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Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Introduction
For any business looking to succeed in our technology-driven world, digital marketing is crucial. Over the past few decades, digital marketing has become an integral part of every successful business. Small businesses and major corporate brands alike have come to rely on this form of advertisement to generate leads, boost sales, and promote brand awareness.
But what exactly is digital marketing?
In this guide, we’ll answer that question and tell you everything you need to know about this essential concept. From types to strategies, this guide can serve as your comprehensive resource for all things digital marketing.
Are you ready to learn? Let’s dive in!
What is Digital Marketing?
Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is digital marketing?
In essence, digital marketing is any form of online marketing. Those emails you get from your favorite pizza place? That’s digital marketing. Pop-up ads advertising special weight loss vitamins? That counts as digital marketing, too.
Today, digital marketing constitutes a large percentage of total marketing efforts and is a crucial element to any business’s advertising campaign. Businesses that engage in digital marketing typically employ such tactics as email blasts, online brochures, landing pages, and website advertisements.
Digital marketing encompasses both computer-based and mobile-based advertising. In fact, recent research suggests that 72% of all digital marketing schemes will come on mobile platforms in 2019.
Much of digital marketing revolves around a few important strategies. From search engine optimization (SEO) to affiliate marketing, these strategies are crucial for businesses that want to advertise to a wider client base and keep their businesses relevant moving forward into an increasingly-digital age.
Understanding the concepts of digital marketing can have a profound impact on your business. Keep in mind that digital and print marketing are two different mediums and should be handled differently.
Keep reading to find out specific digital marketing strategies and how they might benefit your business!
What are the Basics of Digital Marketing?
Because digital marketing is a blanket term that encompasses several strategies, tactics, and concepts, it’s important to understand the basics of the field before tackling it head on.
If you are looking to get into digital marketing, there are a few things you will need to invest in. Let’s take a look at a few of them to help boost your business today!
- Website
In today’s age, it’s increasingly tough for any business to remain successful without a website. In fact, as online shopping becomes more popular, it’s likely that having a website will soon be more necessity than luxury.
This means that a strong website should be the first step of anyone looking to build an effective digital marketing campaign. It’s as simple as this: if you advertise online, customers will check out your website first. Therefore, make sure you have an attractive, user-friendly website that can serve as the foundation of your digital marketing campaign. This can allow you to promote products, interact with customers, and provide special newsletters for interested clients.
In other words, if you are looking to market online, start with your website and build from there.
- Social Media Accounts
Digital marketing often requires the use of social media. This means that more and more businesses are turning to social media platforms to advertise their services and interact with both potential and existing customers.
Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are popular options that allow businesses to grow their brand and promote awareness of new products, deals, or special offers. If your business does not yet have a social media page, it may be harder to succeed in digital marketing.
Simply put, social media is an increasingly important digital marketing channel that businesses need to capitalize on to have success and outpace the competition. Consider creating your own business-style social media page to boost your sales and grow brand awareness.
- Newsletters
Many businesses with successful digital marketing campaigns also make use of online newsletters to interact with existing customers and secure potential future business.
If you have a website or social media page, it may be time to take your online advertising efforts up a notch by creating a newsletter geared to customers of your business.
Simply ask clients to sign up for this newsletter on your website to grant them access to special deals, offers, and discounts. These newsletters can also provide updates on your business and any relevant information that may affect the consumer.
In general, newsletters are sent through email and are a great way of interacting with clientele to turn existing customers into recurring customers.
- Mobile Apps
Depending on the size, scope, and type of business you are running, it may prove useful to concentrate your digital marketing efforts into a mobile app. Though a mobile app isn’t necessary for every business, many customers find it helpful to interact with their favorite brands and stores straight from their phones.
Essentially, apps work similar to a website in that they allow your customers to see all your product information in one location. Apps are generally more convenient, however, for those who spend most of their time on their phone.
In advertising, convenience is often the key to winning over the hearts of potential consumers. For this reason, it’s worth investing the time, money, and effort required to launch a successful mobile app. This will help your business stay fresh on consumers’ minds and give you a leg up on the competition.
Who Needs Digital Marketing Services to Generate More Leads?
Who needs digital marketing?
Simply put, any business that wishes to stay afloat in the coming years.
Today, it’s harder than ever to survive off word-to-mouth and traditional forms of advertising. Billboards simply won’t cut it anymore. Neither will print or televised advertising (which are often more expensive options). This is especially true for small business owners and those looking to compete with bigger brands with more established infrastructure.
For many, digital marketing offers access to a wider clientele that’s crucial for sustaining business. This means that there’s no business that wouldn’t benefit from digital marketing.
Think about it this way: more advertising means more sales, and more sales equals more success for you and for your business.
