So, here’s how it goes. You’re on a road-trip with your fam and it’s a long long drive. You’re bored! It’s completely natural. We get it. Which is why you decide to turn your attention towards the attractive-looking giant billboards towering above the highway. You read the catchy slogans and the motivational mottos, and have the sudden urge to buy whatever they’re selling! Right? Well, not really. Let’s be real. If this scenario were true, you’d probably be scrolling away at your phone or tablet. Always up-to-date with the latest news on social media, brushing up on some tweets, constantly checking your IG or Facebook. Hey, you probably even do some online shopping while you’re stuck in the car for the next hour! Without even noticing, you go through tons of online ads and so many different versions of digital marketing, it’s insane!
But what does online digital marketing actually mean?
What is Online Digital Marketing?
To help you on your journey of marketing discovery, we have put together this digital marketing guide to, well, guide you through the way! So, what does digital marketing mean? The fancy definition is: marketing strategies or advertisements that involve any electronic device and online platforms.
Our definition though, is much more simple. Digital marketing includes those pesky pop-up ads that you can’t seem to get rid of, but at the same time always advertise what you want. It includes following your favorite brands or influencers on the IG or Twitter. Even if you Google a recipe for cookies or those weird symptoms you’re experiencing, you’re taking part in online digital marketing without even noticing! Even as you read this article on digital marketing, you contribute to the process itself! Fascinating, isn’t it? It is literally everywhere.
Basically, anything that grabs your attention online and makes you click on it, is successful online digital marketing strategies. We just don’t really intuitively focus on that or notice it happening. This brings us to the point of how digital marketing has infiltrated and slowly taken over our lives!
Online Marketing? Online Marketing Everywhere!
Let’s talk numbers, shall we? A study was recently conducted to see how often people are found to be online during their days. This study found that 28% of American adults report that they go online almost all the time. Overall, 81% of American adults stated that they go online on a daily basis. So, at least once a day! The number of people online is unimaginably large if you think about it this way! Therefore, with more and more people logging online, the demand for online digital marketing strategies skyrocketed! Big brands took notice of how the age of technology has changed the game for advertising agencies and the process of bringing in customers and clients. A flashy billboard or a radio transmission just won’t cut it anymore. You’ve got to think bigger, better and more efficient. Especially now since we’re all on lock down, digital marketing has taken over our lives, and we have no idea!
Yeah, that sounds about right. Though, we bet that, by now, you’re probably wondering why we’re telling you all this. Well, to be honest, we’re here to teach you how and why you need to become a part of this digital wonderland!
One Ticket to Digital Marketing Land Please!
Did you know that the average American spends around 12 hours per day using electronic devices… Don’t act so surprised! We’ve all gone above and beyond that average a few times. No shame in that. But, it does get you thinking about all the money-making opportunities that come from these 12 hours! Digital marketing is all about ceasing the online day. Almost every brand you could think of has their own website. If they don’t, they’ve got their own online platform with a huge audience of followers. Try to think of one brand that doesn’t… Exactly! You most probably can’t. That’s because everyone knows the real deal. The money-making business nowadays is virtual online marketing.
So, if you really want to make it in the world of marketing and business, you gotta go with the flow and jump on the train of digital marketing. Next station, successful marketing strategies!
Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, Into Which Marketing Path Shall I Go?
We know we defined digital marketing pretty well, and gave you a broad image of what it is and roughly how it works. But, there’s more to digital marketing than meets the eye. It’s much more than sponsored Instagram advertisements and Facebook posts. It’s more than promoting blog posts and pop-up ads on Google. There are different ways that you can join the world of digital marketing in whatever way that suits you best. This makes this type of digital marketing even better! You can shape it to your own needs and demands and create an amazing marketing strategy that brings the desired results. It’ll kickstart word-of-the-mouth and in no-time you’ll have people contributing in social sharing and engagement.
