In today’s world, there is hardly a separation between life online and life offline. Due to tablets and smartphones, online life has become so integral to our everyday tasks that it is nearly impossible for anyone to ever entirely disconnect. Smartphones will continue to receive Facebook notifications and inboxes will continue to flood with new emails. For any company hoping to expand its reach to a global audience, the most advantageous step is to establish a presence online.

The power of social media marketing has never been stronger. From ads on popular YouTube videos to brand ambassador promotions, companies have found numerous way to seamlessly insert themselves into every aspect of online life. The striking popularity of shopping haul videos indicates that viewers are very receptive to the opinions of their favorite YouTubers. Brands will often send these YouTubers certain products to use or highlight in their videos. This is a great way for companies to inexpensively turn “famous faces” into brand ambassadors and to easily advertise their products to thousands of online viewers.

With the click of a button, a social media user can retweet or share a post made by a brand or company. That initial post then becomes visible to everyone who directly follows the brand or company and to everyone who follows that particular social media user. In this way, one post can be instantly shared with hundreds of other social media users, who may choose to share the post themselves. In little to no time, a message that took seconds to be posted by a company can be viewed by thousands of consumers worldwide.

Companies that lack a social media presence have a hard time remaining relevant, especially amongst millennial consumers who spend so much time online. If a company can’t be tagged in a tweet or Facebook post, that company might as well not exist amongst the online community.

Simply having the option to shop online makes a company more attractive to today’s consumers. People enjoy the comfort and ease of at-home shopping, which allows them to avoid the hassles of long lines and crowed stores. Through the use of email lists and social media posts, companies can continuously promote their products to consumers and reach a larger market, without the costs involved with print advertisements.

Most companies seek to reach a broad and diverse range of consumers from different age groups, races, geographical locations, etc. The beauty of the internet is that it is becoming more accessible to more people every day. Use of the internet is cost-free for both the consumer and for a company, making it the perfect place for companies to establish good relations with potential customers or clients.

There is no longer a cost-effective way for a company to maintain a competitive edge without the help of the internet. Nothing in marketing and advertising is truly more powerful than the genuine testimonials and dialogue of consumers that are shared on various platforms of the internet.