Digital Marketing Strategies
The explosion of digital platforms in the past decade has opened a new marketing arena.
Businesses both big and small now leverage digital marketing as a cost-effective means to boost sales. Over the years, several proven-effective digital marketing strategies have come to exist.
For those looking to use digital marketing strategies in their own business, keep the following information in mind.
Below, we include some of the most popular and effective digital marketing strategies. If implemented well, these strategies can boost your online presence and strengthen your business.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If you’ve looked into starting a business, it’s likely that you’ve come across this term at some point.
Search Engine Optimization, better known as SEO, refers to the tailoring of online content to better rank on major search engines.
A strong understanding of SEO can help your online pages show on the first pages of Google and other major search engines. In turn, this greatly increases traffic and puts more money in your wallet.
Learning SEO, however, takes time. If you’re new to the online arena, it’s likely that you’ll need to outsource your copywriting to ensure that it’s search engine optimized.
This process is done through the inclusion of popular and trending keywords that users in your niche will search.
The proper use of SEO must follow Google’s search rater’s guidelines. And because this is a skill that takes time to learn, you’ll want a professional copywriter on staff—or on call.
The increased traffic from proper search engine optimization makes the process a worthwhile investment.
In fact, SEO is the most powerful digital marketing technique you can use for a number of reasons, including:
- It gives your online pages better search engine rankings
- It helps build a stronger brand reputation
- It can increase your traffic and revenue
- It gives you greater market influence
You can think of it this way:
There’s no digital marketing campaign that’s successful without the use of SEO. If you wish to run a successful marketing campaign, make SEO its backbone.
- Start a Remarketing Campaign
A successful digital marketing campaign never gives up. If you’re looking to get the best results possible, it’s time you invest in a much-overlooked digital marketing strategy:
Remarketing.
Have you noticed that visitors to your site or landing page simply aren’t buying? It may be that some are even leaving after filling out some information at the checkout page.
While this is a problem you must solve, the good news is there’s still hope.
With a remarketing campaign, you can target these “almost customers.”
Remarketing campaigns will strategically place ads on other sites for customers who visited your page. This is a highly-effective strategy for converting more potential customers into sales.
Perhaps the most important benefit of all, however, is the valuable insight you can gain into your site’s pain points.
By adapting your site in response to customer data, you can provide a better experience and convert more customers.
- Email Marketing
Even if you’ve never tried your hand at digital marketing, you’ve certainly encountered email marketing before.
This powerful digital marketing strategy is one of the most popular—and one of the most effective.
Why?
Because email marketing provides a cost-effective way to keep in touch with new and potential customers.
You just have to be smart about collecting user information.
Having signup prompts on your website, for instance, can be a powerful way to collect emails from your potential customers.
It’s important to make sure that you strategically place these signup prompts.
And there’s no better place than on your website’s checkout page.
Websites that have a two-page checkout process allow for optimal data collection. Because many interested visitors leave when prompted to put in financial information, it’s important that you collect emails prior to asking for credit card information.
You may have noticed that many successful websites follow this formula. Before making a purchase, you’re prompted to sign up or put in an email address.
And whether you order the product or not, you’re sure to have a message or two in your email inbox shortly after.
This is how email marketing works.
In this way, you can keep in touch with both potential and returning customers and increase your brand’s top-of-mind awareness.
- Use Influencers
Digital marketing strategies typically work better for those who already have a strong following.
Those who wish to advertise on social media, for instance, can do so better with a large fan base.
But what about businesses that are just starting out?
If you’re looking to get your foot in the door of the online market, it’s time to start considering hiring an influencer.
Influencers are individuals who already boast strong standing in the market of your choice. By paying an influencer, you can have them mention your company—sending followers and new business your way.
Though influencers aren’t free, they are a much more cost-effective form of digital marketing than some more traditional methods.
And they bring about strong results.
By hiring an influencer early, you can help place your business on the map and grow your brand’s reputation.
- Social Media Marketing
The explosion of social media over the past decade has been nothing short of miraculous.
The rise of giants such as Facebook and Twitter have redefined communication in the modern era.
But that’s not all.
Along with these new communication avenues came innovative marketing opportunities.
Facebook, for instance, now offers business page options with key perks for entrepreneurs. By providing another marketing platform, Facebook can be a powerful way to connect with potential new followers.
Additionally, it offers affordable advertising options that allow businesses to specifically target their customers.
With a proper social media marketing strategy, businesses can better target and engage with their intended audience.
The Bottom Line
Digital marketing is an indispensable marketing tool in the modern world.
If you’re hoping your business can survive in today’s digital era, it’s time to invest in building a robust digital marketing campaign.
Use the information above as your guide to start growing your business in no time!