Digital marketing is a term that's thrown around a lot these days, but what does it actually mean? And more importantly, what can it do for your business?
In this blog post, we'll break down everything you need to know about digital marketing and how it can help grow your business. So read on to learn more!
RELATED: Search Engine Optimization: Why Is SEO Important For Your Business?
Digital Marketing 101: Your Ultimate Digital Marketing Guide
You can click on these links below to jump on a specific section:
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a broad term that covers a lot of different marketing activities. At its core, digital marketing refers to any marketing effort that uses the internet or other electronic devices. A digital marketer may use a variety of digital channels to endorse brands, services, or goods. But it's more than just advertising online.
Just like traditional advertising, digital marketers use digital channels to reach out to potential and existing customers. They also use digital marketing to drive website traffic and conversions.
How Does Digital Marketing Work?
In the digital marketing world, you don’t have to wait for customers to come to you; businesses can reach their customers directly!
A good digital marketing campaign will put your company’s message on platforms that already house your target audience. It'll also maximize the company’s assets and match them with the appropriate digital marketing tactic.
What Are Digital Marketing Assets?
Digital marketing assets refer to tools you can use for online marketing campaigns. It includes marketing tools that a company can use to reach customers online.
Here are some examples:
- web pages
- company logos or icons
- video content
- image content
- written content
- social media accounts
- customer reviews
- marketing automation software
These are just a few examples of digital marketing assets. These will naturally evolve with internet and social media campaign.
What Are the Types of Digital Marketing Strategies?
Digital marketing techniques are the processes of planning, executing, and monitoring digital marketing campaigns. These are designed to achieve specific business goals.
There are many types of digital marketing tactics, but we’ve narrowed it down to the following:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is the process of making your website more visible on search engines. It improves your website’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
The goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic to your website. Organic traffic refers to the number of people who find your site through a search engine without clicking on an ad.
Search engine optimization can be done through optimizing your website’s content, structure, and code. You can also improve your SEO by building high-quality backlinks and improving your click-through rate (CTR).
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) is an effective digital marketing strategy that involves using paid ads to get your website to appear higher in the search results page.
SEM is often confused with search engine optimization, which focuses on organic (non-paid) techniques to improve your website's ranking.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
Also known as paid search ads, these are the sponsored listings that appear at the top of search engine result pages. When someone clicks on one of these digital ads, you pay the advertiser a small fee. Google Ads is by far the most popular platform for paid search advertising, but there are other options out there as well.
The main advantage of PPC campaigns is that it allows you to get your web page in front of people who are already interested in what you have to offer. That's because your ad only appears when someone searches for keywords that you've specified.
This means that you're not paying for ads that nobody will ever see. And because you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad, it's a very cost-effective way to reach a targeted audience.
Content Marketing
Anyone who's been around the internet for a while knows that content is king. That's why so many businesses are turning to online content marketing strategy as a way to reach their target customers.
But what exactly is content marketing, and how does it differ from other types of digital marketing?
Simply put, content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and engaging content to attract and retain customers. This can take many different forms, from blog posts and articles to e-books and infographics.
The key is to create content that's interesting and useful to your audience. Done right, content marketing can be an extremely effective way to drive traffic, build brand awareness, and generate leads.
In addition, social media channels provide businesses with an unparalleled opportunity to gather data about their target audiences, allowing them to refine their marketing strategies and better customize their message.
While social media strategy requires a different approach than traditional marketing techniques, it offers businesses a unique opportunity to connect with their customers in a way that's both personal and interactive.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy that relies on email to deliver messages to customers or prospects. Email has been around for decades, but it’s only in the last few years that businesses have started to really harness its power.
Email marketing campaigns allow you to build relationships with your customers or prospects, and it’s a great way to stay top of mind. It’s also an effective way to drive traffic to your website or blog, and it can be used to promote events or special offers.
Mobile Marketing
In the age of smartphones, it's no surprise that mobile marketing has become a key part of many digital marketing activities. After all, nearly everyone has mobile devices these days, and that means there's a huge potential audience for businesses to reach!
Mobile marketing can take many different forms, from ads that appear in apps to SMS text messages.
One of the great things about mobile marketing is that it can be highly targeted, which means businesses can use it to reach their ideal customers.
Another benefit is that mobile marketing is relatively inexpensive, making it a great option for businesses on a tight budget.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing in the digital marketing field involves partnering with other businesses in order to promote their products or services. In return for promoting these businesses, affiliates receive a commission on any sales that they generate.
Affiliate marketing can be an effective way to reach new customers, as it allows businesses to tap into new markets that they might not otherwise have access to.
