Defining Digital Marketing

What it is and How it can Benefit You

You’ve probably heard the term digital marketing before, but what exactly is it and how can you use it to better your company? Digital marking is actually a pretty vague term referring to all of the marketing efforts one does online. It’s how businesses, social media users, and digital channels such as Google connect with the current and prospective customers. The potential in digital marketing is huge, with the number of people spending time online growing every year in fairly large numbers.

Marketing in general has been about connecting with potential customers at the right time and place, but now since more customers are spending their time online, digital marketing has become the go to way to bring in new customers and entice current ones to invest in your company’s products and services. So, where marketing exists on a physical level, such as a storefront or newspaper ad, digital marketing is the type of marketing that exists online. It’s how companies reach consumers who do their business and shopping on the internet.

How is Digital Marketing Defined?

Digital marketing covers a rather large umbrella of tactics and advertising options. From email marketing to online brochures and digital advertising, there can be a whole lot to consider in the realm of digital marketing and the best digital marketers are those who know their goals and target audience. So, what are some great assets to have when it comes to putting out a successful digital marketing campaign? Well, a business website is always a good place to start and you should include updated blog posts on that website to keep knowledge of your current products and services new and fresh. Social media platforms are definitely a valuable tool for digital marketing success. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are a quick and easy way to promote your business and offer promotions.

What Tactics are Used in Digital Marketing?

There are several tactics that can be used in digital marketing to help reach an audience. One of the most important tactics is through search engine optimization (SEO). This means optimizing your website so that it will rank higher in searches. It makes your business more visible and helps increase your web traffic. Content marketing is another tactic used. It means creating new and fresh content for your website and blog. The purpose of content marketing is to generate brand interest, web traffic growth, and engage potential new customers with your products and services. Social media marketing is a tactic used through popular social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This type of digital marketing tactic allows you to interact with your follower and promote new products, services, and advertise goods and promotions. Email marketing is a common tactic used when you want to reach your current customers. By reaching out to them via your customer email list, you have a direct link to your customers where you can promote new goods and services and advertise any sales or promotions you may be having.

What is the Difference between Inbound Marketing and Digital Marketing?

Although digital marketing and inbound marketing by seem similar, they do use different methods to marketing tactics. Digital marketing doesn’t differentiate between inbound and outbound methods. Instead it aims to directly market a message to as many people online as possible and that may mean in a welcome of unwelcome way. For example, those oftentimes annoying pop up ads and banners you may come across while searching a webpage.

Inbound marketing relies more on targeting a specific audience. This tactic capitalizes on more specific niches where digital marketing can be a very broad way to reach a number of different audiences. The heart of the matter in the difference between the two tactics is that inbound marketing is a more specific form or marketing, whereas digital marketing is more of an umbrella term uses to describe any number of online marketing tactics.

What are the Main Benefits of Digital Marketing?

One of the great benefits of digital marketing is the ability to see instant results. Instead of having to wait around to see the circulation numbers from a newspaper ad, the hits on a digital marketing ad or campaign can be seen in real time. The results of digital marketing can be seen through website traffic and social media hits. With specific types of software, you can see how many pages a potential customer has looked at as well as where they are browsing from. This can be very useful for future digital marketing endeavors.

Digital marketing can reach a large mass of people in a short amount of time; through one click and post on social media to an updated blog post, the results are almost instant.

What Type of Content Should You Create?

The type of digital marketing content you should create depends on the audience you’re trying to reach as well as the overall goal of putting the content out there. It also depends on what the needs of your audience are and where you’re at in your company in terms of sales and services. You also need think about timing by taking into account when your potential customers (the intended audience) would be ready to consume whatever it is you’re trying to sell.

It’s also important to pay attention to what works best when it comes to grabbing your audience’s attention. Do they respond well to visuals? Then perhaps using pictures and videos are the best way to get your content seen. Does your audience respond better to facts and information? Blog posts, research reports, and case studies may be a good way to generate interest in that type of audience. Listen to what your audience wants and responds to most, then you’ll have better insight into the type of content that will work best for your digital marketing campaigns.

How Long Does It Take to See the Results of Digital Marketing?

While the results of digital marketing tend to be much quicker than the more traditional ways of marketing, how fast you’ll see those results can depend on a number of factors. Ultimately it depends on the scale and reach of your digital marketing strategy as well as its effectiveness at getting its message across. Paid advertising through your digital marketing may yield results quicker, but if you’ve spent time putting out a comprehensive campaign that focuses on the needs of your audience, you’re likely to see the results of your hard work within the first six months. Of course, there’s not a specific time frame for which you can measure the success of your digital marketing campaign, but once you start to see an increase in web traffic, hits on your social media accounts, and more sales, it will be pretty evident that the campaign was a success.