With the economy just barely exiting the recession, businesses are reluctant to spend money, even on necessities like marketing. Although some marketing tactics can end up being a waste of money, online, or digital marketing tactics typically prove to be quite valuable, and most of evidence of that value lies in the ability to track and review the analytics of many online marketing campaigns. Here are 5 reasons why your business needs to invest in digital marketing strategies.

1. The internet is quickly becoming the largest outlet for consumers to spend their money. According to recent Forrester Research, online sales are expected to grow from 7% in retail sales overall in the next two years, and to 9% by 2016. Getting in on this growth, and competing with the rest of the online businesses will undoubtedly require an aggressive digital marketing strategy.

2. A whopping 93% of a users’ online experiences begin with a visit to a search engine. Digital marketing strategies such as SEO (search engine optimization) strive to get your webpages to show up on the first page of search results for specific keywords relevant to your business and industry. Being on the first search result page will significantly increase the traffic to your website, as almost 75% of people who perform a web-search find what they are looking for on the first SERP (search engine result page), and do not bother going past the first page.

3. Digital marketing strategies such as SEO produce qualified leads. SEO leads have a shown to have 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a uninspiring 1.7% close rate.

4. Online marketing campaigns generate organic, or natural search results, which are almost always preferred by search users. 79% of search engine users say they almost always click on organic search results, while 80% of search users say they rarely, or never click on the sponsored search results.

5. Your online presence will improve drastically. Many online marketing campaigns strive to produce better on-site content, more active social media outlets, and professional web designs. Improving any of these areas will allow your website and social media networks to reflect a high level of professionalism, and will gain the attention of web users, and keep them interested in your business.

This list could continue to go on for dozens of more reasons. However, these 5 reasons seem to reflect the most beneficial aspects of investing in digital marketing. Businesses need to remember that in order to maintain success, smart marketing decisions are necessary, especially with how influential and competitive the internet is for business.