How Digital Marketing Works and Its Strategies
How digital marketing works is a common question for many trying to market their business. Ever wondered what someone meant by mentioning they’re digital marketers? Some correctly assume that it requires some form of digital mechanisms in order for the marketing to take place. Beyond that though, many get lost in trying to figure it out entirely, and assume that it’s way too complex to grasp, because of the different digital marketing strategies associated with it.
So to make it easier for the novice audience, let me begin by simply explaining what digital marketing is, how digital marketing works, and the different digital marketing strategies that come with it.
What is Digital Marketing about?
Digital Marketing is a form of marketing that uses digital platforms to promote and achieve business goals. It’s increasing in popularity with small to big size businesses, due to its variety of online platforms, its potential targeted customer reach, and its cost effective approach versus the traditional marketing methods. Which is why it’s important to understand how digital marketing works.
So how digital marketing works
Picture digital marketing as a main transit hub. A hub uses different avenues and routes to reach a specific destination. All buses, subways and RTs are the strategies used to reach one’s destination. The same is with digital marketing, which uses different strategies to reach common business goals, from generating leads, creating brand awareness, generating a customer loyalty, to increase sales or brand exposure. A business may use all or some of the strategies according to their business needs, which is important to understand, as it’s not a one size fits all technique.
So what are the different digital marketing strategies?
Digital marketing strategies are the ways businesses get their point across to their intended target market online. The digital marketing strategies are:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Pay-per click Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Website Marketing
Let’s dig a bit deeper into what each strategy is to get a better understanding of how digital marketing works. Hopefully, it’ll get you to begin your digital marketing campaign using all or some of them. I provided the following short video to explain, if that’s not what you want then keep reading ↓
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Picture yourself browsing through the internet on Google, and you’re searching for a product or for information. You’ll end up seeing results from the search engine on the first and second page and so forth. You decide to click the links you see on the first page, assuming that the generated results are what you’re looking for. This is based on SEO – Search Engine Optimization.
SEO focuses on user search query keywords or phrases, whether it’s a product, service, or information. The websites that answer these user search queries, will pop up on Google or any other search engine provider’s search results page. It bridges the gap between businesses and consumers to connect without spending money.
Yes, SEO is free. It’s based on organic marketing. However, a lot of time and effort are put into making your website SEO friendly for Google’s bots/spiders to crawl your website. Google does that to verify that the website holds informative and relevant information related to the user. The more relevant your content is to the user search query, the more likely your website will appear in the search results. It does take about 6-12 months to begin to see the fruits of your SEO efforts. So, it’s a long process, but worth the effort.
Pay-per click Advertising
This is the opposite of SEO, and as the name suggests it’s paid. The benefit of pay-per click advertising, is that it’s used to generate quicker results, and it’s also based on user search intent keywords online. The difference here though, is that you can create the ad according to the user search intent, publish it, and it will show up on Google search pages if it matches the user’s search intent.
Rather than waiting for months or up to a year to see your ranking in the first and second page of Google, while competing with more established websites, pay-per click provides immediate results. You do not pay unless someone clicks on your ad, so it’s also cost-friendly, as you can set your budget.
Email Marketing
According to Statista, “email users worldwide amounted to 4 billion is 2020, and set to grow by 4.6 billion by 2025.” This demonstrates the power of email communication.
Email marketing is an effective way when used correctly, to initiate contact with prospective customers, and to continue to communicate with existing customers. It can be customized to be more personalized, user friendly, and to attract customers to remain subscribed to your business customer list.
With the right email messages sent out, emails can prevent one time buyers to leave, and make them long-time loyal customers. You can send out weekly newsletters and special promotions about your products or services, based on your customers’ purchasing habits.
Affiliate Marketing
Doesn’t it feel great when someone speaks highly of you, or your business! This is what affiliate marketing is all about. Affiliate marketing uses influencers or brand ambassadors to speak about your products or services. They get to influence their followers to adopt your brand. People will listen to someone they trust and love. So, when a business is being promoted by someone who has a following, and who’s well perceived by the public, that business will gain brand exposure and potential customers as well.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a long-term marketing strategy that deals with content. Simple, right!!
To put it into perspective, content marketing is based on creating valuable and relevant content aimed at your target audience. The content you create, aims to answer your customers’ intent, what they’re looking for, and/or grab their interest, in an engaging way. In doing so, you create content that garners readership, followership, and raising your brand awareness among your target audience. If you would like to know more about why content marketing is important, then go right ahead and check out my blog post on “Why is Content Marketing Important for your Business?”
Social Media Marketing
According to Data Reportal, “there are 4.33 billion social media users around the world at the start of 2021, equating to more than 55 percent of the total global population.” These numbers show the powerful impact social media has on businesses to engage these users.
Social media is a great way for businesses to engage with their potential and current customer base in a two-way communication. This is great to gain valid user insights and feedback for businesses to promote their products or services, sell, or create creative engaging content that’s educational, fun and informative to their audience. Social media users have the power to make your brand or a marketing campaign to potentially go viral. This is done through shares, likes, and following. Most social media platforms have their user analytics data, which become helpful for your business as your run ad campaigns.
Website Marketing
Your website is the face of your entire business and it reflects the image of your business online, as well as offline. If you have a brick and mortar, and your website doesn’t match your offline store image that people interact with, it’ll end up turning them away.
A business’ website has to be user-friendly, with a good design, a good layout, and high quality graphics, as well as being responsive for different devices.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is an exciting form of marketing, that may seem overwhelming. However, keep in mind that it can be done in stages, with the right marketing plan and strategy that suits your business. It’s a step by step process, and not all the strategies mentioned above may be a good fit for your business, or they may all be. Just make sure you are heading in the right direction, and if you feel that it’s too overwhelming, you can contact me, and I’ll be happy to help you navigate through it. 🙂
Contact me and get your digital marketing campaign that fits your needs!