Digital media provides the easiest and most effective way to attract consumers—wherever they may be, 24/7—gain their trust and, ultimately, win their business.

We live in a digital world, and you have a split second to get your message in front of consumers and capture their attention. You can bet there are a lot of businesses competing for your customers’ eyes and ears right now.

AUDIO: LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE.

Today, consumers want more information than ever, and they’re willing to spend the time to collect it.

Think about it: your customers are actively searching your website—not to mention your competitors’—in addition to many other online sources. They’re gathering everything they need to make critical decisions before making a purchase.

Google commissioned a study that focused on the time consumers spend researching a product prior to making a purchase decision. Turns out, almost 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before stepping foot in a store. (Google Insights)

Furthermore, close to 47% of buyers view three to five pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. (Demand Gen Report)

With COVID-19, consumers now find themselves navigating a changed marketplace. As a result, attitudes are evolving, and these trends are accelerating quickly. As consumers get accustomed to conducting business online, more will be inclined to conduct business this way in the future.

Shifts in consumer behavior like these account for why the customer buying cycle has become a much longer process.

To remain competitive in this environment, businesses are looking for new ways to provide more opportunities for consumers to engage and interact with their brands in meaningful ways for extended periods of time.

Getting Started with Digital Media

Repeatedly, studies have shown that digital media keeps consumers engaged with content longer.

So, it’s not surprising that when it comes to implementing a strategy to reach your prospective customers and hold their attention for as long as possible, digital media campaigns come out on top.

For this reason, it has now become essential for businesses to have marketing strategies in place that consistently deliver powerful, targeted media across multiple channels.

To help you understand what this entails, we’ve put together this primer that covers five essential areas to take into consideration when using digital media to market your business. We hope you find this guide helpful. Each section builds on the next. It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of digital media and provides a basic understanding of what you need to know to get started.

Let’s look at the fundamentals of digital media more closely—what it is, how it works, and what you need to know to assess its value when using it to promote your business.

1. What is Digital Media and How Does it Work?

In a relatively short time, we’ve seen media evolve from print to radio to television to the internet.

At its core, digital media is simply digitized content delivered across any medium.

Digital audio, videos, webpages, PDF documents, even electronic newspapers and magazines, as well as social media and broadcast media—delivered through digital technology—are all examples of digital content.

Think of it as any content created, consumed, and shared in a digital format.

When you take into account the many forms digital media can take, it’s understandable that businesses regard it as a valuable and versatile marketing tool.

Using it can be a wise choice given that it’s cost-effective and relatively easy to customize for your particular business needs.

Likewise, digital media allows you to deliver your message in a format that’s naturally engaging to consumers and change it up for each of the digital platforms you choose to use.

Above all, digital media captures and holds the attention of the people that matter most to your business. It allows you to deliver your unique marketing message to your prospective customers in a manner that will produce maximum impact.

Here’s why:

“No matter how strong the message may be, the right result cannot be obtained unless the message reaches the right people and reaches them in the most effective way.” – Advertising Mediums, © 1919

What’s intriguing about that statement is that it’s more than a century old. The Institute of Business Science provided this excerpt in its book Advertising Mediums—published in 1919. That’s back when the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series and before the birth of radio.

So, as you can see, reaching your audience with the right message in the most effective way is a tenet that has stood the test of time.

2. What are the Advantages of Digital Media?

How it can help you talk with consumers about your business.

There are many compelling reasons for businesses to leverage digital media to engage with prospects and customers.

For instance, to be helpful and drive engagement, you might use a branded video campaign to tell your company’s story in a way that builds trust or to provide in-depth information about your products and services.

[ Read: Six Types of Video to Showcase Your Business ]

In effect, digital media provides more opportunities for you to market your business successfully and with more credibility than ever before.

For example, using powerful testimonials on your website and social media platforms can boost your brand’s reputation. In the same spirit, stories and images that illustrate your staff’s commitment to excellence and teamwork might provide glimpses into the kind of service your customers can expect.

Well-crafted digital media draws on the human experience to make your brand more credible and relatable. Ultimately, this helps you connect with your customers naturally and talk about your business in a compelling way.

