The digital marketing world is dynamic and ever-changing — for all businesses — technology, tactics, and even the next big thing are always changing. That’s why it’s important that you stay up to date with everything — after all, who wants to fall behind while your competitor’s business stays miles ahead. Now you ask… “how can I know I am up to date with the times?”
One of the best ways to stay on top of things and keep up with the latest digital marketing trends is to watch statistics and to continuously look for new ones. Whether you’re all about SEO, blogs, social media, email campaigns, PPC/paid ads, or just straight sales, statistics help you get it right and connect with your target customer and reach the right audience to drive conversions.
We have put together 10 important digital marketing statistics to help you make the best choices for your business.
Website Page Load Time Can Bring Any Business to Their Knees
The first five seconds of page-load time are the most important and have the biggest impact on conversion rates. Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% during each additional second of load time. Not only that, but landing pages, the least popular type of signup form, have the highest conversion rate (23%). On the other hand, pop ups, the most popular signup form, have the second-lowest conversion rate (3%). (Source: Hubspot 2020). If it takes a landing page too long to load, people will bail on you.
Consumer Research — People ALWAYS do it
60% of consumers begin their product research with a search engine before heading to a particular website. Beyond that, 81% of consumers research online before purchasing. You are not the only option for consumers in most cases. Everyone does their research and you need to catch their attention before they move onto the next best thing.
Social Media Really Does Matter (and not just for the “younger generation”)
Customers who engage with a business on social media spend up to 40% more with them in the long term. Consumers rely on social media to guide their purchasing decisions (sometimes without even realizing it). The more they see you, the more they start to notice you and pay attention. Then when the time comes and they need what you have, they think of you. Look at it this way… as of Q1 2020, there are 2.6 billion monthly active Facebook users with roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults report that they are Facebook users. That‘s a lot of potential customers! (Source: Edison Research, 2020)
Reviews, reviews, and even more reviews
If you’re wondering whether potential shoppers read online reviews, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Buyers almost always read reviews before making a purchase. Even if it is just one. With so many options out there for each product and service, they want to make sure other people like it before spending their money.
Creating Your FREE Google My Business Listing
If you haven’t done so yet, create and update your Google My Business listing. This is where your information lives, your reviews, and things as basic as your phone number. 60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results such as the “click to call” option.
Content Marketing is IMPORTANT
Content marketing is important, not just because it works but because it builds trust, generates leads, and develops customer loyalty. Content helps to evolve what customers expect from the brands they interact with. Not only that — web traffic is among the top two most-common measurements of success for a content marketing strategy.
Email Campaigns are the sh*t
In 2019, the number of global email users amounted to 3.9 billion. Look at it this way, .00001% of that is still 390 people. There is so much opportunity and worth with trying to reach new people with email campaigns. It takes no time for people to give you their email address and most love getting offers and deals straight to their inbox. Small business and think you can’t gain an ROI on email marketing? Wrong! Email marketing has the highest return on investment for small businesses. From a study of 1,000 small business owners, email marketing was ranked as the second most effective medium for building brand awareness. (Source: Campaign Monitor, 2019)
Don’t Skimp on Digital Marketing
1 in 5 small businesses doesn’t utilize digital marketing. Even worse? A fifth of small businesses don’t even utilize digital marketing at all. That means 20% of small businesses aren’t taking advantage of SEO, email campaigns, or social media marketing. Even more, 20% of small businesses don’t have a website (don’t be that person, you need a website). Basically, one in five small businesses aren’t online at all. Given the importance of omnichannel shopping for brick-and-mortar stores, small businesses are seriously missing out on a lot of revenue by “playing it safe” and avoiding digital marketing. Relying solely on non-digital marketing outlets is a VERY bold move in 2020 — be sure you know what you’re missing out on before you decide to stick with billboards and newspaper ads forever. (Source: Top Digital Trends 2019)
Lead Nurturing is A Thing
The job doesn’t stop at lead generation. Most likely a lead won’t instantly become a customer. You have to court them in. 80% of new leads never translate into sales because 96% of visitors who come to your website aren’t ready to buy just yet. They will be one day, just not yet. If you don’t continue to stay in their world, they will for sure forget you. It’s like a breakup — you have to stay showing up in their Instagram feed, so they know you are happy. (Source: WordPress Forms)
SEO Can Be Expensive If You Don’t Do It Correctly
A digital marketer knows that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most important investments to grow your business online and when done correctly, it can cost very little out of your pocket and produce great ROI. To many, SEO is an art form that combines content creation, branding, and promotion to bring highly qualified visitors to your website naturally via a search engine. Google receives over 77,000 searches per second and 67% of those clicks go to the first 5 results displayed in search engines. On top of that, 90% of web pages get zero organic traffic from Google. You can’t just have a great product that sells itself. This isn’t a movie. (Source: Databox)
Using digital marketing correctly, you can reach an enormous audience in a way that is both cost-effective and measurable. You can save money and reach more customers for less money than traditional marketing methods. You also get to know your audience and allow them to know you personally which can help to create brand loyalty. Brand loyalty creates more money for you. Check what your competitors are doing and take note of it. You can use what you know to create a better strategy to drive more customers to your website than your competitors.
At the end of the day, digital marketing is one of those beasts that you need to survive today. You need to expose your brand to a bigger audience if you want your business to grow. Take the time and learn more about it and watch as your company grows. If you just don’t have the time, that is where we come in. We can do it for you and make sure it gets done right for a cost-effective alternative to just avoiding it altogether.
