What Is Digital Marketing?

Going digital is all the rage in the world of business growth and branding. So, what exactly is digital marketing, and how can we use it to expand our company?

Digital Marketing Defined

Digital marketing is the use of digital media platforms to advertise and promote companies and their products. Websites, social media, radio, television, telephone, and even conventional non-digital media such as billboards and transit signs are all examples of digital media at the moment. Digital marketing is defined as any marketing medium that is delivered electronically.

Just person-to-person (P2P) ads, print advertisements, and direct marketing are left outside the digital marketing umbrella. Even so, print advertisements, direct mail, print directories, banners, and posters are beginning to interact with their digital counterparts.

Traditional marketing and advertisement almost always have a digital marketing link with things like URL landing pages, QR codes, web banner advertising, online directories, and text codes.

Why the Focus on Digital Media?

Marketing companies, company owners, and customers are all behind the transition to new media. Going digital is a dream for the digital marketing firm because there is an ever-increasing desire for quantifiable outcomes. Websites, social networking, and smartphone advertisements are all far easier to monitor than conventional marketing media like print ads.

Many types of digital ads are very low cost for business owners. Print ads and direct mail are expensive, but having a web presence, engaging consumers in discussions via social media, and e-mail marketing are low-cost alternatives. These digital platforms are open to companies of all sizes, helping to level the playing field for start-ups, small businesses, and independent consultants looking for new clients.

For consumers, the quick speed of life necessitates the use of digital ads. When it comes to finding products and services, the days of thumbing through a phonebook are long gone. We now use our mobile devices or go to our computers to find answers - and we do it quickly.

Building Your Business and Brand with Digital Media

You can effectively market your business across low-cost digital platforms no matter what size it is - big or small to medium-sized business /enterprise (SMB or SME). Your website will serve as the cornerstone of your marketing efforts. Spend wisely on your website and make sure it accomplishes the following:

#Adequately represents your business and brand (look and feel, messaging)

#Adequately speaks to your target audience

#Can be found by searchers on top search engines

#Is up-to-date and easily navigable

#Provides multiple channels for customer communication

#Connects to other marketing efforts

Working with a specialist web design company that specializes in web creation and search engine optimization is recommended. Your website should be one of your top business investments because it is the cornerstone to and from which all other digital platforms can lead.

Following the completion of your website, you can send out daily monthly or bi-monthly e-mail campaigns and engage with customers on social media. There are efforts that can be performed in-house (by someone with the necessary knowledge) or at a low cost by an outside digital marketing firm if you are truly on a shoestring budget. Make sure that all of your efforts point customers back to your website, where they can learn more about your business, products, and services, and choose how to contact you.

You should set aside some digital marketing dollars for search engine optimization and pay-per-click ads if you want to be more competitive with search marketing. To attract new customers, many companies today rely heavily on being found online. A common misunderstanding among business owners is that making a website automatically ensures that customers can find it. That is not the case. Unique keywords and phrases, metadata, page content, and linking techniques must all be used to help the site achieve top search rankings.

Due to the fierce competition for top search rankings for several main terms and phrases, you'll need to complement your organic search engine optimization efforts with pay-per-click ads. It can be difficult to get started with pay-per-click advertisement campaigns, but with a little time, effort, and guidance, it can be done in-house or for a fair cost by an outside digital marketing firm.

You should diversify the digital marketing activities beyond e-mail, social media marketing, and search engine marketing. Mobile ads, radio, television, electronic signage, and several other marketing options are available. Whatever digital initiatives you select, they should all bind to and tie into your company's website as a base.