What Is Digital Marketing?
The term digital marketing refers to the use of digital channels to market products and services to consumers. This type of marketing involves the use of websites, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other similar channels. Digital marketing became popular with the advent of the internet in the 1990s.
Digital marketing involves some of the same principles as traditional marketing and is often considered an additional way for companies to approach consumers and understand their behavior. Companies often combine traditional and digital marketing techniques in their strategies. But digital marketing comes with its own set of challenges, including implicit bias.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Digital marketing involves marketing to consumers through digital channels, including websites, mobile devices, and social media platforms.
- This form of marketing is different from internet marketing, which is exclusively done on websites.
- Digital marketing relates to attracting customers via email, content marketing, search platforms, social media, and more.
- One of the biggest challenges digital marketers face is how to set themselves apart in a world that is oversaturated with digital marketing ads.
- Digital marketing comes with various challenges, including implicit bias.
How Digital Marketing Works
Marketing refers to activities that a company uses to promote its products and services and to improve its market share. To be successful, it requires a combination of advertising savvy, sales, and the ability to deliver goods to end-users. Professionals, known as marketers, take on these tasks either internally at companies or externally at marketing firms.
Corporations traditionally focused on marketing through print, television, and radio. Although these options still exist, the internet led to a shift in the way companies reach consumers. That's where digital marketing came into play. This form of marketing involves the use of websites, social media, search engines, and apps—anything that incorporates marketing with customer feedback or a two-way interaction between the company and its customers.
New technologies and trends forced companies to change their marketing strategies. Email became a popular marketing tool in the early days of digital marketing. Then, the focus shifted to search engines like Netscape, which allowed businesses to tag and keyword items to get themselves noticed. The development of sites like Facebook made it possible for companies to track data and cater to consumer trends.
Smartphones and other digital devices now make it easier for companies to market themselves and their products and services to consumers. Studies show that people prefer using their phones to go online. In fact, according to a Pew Research Center study, over 75% of American adults typically make shopping purchases using their phones.
Digital marketing can be interactive and is often used to target specific segments of the customer base.
Sources and Receivers
Advertisers are commonly referred to as sources, while recipients of the targeted ads are the receivers. Sources frequently target highly specific, well-defined receivers, as McDonald's did with shift workers and travelers.
The company used digital ads because it knew these people used digital devices and made up a large segment of its late-night business. McDonald's encouraged them to download the Restaurant Finder app, targeting them with ads placed at automated teller machines (ATMs), gas stations, and websites that its customers frequented.
Types of Digital Marketing Channels
As noted above, marketing was traditionally done through print (newspapers and magazines) and broadcast ads (TV and radio). These channels still exist and are used today. Digital marketing channels have evolved and continue to do so. The following are eight of the most common digital avenues that companies can take to boost their marketing efforts. Keep in mind that some companies may use multiple channels in their efforts.
Website Marketing
A website is the centerpiece of all digital marketing activities. It is a very powerful channel on its own, but it’s also the medium needed to execute a variety of online marketing campaigns. A website should represent a brand, product, and service in a clear and memorable way. It should be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to use.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising enables marketers to reach internet users on a number of digital platforms through paid ads. Marketers can set up PPC campaigns on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, X platform (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and Facebook and show their ads to people searching on terms related to products or services.
These campaigns can segment users based on their demographic characteristics (such as age or gender), or even target their particular interests or location. The most popular platforms for PPC are Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
Content Marketing
The goal of content marketing is to reach potential customers through the use of content that interests them. Content is usually published on a website and then promoted through social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, or even pay-per-click campaigns. The tools of content marketing include blogs, ebooks, online courses, infographics, podcasts, and webinars.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels. Many people confuse email marketing with spam email messages, but that’s not what email marketing is about. This type of marketing allows companies to reach potential customers and anyone else interested in their brands and products.
Many digital marketers use all other digital marketing channels to add leads to their email lists. Then, using email marketing, they create customer acquisition funnels to turn those leads into customers.
Social Media Marketing
The primary goals of a social media marketing campaign are to build brand awareness and establish social trust. As you go deeper into social media marketing, you can use it to obtain leads and as a direct marketing or sales channel. Promoted posts and tweets are two examples of social media marketing.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and the internet has given it new life. With affiliate marketing, influencers promote other people’s products and get a commission every time a sale is made or a lead is introduced. Many well-known companies including Amazon have affiliate programs that pay out millions of dollars per month to websites that sell their products.
Video Marketing
YouTube is one of the most popular search engines in the world. A lot of internet users turn to YouTube before making a buying decision, to learn something, to read a review, or just to relax.
Marketers can use any of several video marketing platforms, including Facebook Videos, Instagram, and TikTok, to run a video marketing campaign. Companies find the most success with video by integrating it with SEO, content marketing, and broader social media marketing campaigns.
SMS Messaging
Companies and nonprofit organizations also use text messages (formally known as SMS, or short message service) to send information about their latest promotions or give opportunities to willing customers. Political candidates running for office also use SMS campaigns to spread positive information about their platforms. As technology has advanced, many text-to-give campaigns also allow customers to directly pay or give via a simple text message.
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