That being said, what are the different branches of online digital marketing? The different paths of online digital marketing include:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Pay-per-click ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Email Marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This is the first path towards online digital marketing. To be clear and straightforward, search engine optimization is what gets your website on the first page of Google. Why does it matter? Well because honestly no one bothers going beyond the second or third page of Google. It’s a well-known fact that we’ve all done. We want answers, we want them now. And besides, Google’s algorithm places these websites on the first page for a reason. It’s because they most probably contain the answers to your questions! Google just wants to make your life easier, and so do we.
So, how does SEO work?
On-page SEO: Everything that’s ON your page. This is where you choose the perfect keyword that answers the questions asked by your users! To make it simple, it’s the words you choose to look something up, and the links you click to find answers! The better you optimize the keyword, the more traffic you’ll get.
Off-page SEO: These are everything around your website on the outside. It’s the backlinks. How many people are linking you. People who find your work credible and worth mentioning.
Technical SEO: Simply, how user-friendly your website is. You got compressed images, structured data and minimum loading speed. The key here is the lower the ping, the longer the users will stay on your site.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
This one is fairly easy. Search engine marketing is the type of online marketing that resorts to paid advertisements to drive traffic towards your website. This includes social media advertisements and sponsored posts. The annoying banners that keep tagging along a blog post you’re trying to read. These are the ads that keep trying to grab your attention so that you’d click on them and send you towards the designated web page. In short, you pay for ads to bring in traffic. Unlinke SEO, you rely on your own marketing strategies to bring in the traffic.
Content Digital Marketing
This type of digital marketing is basically self-explanatory. Content digital marketing is the act of creating and promoting your own content to create awareness, drive traffic and ultimately convince your customers to purchase your services. This type of marketing includes keeping up a blog with regular posts that provide chances to cleverly present well-hidden sales pitches that are fun and interesting! Content marketing also comes in the form of info graphics which have grown wildly popular since people are prone to be more interested in images than reading. It helps them easier visualize the idea you are trying to sell.
Social Media Marketing
We’ve all experienced social media marketing first-hand whether we notice it or not. This type of marketing includes all social media platforms and constitutes of building a large platform with a huge audience that drives a lot of traffic towards your website or product. It helps your audience engage in the marketing process, and helps you share the content you’ve created. It also creates a bridge of communication between the users and yourself which ultimately makes your brand seem more user-oriented!
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads
This method is a way to drive traffic to your webpage by paying money to a publisher every single time your ad is clicked. Thus the name, pay-per-click. This typically means Google Ads. This allows you to push your webpage up the Google ranks and appear more in search result pages. It can also include paid Facebook ads, or Twitter ads campaigns. It even includes those sponsored messages you get on LinkedIn where users pay for messages to be sent directly to other LinkedIn users depending on the industry they’re in.
Affiliate Digital Marketing
This is like a business deal within a business deal. This is when you get paid to promote other people’s work or product or services on your own web page or blog. To make it even easier to imagine, it’s when you’re watching a Youtube video and you get a random ad that starts to play. That’s basically affiliate marketing.
Email Marketing
The oldest trick in the book. This you definitely know and have been through. You know those email subscriptions you keep getting from random web pages and whatnot. Well, that’s email marketing. It sounds annoying, but it’s pretty effective. Brands use email marketing to communicate with their clients all while promoting content, discounts, deals and new events. They drive organic traffic and, thus, they drive business.
This type of marketing makes sure whoever visits your page once, will likely visit it again. An email list is basically like printing out brochures for your website and handing it out to thousands of people. Virtually. It doesn’t get easier than that!
So, what now?
We’re living the highlight of our lives in the age of technology all while being locked in because of this hectic year. But, don’t sweat. We always find a way to keep on moving forward. And that is why digital marketing is the way to go. We are living in a virtual reality at the moment, which is why we have to make do with whatever we have. This means we catch a ride on the evolution express and become marketing pioneers that work towards greater digital marketing strategies. We hope this digital marketing guide provides you with all that you need to create your own successful marketing strategy tailored to yourself and your users.
In a world where people live the vast majority of their time behind their screens, digital marketing is key to success and progress!
