The importance of marketing in the 21st century
Marketing is an important part of doing business. The majority of businesses cannot survive without marketing efforts. Marketing can be defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that value customers, clients, partners, and society at large. In the 21st century, digital marketing has become the main and most important form of marketing. Let’s find out more about the importance of marketing in the 21st century.
Marketing in the 21st century
Today, marketing has become a combination of traditional and digital channels that brands and businesses use to promote their products or services. Before digital marketing, brands would do their marketing via newspapers, television, posters, and radio. Mass marketing campaigns were popular as they tried to reach the brand’s target market and reach potential new customers outside of the target market. But when the internet came into the mainstream, marketing had to change. Marketing changed from outbound marketing to inbound marketing, which means that marketers follow a two-way interactive communication between the brand and its target market. They use search engines, social media, email, and content marketing strategies.
The importance of digital marketing
Brands and marketers must utilise digital marketing methods to reach their target audience. Examples of these methods are:
- Social media marketing.
Brands use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to reach their target audience and influence their buying behaviours. People use social media to interact with their favourite brands, share their opinions about their products or service, and even make purchases. Social media marketing is one of the cheapest forms of marketing and can produce high response rates. If marketers use effective techniques to reach these target audiences, they can increase conversion rates and grow their customer base.
- Email marketing
In 2019, the Content Marketing Institute found that almost 87 percent of brands use emails to send personalised promotional emails to their customer base. Consumers respond better to more personalised forms of digital marketing, and a popular way brands achieve this is through customised email marketing. This kind of email marketing is more effective because the customer can form a bond with the brand while the brand persuades them to make a purchase. Brands often create email lists that their customers can sign up to receive the brand’s marketing campaigns.
- Content marketing strategies
Producing high-quality content is one of a brands’ most important digital marketing techniques. For websites to get high ranks on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, they must produce high-quality content. Brands use content marketing strategies to engage with customers, lead them to purchase products and services, and develop the brand’s identity.
Brands still make use of traditional marketing
Although brands have focused largely on digital marketing in recent years, many still practice traditional marketing methods. Many brands, specifically larger-scaled brands, still use television and print advertising when marketing. These forms of marketing are more expensive than digital marketing but prove to be effective and worth the money spent. These brands combine traditional and digital marketing techniques to create their brand identity. Some smaller-sized brands also do this, but it is easier and cheaper to only use digital marketing techniques.
The bottom line
Marketing has drastically evolved in the past 50 years thanks to technological advancements. Now, many brands focus much of their marketing efforts on digital marketing, but some still make use of traditional marketing techniques to create their desired brand image and reach their target audience. This depends on their customer base, target market, marketing budget, and the products or services they offer.