Internet usage is higher than it’s ever been. About 85% of American adults use the internet on a daily basis. That equals over 177 million American adults online every day, with around 31% of those Americans being almost constantly online.

On the other hand, newspaper sales are declining and have been for years. More and more consumers are turning towards digital and social marketing to choose their products and services.

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running a business, and it’s even more important to keep up with current marketing trends. Business owners can do this themselves, hire a marketing specialist, or hire a digital marketing agency. 

Either way, a business must adapt to digital and social media marketing rather than the traditional form of getting its name out there.

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is a form of marketing products or services through advertising on websites, videos, or posts on social media. Potential customers see these advertisements almost every time they go on their phones, tablets, or computers.

Unlike traditional marketing, such as those found in magazines, newspapers, or TV, digital marketing is a near-constant in our lives. When searching on Google, scrolling through social media, or browsing a website, you’re bound to see an advertisement from a digital marketing campaign.

There are many types of digital marketing – too many to go over in this article. Some forms include:

• SEO, or Search Engine Optimization
• SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, a paid version of SEO
• PPC, or Pay-per-click
• Content Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing

Hiring the Best Digital Marketing Agency for Your Business

While some find setting up digital and social media marketing easy, others would instead hire a digital marketing agency to do the job. Some of the best digital marketing agencies for your business are affordable and attainable for those just starting. A digital marketing agency is an excellent way for companies to increase their sales and boost business visibility. 

Why Hire a Digital Marketing Agency?

Digital marketing agencies can reduce their workload rather than tack on another daunting task for business owners to deal with.

Besides time and effort alone, there are more reasons to hire a digital marketing agency than do it yourself. Some benefits to expect from one of these agencies include:

• Increasing website traffic
• Marketing that better engages potential customers
• Resources and tools you may not have access to
• Expertise in their individual fields
• Increasing the competitiveness of your business

On a Budget?

Many new and established business owners find themselves on a tight budget. Luckily, many digital marketing agencies are available for as low as $4 an hour for their services.

Digital marketing agencies are more affordable than some marketing alternatives, such as hiring a full-time digital marketer. Additionally, the better a business’ digital marketing is, the more money they’ll rake in – digital marketing pays for itself!

Social Media and Digital Marketing

While internet usage was skyrocketing, so was social media use. About 70% of American adults use social media and most on a daily basis. It’s not just teens and young adults, either – even those over 65 find themselves frequently using social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook.

It’s only going up from here, with some predicting a social media use increase from a worldwide user base of about 3.96 billion in 2022 to 4.41 billion by 2025.

While social media has revolutionized the way we communicate, it has also fundamentally changed many companies’ marketing techniques, focusing on leveraging the global economy to find digital marketing agencies.

With the rise of social media, marketing strategists have found ways to mesh social media and digital marketing perfectly. It’s basically a necessity at this point – if a business wants their name out there, they need to hit up social media on top of other digital marketing strategies!

Social media marketing is a unique form of digital marketing with many different strategies. Many businesses have social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, and more. Additionally, companies can purchase advertisement slots or pay popular influencers to promote their products.

Business Pages

An easy and free way to promote a business is to set up a social media page. Just as individuals would create their personal page, businesses can make posts to promote new products, remind customers of sales, promote events, or even directly message customers to answer questions and concerns.

Hosting a social media page gives businesses a human touch, something that many customers highly value. Additionally, for companies that lack time to craft social media posts themselves, turn to artificial intelligence (AI)

AI advertising and copywriting systems can help business owners create original content that requires less time and energy, so they could spend it elsewhere. 

Buying Ad Slots

Scrolling through social media exposes users to many advertisements, just like when browsing a website or Google. In fact, it’s the primary way most social media sites keep themselves running while still leaving it free for their users to access.

Unlike regular ad spaces on google or other websites, social media ads are shareable. In other words, if a customer likes a product or service, they can share the advertisements on their own page. This approach spreads the word to their followers and serves as a free boost for the business that the sharer’s followers may find more credible than finding the ad naturally.

Tips for Social Media Marketing

Just like with any marketing technique, there are rules and etiquette behind perfect social media marketing:

• Consistency is vital: Create an uploading schedule and stick to it.
• Have conversations with your followers: Remember that human touch.
• Be creative and have fun with your posts!
• Create high-quality and relatable content: Don’t just talk about the products.

Final Thoughts

With social media usage on the rise, it’s more important than ever for businesses to focus their marketing strategies to align with their customer’s routines. For example, if fewer people buy magazines, don’t focus on magazine advertisements! 

Businesses should personalize their content for the customers and find ways to pop up on consumers’ timelines, whether through buying ad space, paying influencers to promote products, or hosting their own business pages.

The best thing a business can do is be flexible. Monitor and adapt to consumers’ ever-changing habits, and the money will come rolling in.