3. How to Assess Your Digital Media Content

A sound marketing plan will include digital media campaigns to establish and strengthen your company’s presence across digital platforms so that you can effectively

• Reach consumers on the web and on the go.
• Boost search engine optimization (SEO) to make it easier for your customers to find you.
• Stand out among your competitors in the marketplace.
• Deliver a message that’s more engaging and relatable.
• Enhance the way consumers interact with your company and compel them to act.
• Provide content that is more accessible, shareable, and searchable so that your customers can tell their story about using your products and services and, in turn, help you tell yours.

Understanding How Your Audience Engages with Your Content

To grow your online presence, analyze the behavior of your audience first and foremost on your website. Think of your site as your very own marketing channel. All of your digital content should flow to and from your website.

It’s important to note that for digital media to have merit, it must reach and capture the attention of your intended audience and be believable. What transpires when consumers come into contact with your content is paramount to determining its value.

Here are three metrics to concentrate on when evaluating the usefulness of your digital content:

Attention Value

Essentially, attention value is the degree of probability that your media will reach your prospective customers and capture their attention.

User Interest

Once your media reaches and captures the attention of your audience, user interest indicates how much thought or consideration they will give to your message. In other words, how meaningful is your digital content to your audience, and how long will they engage with it?

User Confidence

Finally, user confidence is an indicator of whether your prospects and customers believe that your message aligns with your company’s values and, furthermore, that they perceive your chosen platform to deliver this message as trustworthy, not sensational.

Google Analytics has free tools to help you better understand how visitors engage with your site’s content. Use it to pinpoint the source of your traffic—right down to the channel.

If you don’t yet have Google Analytics set up on your website, now’s a good time to start. Here’s a handy guide.

Google Analytics works in tandem with Google Search Console (GCS) —another free and valuable resource—to provide data to assess your media’s performance. To get the most accurate picture of how audiences engage with your content, make sure your Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts are linked.

Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube also have free tools that provide useful insights into how your digital content is performing. These tools allow you to track audience engagement, growth, and other metrics and ultimately fine-tune your content for each platform.

[ Read: 5 Simple Steps to an Effective Video Marketing Strategy ]

As you can see, there are many tools available to help you build a winning digital media strategy. Together, they provide a thorough understanding of how audiences engage with your content. Use these resources to assess your campaigns and create more engaging content for your audience going forward.

4. How to Use Digital Media like a Pro

It’s vital that your customers have a positive experience every time they engage with your brand. For this reason, it’s imperative to address any issues that might hamper their interaction with your digital content.

Here are some simple steps you can take to improve your customers’ experience and ensure your digital media has maximum impact. Some of these you may be doing already:

• Make sure your media content is relevant and presented with context so that it makes sense to your audience right away.
• Optimize your media for its intended platform so that there are no processing delays.
• Confirm that you have legal rights to the content you are using.
• Consider investing in a paid hosting and streaming service, like Vimeo, Brightcove, or Wistia, for your video content. These services offer many ways to customize your videos for seamless branding. Plus, there are no ads or competitors’ videos that pull viewers away from your content.
• Remember to periodically check your online media to ensure there are no broken links, outdated embed codes, or content removed from the platforms you are using.

5. Weighing the Benefits of Digital Media

When it comes to promoting your business, digital media offers many advantages. Compared to traditional forms of advertising, its cost is relatively low. Plus, to keep pace with consumer demand, technology has made it easier to use than ever across platforms.

Digital media is simple to revise and adjust. There’s no firing up the presses when you need to make changes. Also, your digital presence grows at an exponential rate when you add more useful content, which encourages greater engagement and, in turn, helps build your brand.

Keep in mind that there are probably a number of companies that provide products and services similar to yours. Even if your customers are local, it’s still likely they are using online searches before making a purchase. And if they’re not engaged with your content when they conduct their research, they’re likely engaged with your competitors’ content.

This is why it’s essential for your company to provide thoughtfully planned digital content to your customers on an ongoing basis.

Final Takeaways

• Digital media provides the most effective way to attract consumers across platforms.
• Digital media also allows you to deliver your message in a format that is naturally engaging to your audience.
• To be useful, your digital content must reach your customers on a trustworthy platform and compel them to consider your message.
• Digital media that is compelling and relevant is ultimately more powerful.
• Above all, digital media is crucial for your company to maintain relevance in a competitive online market.

At Loyel Media, we aim to empower businesses like yours with branded digital content that attracts more customers to help them succeed. Our creative media experts know how to produce compelling digital media and use it effectively to market your business. Let’s talk about new and inspiring ways to make digital media work for you.