Digital marketing’s development in the 1990s and 2000s has revolutionised the way businesses use technology for marketing and research. Digital platforms are now centrally incorporated to business structures, marketing plans, as well as everyday life, we are glued to our devices. Consumers who utilise digital devices and platforms such as Google and Facebook continue to grow in number rapidly. We can now instantly find answer to questions, research businesses, as well as use digital platforms and devices for leisure. Australians do many times every day. This is where the most important marketing opportunity becomes so obvious. Data collection services and widespread consumer appeal, embedded within digital devices and platforms, lay the foundations into why digital marketing is the future of marketing. Let’s find out more.
Digital Landscape
- Each year there are more than 2 trillion searches on Google, equating to around 6 billion per day, a staggering amount.
- In Australia there are over 15 million active Facebook users, all logging on every day, with that number increasing.
Digital platforms have become central to our lives, with Google and Facebook chronicling unimaginable amounts of data about the likes, dislikes, proclivities and habits of their users. Successful businesses can take full advantage of what Google and Facebook know about you, to give consumers amazing results when searching for products, as well as push out ads most relevant to their users. Google and Facebook ad’s use complicated algorithms where businesses can intricately choose the precise type of person or group that they wish to expose certain types of information to, working with astonishing accuracy.
Endless Analytics
A must have aid for any digital marketer is Google Analytics. This is a tool utilised to track website data, recording in stunning detail, the path that users have taken to get to your website, from precise search phrases to rough geographical location. It registers the length of time users stay on pages, and the pathway they take through the site before leaving. All this incredibly useful information allows businesses to hone their websites, based on tangible data from a specific audience.
Adjusting, testing, and adjusting again can make the experience for consumers as sleek as possible. Digital marketing provides a basis for decisions by allowing for consumer tastes to be measured, with little effort required from either party. This is convenient and relevant for businesses who are then informed, and consumers who can be exposed to products that are most appropriate for them.
The sheer amount of on-the-go customisability when advertising and measuring success has never been seen before the introduction of digital marketing, and is now a key factor to success of marketing campaigns today and in the future.
Digital Marketing Growth
Digital marketing in Australia has since 2017, incorporated the majority of the entire marketing segment in terms of spending, reaching nearly 60% of the total media ad spend in the country as of 2019.
This is remarkable, as in just 2016, the proportion of digital marketing was under 50% of the total country-wide media ad spend, showing incredible growth in a short period, with its majority expected to rise.
Globally this trend is comparable, with United States digital marketing spend growing substantially in the last 5 years as well. Google and Facebook account for the lion’s share of digital marketing space, however their duopolistic share has begun to decrease. This is due in part, to other companies such as Amazon and Microsoft beginning to rise in market prominence on differing platforms, diversifying the options for effective digital marketing more so than ever.
According to research done by Zenith Investment Partners, digital ad spend will:
- Increase by 2.6% to $16 Billion by 2019 (Australia)
- Global digital advertising growth will be at 4.6%.
- By 2020, 44.6% of all global media spend will be dedicated to online advertising.
The huge scale and opportunities that present themselves when engaging with online marketing practices speaks for themselves. Digital marketing is now proven to bring businesses strong return on investment, and its increasing size is an indication of current and future success. It is important businesses have an effective digital footprint to take full advantage of their investment, which is why there can be many advantages in using a professional digital marketing agency to ensure that is being done right.
Decline of Traditional Marketing
The digital technology industry has in part, led to the decline of traditional marketing practices, seeing a decrease in the amount spent utilising newspapers, magazines and television to advertise. Revenues for these former advertising giants have taken a large hit globally. In the United States, money spent marketing in historical companies like the Yellow Pages, have decreased on a continuing downward trajectory by 19% in 2018, with magazine and newspaper ad spend down 18% in the same time-frame.
- Traditional media ad spend to be at a record low of 45.8%, from 51.4% of entire media ad spend in 2017.
- Television also has seen a 2.2% decrease in overall spending, however widespread appeal keeps it relevant.
This largely comes down to traditional media no longer providing the aspired results for businesses, with no way of effectively monitoring success, at very high costs.
Within Australia, these trends are heavily proportionate with statistics in the US.
- Newspaper ad revenue has dropped from $1.29B in 2017, to $1.13B in 2018.
- Magazines have seen a decline from $377M to $314M in the same period,
- Growth overall for media ad spending in the country up 2.6%.
Television viewership locally has seen a decline of 3% between 2011 and 2019, with most of the major networks experiencing negative growth. This lessens the effectiveness of television ad spending for businesses. Traditional media’s falling success is even more pronounced in radio advertising, which is down 8% in 2018. This is mostly due to consumers switching to personal music on streaming services like Spotify, with convenient Bluetooth capabilities in new cars also contributing.
The biggest impact on these statistics is due to ever-increasing time consumers spend on their digital devices, with a Nielsen study finding that in March of 2018, the average Australian spent over 70 hours online.
These findings are indicators of the declining effectiveness of traditional advertising. As businesses attempt to get their products in the top of their target audience’s mind, digital marketing solutions have become the most efficient and successful way to do so, and this trend will only continue into the future.
Why Digital Marketing is the Marketing of the Future
With the proven effectiveness and huge growth in digital marketing, coupled with the quickly deteriorating success of TV and print advertising, businesses have a spectacular chance to put their products and services right in front of consumers. Reaching more relevant people and increasing amounts of high-quality leads and brand exposure, are reasons why digital marketing is the future of marketing. Explore your exciting digital marketing options with one of Perth’s most trusted agencies, 3am Ideas and get the most out of your business today.
Digital Marketing For Small Businesses
If you don’t think you’re quite ready to reap the benfits of a professional digital marketing agency in Perth, or not sure if it’s worth the investment, 3am Ideas offers a free 1-hour consultation. We can sit down with you and go over everything you currently have in place, and what you might want to consider implementing over the next 3, 6 and 12 months.
Consultations available via Skype if you’re interstate or based overseas. We’re happy working with clients from all over Australia and the world!