by The Computing Australia Group | What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing can be defined as marketing that’s done via electronic devices and the Internet. In simpler words, selling products or services via digital channels, including search engines, social media, websites and digital apps, is called digital marketing. A well-rounded digital marketing strategy will contain both offline and online tactics.
Importance of Digital Marketing
As the world is becoming more digitalised by the second, the significance of traditional marketing strategies- print media, billboards, posters etc.- is slowly declining. While traditional media is far from being dead, it is certainly losing its monopoly over marketing. This trend means that you should adopt or integrate digital marketing tactics for your business to have a successful marketing campaign in this millennium.
The benefits of digital marketing include:
- Cost efficiency: Daily analysis of your campaigns makes it possible to spend money more efficiently for high RoI. For example, if a Twitter campaign doesn’t give you the results you needed, you can stop spending money on that campaign and focus on one that will perform well. Digital marketing allows you to take complete control over your budget and ensure you’re only spending on fields that will reap.
- Target-specific marketing:Compared to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing allows you to reach a larger audience, one that’s saturated with your target demographic. It lets you conduct extensive research to build your buyer personas and polish your strategy to reach the most likely prospects to buy your products.
- Analytics: Every single step in your digital marketing strategy is measurable. From impressions to shares to time spent, digital marketing allows the marketer to see the results of their plans as they happen. Doing so will enable you to measure the RoI of your marketing efforts accurately.
- Stay ahead of the competition: Strategic digital marketing will give you opportunities to outrank big names in your niche. Using the right keywords, for example, will provide you with higher rankings on the search engines as search engines care about the quality of content and not the brand behind it. Influencer marketing through social media is yet another initiative that will boost your brand.
Types of Digital Marketing
The major categories of online digital marketing are:
- Search engine optimisation (SEO): SEO is the group of techniques and technologies used to optimise your website for visibility in search engines. It aims to increase your rankings in SERPs to generate more organic traffic. SEO can be broadly classified into on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.
- Search engine marketing (SEM): SEM refers to purchasing ad space in online platforms to boost your site traffic. SEM and SEO are usually implemented together for more efficiency and better results.
- Content marketing: Content creation and promotion to boost brand recognition, leads, traffic, and conversions, is called content marketing. Blog posts, e-books and infographics are typical examples of this form of marketing.
- Social media marketing (SMM): As the name suggests, SMM uses social media channels to promote brands. Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Pinterest are the most commonly used social media platforms.
- Pay per click advertising (PPC): PPC is an advertising method in which you pay the publisher for each click you get from their platform. Examples for PPC include Google Ads, Twitter ad campaigns, and sponsored messages on LinkedIn.
- Affiliate marketing: In affiliate marketing, you receive a commission for promoting another brand on your website. It is a performance-based marketing tactic. YouTube Partner Program is a well-known affiliate marketing channel.
- Email marketing: Email marketing is a way to keep in touch with your leads and customers. Discounts, special offers, events and other content can be communicated via emails. Triggered emails are an essential aspect of email marketing.
- Marketing automation: Marketing automation is the process of automating your marketing operations, such as sending email newsletters, scheduled posting in social media, and campaign tracking. It will save you time as well as human resources.
- Online PR: The process of securing coverage on trusted online publications is called online PR. Engaging with reviews and comments on your site and reaching to journalists via social media are two common steps of online PR.
How to implement a Digital Marketing Strategy?
Planning a digital marketing strategy and implementing it requires time and resources. Every business has its own needs and goals. So, there is no one-fits-all marketing strategy for your business. But the typical steps in creating a strategy is outlined below
- Evaluate your digital presence: You must know what you already have before moving on to what you need for the future. Evaluating your existing presence in the digital marketing space will help you set clear goals.
- Identify your goals: Ask yourself, “What do I wish to achieve from a digital marketing strategy?” Do you want to boost sales, improve brand recognition or gain more leads? Create a comprehensive list of your business goals using the SMART criteria. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely goals.
- Learn about the digital sales funnel: A digital sales funnel traces the journey of a customer from the beginning point of being a stranger. Understanding the digital tunnel will give you a clear idea of which step you should focus on for getting more sales.
- Create personas: Buyer personas give you a deeper understanding of your customers and their expectations. Using analytics and research studies, you’ll be able to create a strategy that caters to the customer’s needs as well as your own.
- Develop a content blueprint: After creating customer-specific marketing strategies, turn your focus to the content-related aspects. Do keyword research and identify the important keywords for SEO. Create long-term and short-term goals that will guarantee consistency. Post on social media about your brand and use CTAs for engagement.
- Analyse: Once you implement your strategy, analyse how the customers and leads react to it. Check if you’re earning the expected number of clicks. Observe where the engagement dips in the sales funnel. Learn what works and what does not. Use this information to polish your digital marketing strategy further.
How much will Digital Marketing cost for your business?
Now that you have a grasp on what digital marketing is, the next question would be, “If I plan to create a digital marketing strategy, how much will it cost me?” The short answer would be it’ll cost as much as you’re willing to spend on it. Digital marketing is a flexible field. Businesses of all sizes- from new startups to MNCs- will reap benefits if they use the right strategies and resources.
A basic digital marketing package will mostly focus on content marketing and a bit of social media strategy. And a website, if you don’t already have one. Most startups and small businesses can start with this basic package. More advanced and comprehensive packages will include more strategies like SEO, SEM, email marketing, extensive social media campaigns, PPC etc. Every business will be able to implement strategies that suit them. The expense will depend on the extent of resources you want to use and your budget for them.
Talk to your digital marketing provider to find out what is included in their services. Find out if they can provide you with customised solutions. Not sure how to go about digital marketing for your business? Contact Us for an obligation-free chat.
Digital marketing is a rapidly evolving field that can help your business achieve the heights you wish for it. The impact of traditional media is slowly declining, but you can still use them as tools in your digital ventures. However, as the Internet is becoming the bloodline of commerce, it is important to understand digital marketing to keep your business competitive. For assistance on digital marketing for your business, reach out to us at sales@computingaustralia.group. Our experienced team at Perth will be happy to guide you.
Jargon Buster
Buyer personal: It is a detailed depiction of your target audience.
Technical SEO: The technique used to improve the technical aspects of a website to increase its visibility in the search engines is called technical SEO.
Traditional marketing: Traditional marketing refers to offline marketing techniques that include print, broadcast, direct mail, phone, and outdoor advertising.
