In recent years, cloud computing technology has grown by leaps and bounds. It offers multiple benefits, ranging from 24/7 accessibility to quick and easy scalability. You can find the applications of cloud computing in almost all industries, and digital marketing is no exception.
While digital marketing did flourish before cloud computing became increasingly common, the process involved a lot of arduous tasks that required time and resources. Cloud computing offers the digital marketing industry plenty of benefits, including lowered costs, better management, automation, and use of fewer resources.
The concept of building a digital marketing system based on the theory and practice of market segmentation, which takes into account many factors such as geography, costs, time, and more, with the help of cloud technologies, is fast becoming a reality. In the coming years, cloud computing is expected to make digital marketing highly efficient, streamlined, and responsive.
Here is why this is a match made in Heaven.
Ability to Access Customer Data
As a marketer, you probably know that customer data analysis provides you with a deeper understanding of your market. That, in turn, helps you to make crucial business decisions.
In the past, the best possible way to know how customers behave online was through consumer surveys conducted over email or phone. However, this method was full of inconsistencies and also demanding.
With the rise of cloud computing, however, gathering consumer data has become much more manageable. Now, business owners can know the needs and expectations of their target audience with just a few clicks. Furthermore, you can tweak your marketing message in real-time to make it resonate with your target audience and get the most out of your marketing campaign.
Powerful Real-Time Analytics
Another primary benefit of having a cloud-based digital marketing tool is the availability of powerful real-time analytics. The analytics provides you with valuable insights that can help you align your content with consumer needs.
It allows you to process data within a few minutes or even seconds after its arrival. The process takes place in three stages, including collecting data, processing it, and deriving the right conclusion form the analysis.
As the process is fast, you are able to make informed business decisions to drive more web traffic and get the most from each of your marketing campaigns. You can also set your own rules for data collection and analysis, making it easier to tweak the process, based on your campaign goals.
Better Security
While it essential to collect the consumer behavior data to market your services and products, keeping it safe from cybercriminals and other illicit figures crawling the web is also necessary. Several governments across the globe have come up with various regulations, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, to protect user data.
Many cloud computing tools offer multiple layers of security, such as firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-malware, to keep consumer data safe. So, integrating your digital marketing process with cloud computing can help you increase data security by a mile.
You should know that a potential data breach can lead to several consequences. For example, the regulatory authorities may levy you penalties or take further legal action. Furthermore, your reputation will be ruined, making people wary of doing business with you in the future.
Increased Automation
Perhaps the biggest benefit of combining digital marketing and cloud computing is automation. As mentioned at the beginning, digital marketing comes with plenty of routine tasks that are time-consuming and demanding. Also, manually performing them can lead to errors and delays that will weaken your marketing endeavors.
Automation often covers and interconnects the following aspects of digital marketing:
- Content Management: Storing and deploying content across different channels.
- Social Media Engagement: Keeping track of your content and user engagement on various social media channels.
- Analytics: Analyzing user behavior data and providing the right insights.
Automation also means that you can create and monitor campaigns on the go. This flexibility allows you to adapt to the changing market conditions quickly. You can also test new marketing channels, content ideas, products, and services without investing too much time, money, or resources. Thus, you can better understand the needs of your customers without breaking the bank.
Lower Marketing Costs
Compared to traditional marketing methods, cloud-based solutions are relatively less expensive and offer a better return on your investment. You don’t have to invest in expensive hardware and IT infrastructure to store your data and applications.
Instead, most cloud-based solutions are available as subscription models with a pay-as-you-go payment option. So, you end up paying only for the services you have used. It is also relatively easier to move from one cloud to another if you find a better option or are unsatisfied with the current one.
Further, marketing automation can also help you lower your overhead costs, including resources, hardware, and services. The precision and real-time optimization allows you to get a higher return for every dollar you spend.
Parting Words
Cloud computing and digital marketing, when combined, make a formidable marketing tool. Hopefully, after going through the benefits of putting these two together, you will want to use cloud computing to run your upcoming marketing campaigns and even shift the existing ones to the cloud. Tell us which cloud computing tools you would like to leverage first in the comments section.