cookies go with you as you continue to use the Internet, and over time, the ads you see become more and more targeted to you and your preferences.

With traditional inbound marketing, like direct mail and sales calls, there is certainly a degree of targeting that marketers can offer businesses looking to reach their desired demographics. But the targeting capabilities available through digital are unmatched. Within this developing landscape of direct marketing, new pathways are being formed each day to reach your target audience.

While advanced targeting capabilities are certainly one of the most obvious reasons to market online, it’s not the only one. Here are the top 5 reasons we believe digital belongs in every marketing plan:

1. Online, you can compete against larger competitors in the same space.
2. Digital advertising is typically more affordable than traditional outbound marketing methods.
3. The success of your campaign is measurable and can be quickly adjusted based on real-time tracking.
4. Ads can be served up across multiple platforms, including websites, social media, and e-mail to ensure your message is received.
5. Digital marketing can work in conjunction with other inbound marketing efforts to create a 360-degree strategy.

That 360-degree view of marketing is why we launched Mail360. Most businesses are familiar with the concept of direct mail as an inbound marketing method; and you’ve no doubt been a recipient yourself. Nearly every time you open your mailbox, you’ll likely find a piece of direct mail. But the advent of digital marketing has made it possible to layer your marketing message on top of direct mail, delivering it to their door while also showing it on their screens.

Here’s how it works:

• Mail Tracking: Using a custom dashboard, you can see exactly when mail will arrive at its destination, so you can anticipate increased call volume, staffing needs, etc.
• Call Tracking: Custom phone numbers make it possible for you to measure the ROI of your campaign. Plus, in-bound calls can be recorded for training purposes.
• Informed Delivery: USPS now offers each address the option to preview their mail online. With Mail360, you can also place digital advertisements alongside the preview of your direct mailer.
• Online Follow-Up: When a recipient visits the custom URL on your direct mail, they receive a cookie that will allow Mail360 to continue serving your digital advertisements as they search and browse in the days, weeks, and months to come.
• Social Media Follow-Up: Visitors with a Facebook account will also see your ads on social.
• Social Match: We can also match USPS mailing list names with Facebook accounts. This makes it possible to reach recipients before they even visit your website plus synchronize the timing of social ads with mail delivery.
• Lead Match: Using the data provided by mailing lists, cookies, and social media, you can continue to learn about each recipient and increase your targeting options.

This approach gives businesses the ability to match the data in their mailing lists with the data that can be collected online through the use of cookies. By layering one over the other, you get a better, more accurate view of each consumer.

By combining inbound marketing methods with digital advertising, you can develop a more sophisticated go-to-market strategy. The value here is enhanced targeting, the ability to learn about each consumer based on their behavior, and being able to deliver marketing messages outside the limits of traditional techniques.

Not convinced increasing your presence in the digital space could make a difference? Consider this:

1. Your competitors are likely already advertising on Facebook. It’s the most used platform for social media marketing and investors agree it offers the highest ROI.
2. You might be out-spent and out-marketed. Over 60% of marketers increased their online marketing spend last year.
3. Around 53% of all website traffic comes from searches. Imagine how you could increase traffic by targeting ads on Google.
4. Companies that are relying on data to make their marketing decisions are 6X more likely to achieve an annual revenue growth of 15%.
5. Digital advertising on Google and social media can increase brand awareness by up to 80%!

Source: https://blog.sagipl.com/digital-marketing-statistics/