What is Digital Marketing?
By Karen Barr
What is digital marketing, exactly? Digital marketing is a term used all the time.
Digital marketing is a way of promoting products and services via digital channels. Online marketing is another way of describing digital marketing.
Many things have changed over the years regarding the digital channels marketers and business owners can use.
Let’s take a closer look.
Social Media
When choosing social media platforms, first consider your target audience. Given factors like demographics, which platforms do you think they may be on? Once you decide, being consistent with your social media posts is essential.
Test, test, and test some more. At the six-month mark, see which social media platforms are most effective. Check your analytics to see if your customers link to your website via social media posts. Are people signing up to be part of your email list? Which social media platforms are moving the needle?
The number of social media followers your company has is a vanity number if they aren’t connecting with you and your messaging. A “like” is a pretty low-stakes move. It won’t move your customers through the buyer’s journey at a very rapid pace.
Search Engine Optimization
When I studied Digital Marketing Management at the University of Toronto, I wanted to focus on this area of digital marketing. I would argue it’s the most essential part of digital marketing.
SEO optimizes your website pages and posts so that search engines like Google can find you. The goal of SEO is to make it onto the first page of organic search. This helps your audience find out more about your products or services. The more posts (think blogging!) and pages you have on your website, the more posts and pages you can rank for.
I like to use Yoast for SEO. The plug-in that can be used with WordPress or Shopify gives you clear visuals on what needs to be fixed with SEO. Red indicates you need to stop and improve the post with tips the app supplies. Yellow indicates there is still more to accomplish. Green means go in SEO.
To find out more about SEO Read 10 Ways to SEO Friendly Blogs
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
What is the difference between SEO and SEM?
Search Engine Marketing involves paid ads that customers click on to take them to your website. On the other hand, with Search Engine Optimization, search engines offer organic results in the order of what is deemed most valuable and accurate to the search query. One is free, and the other is paid.
Search Engine Marketing starts by defining keywords for ads, setting up the ad and determining the amount you want to spend. Google Ads and Facebook Ads are examples of pay-per-click ads.
When working with new clients, I maximize or optimize SEO before suggesting SEM. This avoids undue costs. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is competitive and can be expensive.
Content Marketing
Okay. I love this part of digital marketing the most. It’s creative and fun.
For the reader, it’s a way of learning about new products and finding solutions to problems. Content marketing keeps your customers informed, educated, and entertained while you continue to nurture the relationship and grow.
What are some examples? Content marketing includes blog posts, case studies, and lead magnets such as cheat sheets, workbooks, quizzes, e-books, and online courses. Don’t forget about newsletters to continually keep in touch with your customer base.
Everyone should start with a blog to build a community of readers. Lead magnets are essential for building an email list. Always be list-building.
Would you like to learn more about Business Blogging? Take my FREE MINI-COURSE presented via email.
This leads me to…
Email Marketing
All the hard work in content marketing leads audiences to join your company email list.
That’s when you have them!
If there is one key takeaway about email marketing you need to know, it’s this.
Email marketing is more critical to your bottom dollar than social media marketing. Signing up for your email list means customers want to hear from you. In fact, they gave you their email address just for that reason.
Social media is like the person who, when you run into them, always says, “Hey, we should hang out soon!” Without a solid plan, this rarely happens.
Email marketing is the friend you can call anytime, and they will always be there for you.
It’s a big difference.
Business-wise, email marketing offers an excellent return on investment (ROI). For every dollar spent, companies make between $36 and $42.
SMS Marketing
SMS stands for short message marketing. Given the fact people check their phones every three minutes, the chances of your customers seeing your message are pretty darn good. In fact, the average open rate is 98 percent!
There is a 160-character limit, so make every word count. Like best practices in email marketing, start by welcoming your new customers to SMS. Quickly identify your brand in the message to avoid being blocked. Also, give customers a chance to opt-out easily.
Consider adding SMS to your digital marketing plan if you haven’t already.
In Conclusion
Digital marketing enables businesses to grow and flourish. Using multiple digital marketing channels to connect with and nurture customer relationships is the key to your success.
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