Have you come across the term ‘Digital Marketing’? In a techno savvy -mobile device friendly generation ‘digital marketing’ is the buzzword for marketing a brand. While personal references, client referrals, yellow pages, billboards and other signage, phone calls, sales promotions and all other ways of reaching out to customers remain the ways to enlarge clientele, ‘digital marketing’ has become the forefront marketing strategy for growth of almost every kind of business. And why not? In the internet age, it is a known fact that internet and mobile devices can be the easiest way to seek a customer’s attention for brand building.
So, the big question? What exactly is Digital Marketing?Does this mean Facebook and Instagram marketing? Technically, how does digital marketing help scale up businesses? How can one get started with digital marketing strategies? These are some of the questions that business may ponder before venturing out.
Dr. Dave Chaffey of Smart Insights defines Digital marketing as ‘Achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies and media’ Digital Marketing is thus an encompassing word that includes content marketing, online and native advertising, marketing automation, email marketing, online public relations and affiliate marketing which again in itself are a huge bundle of strategies. These strategies help businesses proliferate their brand through every digital channel that can capture customer’s attention. It is not necessary that every mentioned way must be adopted to promote a brand. Which strategy works best may depend on number of factors such as the nature of business, priorities and budget factor, targeted audience etc.
Content marketing of a business involves the creation and sharing of informative online material through videos, blogs and social media posts. This is intended to reach out to customers and to stimulate interest in the products of the business and to drive profitable customer action. All content is targeted for search engine optimization (SEO) to generate traffic through search engines, meaning SEO content is any content created with the goal of attracting search engine traffic.
Online advertising is internet advertising that includes banner ads, social networking ads and the like and must be purchased. There are different strategies involved such as Cost per click, Cost per thousand, Cost per action and so on. Another closely related type of marketing is Native advertising that involves advertising articles online using Ad networks.
Digital marketing includes marketing automation to automate online marketing campaigns and sales activities for lead generation with the help of software tools. Zapier with Zoho connect, Infusionsoft are some of the software associated with marketing automation. Email marketing is another effective digital marketing strategy of sending emails to prospects and customers that helps build new customers and convert one-time buyers into loyal customers.Online PR is another medium to monitor and manage a brand’s reputation through various discussion threads, Facebook and Instagram or other social media, Forums, blogs, news blogs, online media kits, wire services and more. With the help of a proper online PR strategy, the behavior, thinking and sentiments of a prospect customer can be changed. Another important digital marketing strategy is Affiliate marketing that involves different digital affiliates that promote a business on a commission only basis.
What is the role of a digital marketing service provider?
Digital Marketing is a big encompassing word. The team of specialists is hired to employ different tools to support the campaigning of any kind of business. From Google Adwords, social media, web development, video creation, creation of valuable content like landing pages, blog posts, e-books, email, newsletters and all other strategies are taken care of by the professionals in a team who have expertise in every area for increasing online presence. Every strategy may not be applicable to a business. Business can decide on a portfolio of strategies to be adopted as per the goals and priorities of the business or businesses.Every business irrespective of their size can gain access to a large marketplace at an affordable price and build customer loyalty.
If Digital marketing techniques can help you reach out to global customers online, any negative feedback or criticism of the brand can be visible to audience through social media and review websites. Hence carrying out effective customer service online can be challenging. Also, compliance with privacy and data protection rules must be adhered to. It is here that professionals can play their part and ride you smooth through the online journey of brand building.
By Swaleh Saigal