What is digital marketing? Is it just another fad or is it worth your time and effort? The term digital marketing first came into being in early 2000’s but it has been around for a long time.
The roots of digital marketing go back to 1896, when Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio. The invention of radio started “public transmission of wireless signals.”
Soon after the invention, morse was used to transmit signals across open water. It took 10 more years for the radio to come into market. But the creators soon realised that they could use it for selling.
According to Neil Patel, “Opera performance at the Met” was the first live broadcast. The people liked the broadcast so much that they bought the show tickets! And thus, the first digital marketing strategy was born.
Digital Marketing Definition
Digital marketing is advertising that is delivered through digital mediums like social media, email, mobile apps, search engines, web apps, websites or any other online medium.
Some popular types of digital marketing include Email marketing, social media marketing, pay per click and blogging. All these processes help in advertising your company to the people and convincing them to buy from you.
Digital Marketing Assets
Digital Marketing Assets can be of many types. Anything that is online is a digital marketing asset. That asset must be used as a marketing tool online. Many people don’t know that they have a lot of marketing tools available for them. Some of the examples include:
- Personal website
- Brand assets like icons, logos, acronyms, etc
- Video content like video ads, product demos etc.
- Images like infographics, company photos, product shots etc
- Written content like blog posts, eBooks, product descriptions, testimonials etc
- Online products or tools like SaaS, calculator, interactive content etc
- Reviews
- Social media assets
And the list goes on and on. Almost all of the digital marketing assets fall into one of these categories. Some clever marketers always keep on coming up with new ways of digital marketing. So, the list keeps on growing.
Strategies of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing strategies keep on changing with new technologies and ideas coming in. But some of the most common strategies used by businesses include: –
- Pay-Per-Click
Pay per click (PPC) encompasses any digital marketing in which you pay for any user who clicks on an ad. Examples include Google Adwords and Facebook Ads. Adwords is a kind of PPC advertising, also known as “paid search advertising”. PPC in Facebook Ads come under paid social media advertising.
- Paid Search Advertising
Most search engines including Yahoo, Bing and Google run text ads on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). If you want to target potential customers, paid search advertising is the right form of digital marketing for you.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If PPC is something that you don’t want to spend on much, then you can try SEO to organically rank blogs and pages on your website. Although you don’t have to pay for SEO but it takes time to get your page to rank.
- Social Media Advertising
All social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Snapchat allow running ads on their websites. If you want to reach an audience that might not be aware of your business, product or service, then paid social media advertising is something you must go to.
- Social Media Marketing
If you want to market your business for free on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, then Social Media Marketing is the right thing for you. If you market your business organically on social media, it takes much time and effort. Although in the long run it is much more financially viable.
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
The art and science of improving online experience of the customer is called Conversion Rate Optimization. If a business needs to improve its conversions like chats, leads, sales and calls, then CRO is where efforts are needed.
- Content Marketing
Content marketing is a very broad kind of digital marketing. Any digital marketing effort that uses content assets like blogs, eBooks, videos, infographics in order to build brand awareness and increase sales is known as content marketing.
- Email Marketing
One of the most important forms of online marketing, e-mail marketing helps in advertising special deals, promote content or an event.
- Affiliate Marketing
When you pay someone to promote your products and services, it is called affiliate marketing.
If you want to grow your business online, then digital marketing is a great option. You just need to choose a right strategy for your business and see your business grow!