Additionally, affiliate marketing can be a cost-effective way to market your business, as you only pay commissions on sales that are generated.
Why Is Digital Marketing Important?
The internet and e-commerce are here to stay. Most of your customers are internet users, and they spend a good chunk of their time online. They stay connected with friends on social media or instant messaging apps. They use the internet to stay up-to-date with news.
More importantly, most customers begin the purchasing decision process online. Think about it: if you’re interested in a particular product, what’s the first thing you do? You Google it! We rely on the internet to learn more about products so that we can make a purchasing decision. Digital marketing gives you direct access to potential customers.
If you aren’t convinced yet, here are the other benefits of digital marketing:
- Digital marketing offers a cost-effective way to create brand awareness. Posting about your product on social media platforms is a lot cheaper than a billboard!
- Digital marketing allows you to target specific prospects. Many digital channels provide targeting features that’ll help you get your message across to people who are more likely to show interest in your product.
- Digital marketing creates opportunities for customer engagement before and after the sale. After each purchase, you can offer to send your customers a newsletter via email.
- Digital marketing helps establish a community of satisfied customers. Satisfied customers love to rave about their favorite products on their personal social media accounts.
- Digital marketing shortens and streamlines the buyer’s journey. It allows you to cut out the middleman of the buyer’s journey. Customers can buy your product or services with one click!
- Digital marketing provides easy-sharing opportunities between customers. Many social media platforms make it easy for people to share information.
- Digital marketing opens up your market. It allows you to target anyone who has access to the internet. It evens out the playing field between smaller and bigger businesses because you no longer need to spend millions to have a national or even global impact.
- Digital marketing allows for more flexible strategies. In traditional marketing, it’s harder to adjust campaigns once they’ve launched. Digital marketing offers real-time data so you can keep fine-tuning your strategies to get the most bang out of your buck.
How Do You Know if Your Plan Is Working?
Each digital marketing strategy will have different key performance indicators (KPIs). Here are the most common:
- organic traffic
- time on page
- overall blog traffic
- total subscribers
- total followers
- number of Impressions
- number of shares
- email open rate
- click-through rate
- conversion rate
What Are the Best Practices?
There are different ways to maximize your company’s online marketing, but here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Get To Know Your Audience
Just like in traditional media, you need to make sure that your message is relevant. It’s important to have a clear buyer persona before implementing your strategies.
Use Good and Up-To-Date Data
Information, like email addresses, can go stagnant within a year. Make sure you have up-to-date information about your customers to maximize your digital marketing efforts.
Implement an Omnichannel Strategy
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Make sure you get your message out there on several platforms.
Upload Relevant Content Regularly
Regardless of your digital channel, make sure you’re posting relevant and fresh content regularly. This helps improve brand recognition.
Track Performance
Take advantage of the real-time data in the different digital channels. If you see that a certain digital strategy isn’t getting as many hits, maybe it’s time to explore others.
Who Can Help You Implement the Strategies?
Digital marketing has so much potential, but it can be overwhelming at the start. There are a lot of factors to consider when you’re deciding on the best tactics.
You can look into a marketing professional, a social media manager, or a digital marketing agency that specializes in this service, but a virtual assistant who has digital marketing training can definitely help you!
What is a virtual assistant? A virtual assistant is an off-site employee who can provide general or specialized services. Since most of the work is online, a virtual assistant can easily take over your efforts.
A trained virtual assistant can help you maximize your company’s free and paid digital marketing channels. They can help promote brand awareness and generate new leads. They can also track the analytics of different marketing efforts and provide you with invaluable marketing insights.
You can also hire a virtual assistant to take over specific digital marketing tasks. For example, you may have a good handle on your company’s social media sites, but you need a little help with your website. A virtual assistant can help you update your website content, post new blogs, and even manage your e-commerce store.
Final Thoughts
There's no doubt that digital marketing is here to stay--and if you're not already on board, it's time to jump on the bandwagon! Not only does digital marketing allow you to reach a larger audience more easily, but it also provides valuable insights into your customers that can help you improve your overall marketing strategy.
Remember, digital marketing and e-commerce are the future of business. So don’t miss out! Now is the best time to take your business online!
If you’re not sure where to start or you need help implementing your digital marketing strategy, consider hiring a virtual assistant. A trained professional can help you take advantage of all the opportunities digital marketing has to offer! And if you’re ready to take the leap, visit The Virtual Hub today!
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing refers to the process of using online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to build relationships and interact with potential customers. By sharing valuable content and engaging with users in a way that's authentic and personal, businesses can build trust and ultimately drive conversions.