Digital Marketing 101

For quite some time, traditional marketing used to dominate the world of marketing. Now, digital marketing is all the rage. With traditional marketing, marketers have to use tons of paper to spread marketing messages. They have to rely on television, radio and newspaper ads to get their message to the masses. On top of that, they don't have much control over who sees their ads and marketing materials. Add the costs of printing paper and paying for air time and you might get a huge number.

Then came digital marketing. Today, worldwide digital ad spend is predicted to reach over $375 billion by 2021. The number of businesses adopting digital marketing for their campaigns is increasing exponentially. But why? How is going digital such a popular phenomenon?

Make the Most of Your Ad Spend

With digital marketing, you have more control over how much you spend to get your ads to an audience. For example, by using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, you serve ads in the search engine results pages (SERPs), so if someone searches for a particular keyword, your ad will pop up. One reason why this is beneficial for businesses is that you can use relevant keywords in your ad copy to attract the right customers at the right time. These people are actively searching for a solution. This is key because, with traditional marketing, it's a lot more difficult to target the right customers who are likely to need your product or service. With digital marketing, you're more likely to reach people who do need your solution.

Another reason why PPC is so great is that it's more cost-effective. With this method, you only pay when someone clicks on the link within your ad. Therefore, you won't be wasting a lot of money on serving ads to people who aren't interested. This gives you more control over how much money you spend on your ads. Compare this to paying a radio station to air your ads. You have to pay a one-time fee that isn't affected by how many people hear your ad or how many people engage from your brand as a result of hearing your ad. This means that you could be paying thousands of dollars just to reach two or three people who may make contact with your brand. Whereas, with PPC ads, you don't spend money unless an interested party visits your website.

Use SEO for Further Targeting

Search engine optimization (SEO) through a company like SEO Newcastle is a great way to attract people to your business. It works similarly to PPC ads. The difference is you're getting rankings based on the quality of your content, the number of authoritative backlinks you receive and other important SEO factors. When someone searches for a particular keyword that you used in your content, they can go straight to the source and get the information they need. As a result, they'll trust your business as an authority and thought leader in your industry. Ultimately, they might make a purchase if they need your solution at that particular point in time.

Reach Audiences on Platforms They Use the Most

There are billions of monthly active users (MAUs) on social media. Therefore, it makes sense to leverage the power of social media platforms to reach your audience. However, not every person who uses social media will be interested in your product. That's why most social media platforms have specific targeting options that allow you to focus on users who are more likely to engage and interact with your brand. For example, you can target users based on many characteristics, such as demographics (i.e., age, gender, location), online behavior, purchase history, interests and preferences. This way, you can reach the right people at the right time.

Digital marketing is a great method of reaching potential customers. However, that doesn't mean you should abandon traditional marketing altogether. Use both for optimal results.