What is Digital Marketing?

 

Digital Marketing

Any marketing that uses electronic devices and can be used by marketing experts to convey promotional messages and measure their impact on the customer journey. In practical terms, digital marketing usually refers to marketing campaigns that appear on a computer, phone, tablet, or other device. It can take many forms, including online video, display ads, search engine marketing, paid social ads, and social media posts. Digital marketing is often compared to "traditional" marketing such as magazine ads, billboards, and direct mail. Oddly enough, television is often confused with traditional marketing.

Did you know that more than three-quarters of Americans use the Internet every day? Not only that, but 43% are online more than once a day and 26% are online 'almost always'.

These numbers are higher among mobile Internet users. 89% of Americans are online at least daily, and 31% are almost always online. As a marketer, it is important to take advantage of the digital world with an online advertising presence, by building a brand, providing a good customer experience that also brings in more customers and more, using a digital strategy.

A digital marketing strategy allows you to take advantage of different digital channels - such as social media, pay-per-click, search engine optimization and email marketing - to connect with existing customers and individuals interested in your products or services. As a result, you can build a brand, provide a great customer experience, attract potential customers, and more.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing, also called Internet marketing, is the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the Internet and other digital forms of communication. This includes not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and MMS as a marketing channel.

Basically, if the marketing campaign includes digital communications, it is digital marketing.

Inbound marketing versus digital marketing

It's easy to confuse digital marketing with inbound marketing, and for good reason. Digital marketing uses many of the same tools as inbound marketing – email and online content, to name a few. Both exist to capture the attention of potential customers through the buyer's journey and convert them into customers. But the two approaches have different views of the relationship between tool and target.

Digital marketing takes into account how individual tools or digital channels can convert potential customers. A brand's digital marketing strategy can use multiple platforms or focus all of its efforts on one platform. For example, a company might create content primarily for social media platforms and email marketing campaigns, bypassing other avenues of digital marketing.

On the other hand, inbound marketing is a comprehensive concept. It considers the goal first, then analyzes the tools available to determine which tools will most effectively reach the target customers, and then at what stage of the sales funnel this should happen. For example, let's say you want to increase website traffic to generate more leads and leads. You can focus on search engine optimization when developing your content marketing strategy, which results in more optimized content, including blogs, landing pages, and more.

The most important thing to remember about digital marketing and inbound marketing is that as a marketer, you don't have to choose between the two. In fact, they work better together. Inbound marketing provides a structure and objective for effective digital marketing for digital marketing efforts, ensuring that each digital marketing channel is working toward a goal.

Why is digital marketing important?

 Any type of marketing can help your business thrive. However, digital marketing is becoming increasingly important due to the accessibility of digital channels. In fact, there were 5 billion internet users globally in April 2022 alone.

From social media to text messaging, there are many ways to use digital marketing tactics to connect with your target audience. In addition, digital marketing features minimal upfront costs, which makes it a cost-effective marketing technique for small businesses.

B2B versus B2C digital marketing

Digital marketing strategies work with B2B (business to business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) companies, but best practices differ greatly between 2. Take a closer look at how digital marketing is used in B2B and B2C marketing strategies.

1.  B2B customers tend to have longer decision-making processes and therefore longer sales paths. Relationship building strategies work best with these customers, while B2C customers tend to respond better to short-term offers and messages.                                                                                 
2. B2B transactions are often based on logic and evidence, which is what skilled B2B marketers come up with. B2C content is more likely to be emotion-based, with a focus on making the customer feel good about their purchase.                                                       
3. B2B decisions tend to need input from more than one person. The marketing materials that guide these decisions tend to be shareable and downloadable. On the other hand, B2C customers prefer one-to-one connections with the brand.

Of course, there are exceptions to all the rules. A B2C company that has an expensive product such as a car or computer can provide more useful and serious content. As a result, your digital marketing strategy always needs to be geared towards your customer base, whether you are B2B or B2C.

Take a look at your existing audience to create well-informed and targeted online marketing campaigns. This ensures that your marketing efforts are effective and that you can capture the attention of potential customers.