What is Digital Marketing? A Complete Guide for Starters

The way people promote their business has entirely changed due to the Introduction of the Internet. Many digital platforms are being used to advertise and promote a brand to a large audience around the world. This type of marketing is called Digital Marketing.

It has many types and each type is tailored for different needs. If you’re a new entrepreneur, understanding the dynamics of digital marketing and incorporating it into your business strategy can be useful.

In this article, I’ll explain these dynamics in detail and help you learn their importance.

Let’s start.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing is the process of promoting and advertising a brand using different digital means such as social media and websites. It involves using the Internet to reach out to a large audience no matter where you are in the world. Digital Marketing has entirely changed the way people promote their brands.

Below are some statistics to emphasize the importance of digital marketing in this modern era:

• Over 99% of buyers do online research at least sometimes before purchasing (Power Reviews).
• 70% of marketers think adopting marketing automation is essential to acquiring and retaining customers (Mailchimp).
• 90% of customers are hoping to see more videos from brands (Wyzowl).
• 60% of businesses use paid channels to boost their content distribution efforts (Semrush).

It is a versatile approach designed for different types of businesses. Brands who are on a budget can use it to increase their brand awareness and attract customers without investing a lot.

Even people who are ready to invest can use its paid aspects like PPC to get the required results. Usually, this promotional technique is employed by a Digital Marketing specialist. However, with a basic know-how, a general brand owner can perform it as well.

Types of Digital Marketing

The details of its types are given below:

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing and Digital Marketing now has become synonymous. A huge portion of this technique is being carried out through a number of social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook. The huge usage of social media across the globe is the reason for this technique’s popularity. Around 5.17 billion people around the world have access to these platforms.

It makes social media a huge opportunity for businesses to promote themselves. There are a lot of techniques used and applied in SMM. They are mainly related to understanding the business’s nature and picking the right social media platform. The main goal also depends on the company’s needs. For example, some companies perform SMM to increase brand awareness and some use it to engage with their audience.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Running a business without a website seems unimaginable these days. Even a small e-commerce store has a proper website where it sells its items. However, having a site only isn’t enough. That is because it will simply be one of the millions of sites on the Internet and users won’t be able to find it.

That’s where Search Engine Optimization comes in. It is a process of optimizing a website so that it can appear in the top results of a search engine. Optimization helps your site pop up in the results whenever a user searches for it. SEO specialists utilize multiple techniques for this optimization such as keyword research, link building, quality content creation, etc. The end goal of SEO is to attract as much traffic as possible to increase leads and sales.

Email Marketing

Email Marketing is one of the most direct approaches. It involves sending promotional emails to existing and potential customers. It is a very curated form of promotion which is performed by copywriting specialists and includes sending different types of emails. Although it is the age of chatting apps like WhatsApp, people still use emails for professional purposes. More than 4 billion people use emails offering a huge opportunity.

Paid Ads

Paid ads are another form of promotion being used by many companies. People looking for quick results usually use this approach. It involves paying money to run ads on different platforms such as search engines (in the form of PPC). It involves targeting keywords that can bring the best results for paid money. Social media platforms also offer the option of running paid advertisements. In this type, user selects attractive posts and run them in the form of ads to attract customers.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing includes using affiliate marketers to promote your brand. These marketers use different techniques to promote and sell the product. In return, you pay them a specific commission percentage upon any purchase made through their promotions.

Specific affiliate links are used for promotion and tracking of sales to make commission calculation easier. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online these days.

How Digital Marketing is Beneficial?

It is beneficial for the following reasons:

• It is a scalable approach meaning you can utilize it according to your needs and requirements.
•  It is a great option for people who are on a budget. Most of its types can be performed with a little investment or even for free.
• This approach offers access to a global audience. You get the opportunity to attract millions of customers all around the world.
• Managing this process is easy. You can always make required changes in the campaign to bring desired results.
• The received results are easily measurable offering an opportunity to see whether or not the campaign is going in the right direction.

Starting Your First Digital Marketing Campaign

As a beginner, here’s how to start this campaign:

Analyze Goals:

Analyzing business goals is very important for creating a digital marketing campaign. It helps build the basic blocks of your campaign. Goal analysis involves understanding what results are required from the campaign. These results can be more followers, more sales, or increased brand awareness. Try using frameworks like SMART goals while analyzing and setting beneficial targets.

Create a Marketing Plan:

Creating a marketing plan is the basic thing to follow. It involves picking the right type such as SEO or SMM. It also involves picking the right channels for promotion. For example, if you run a fashion brand, picking Instagram would be right.

Start Marketing:

Now, start marketing according to the created plan. The key to successfully promoting your brand digitally is being creative as well as patient. It might take a while to see the actual results of the campaign. Also, be creative and promote attractive content in different ways to attract an audience.

Monitor and Adapt:

As you keep on running the campaign, don’t forget to monitor it properly. Monitoring involves analyzing whether the right results are coming or not. There are different techniques used for monitoring such as analyzing impressions and clicks on a social media post.

In case things are not working out, adapt to the situation and bring changes to the plan. It is a flexible approach and can be moulded into the desired shape and direction. Keep on experimenting until you start getting results.

Conclusion

Digital Marketing has become a standard of business promotion these days. It involves using online channels to market your brand. There are different types of marketing that are suitable for different businesses. It is important to go through the discussed process to start this campaign. It will help get the required results that justify the time and resources you invest in.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the best type of Digital Marketing?

It depends on the business’s nature and the required results. However, SEO and SMM are the best options.

Is this approach expensive?

Not really. It is a cheap choice and does not usually require a lot of investment.

Can I apply this approach myself?

Why not? With some basic knowledge, you can apply this promotional approach yourself easily.