When it comes to getting your business known, increasing awareness and boosting your sales, there are a lot of marketing techniques to choose from. Thanks to the convenience of the internet and the massive presence of digital platforms – from social media to online marketplaces – digital marketing is one of The most effective types of marketing, especially when it comes to returns on investment.
What is Digital Marketing?
Simply put, digital marketing is any marketing that uses a digital medium – website adverts, social media posts, mailing lists, etc. – to present their messages. As with any form of marketing, the key is to send the right message at the right place and time.
Because digital media provides millions of opportunities to market your business, product or services, you need to pick the best fit for your message and target audience. While posting product pictures on Instagram, advertising on industry websites and uploading blogs to your official website are all forms of digital marketing, they can vary greatly in terms of audience and response.
Why is Digital Marketing Important?
In our increasingly digital world, most businesses simply cannot afford to overlook digital marketing. According to a 2019 survey by media company Code Computerlove, people in the UK spend an average of 3 hours and 23 minutes per day using a digital device, rising to 4 hours in the 16-24 age range.
When people are spending hours a day online, it provides you with hundreds of opportunities to market your business, products or services. What’s more, you can target your marketing to reach specific groups at specific times much more easily than with traditional marketing methods.
What is a Good Digital Marketing Strategy?
There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for a winning digital marketing campaign, as the methods, target and desired results will vary greatly depending on your target audience and countless other variables.
However, we’ve refined to approaches that work well in increasing awareness and/or response rates, particularly when used together: Do you cast a wide net to raise general awareness, or do you try to target a specific audience with higher chances of becoming customers? Or why not try to get the best of both worlds? Run a general advert to a wide audience, then focus on everyone that saw and/or responded to the original ad to follow up, for example.
What Does Digital Marketing Involve?
The involvements of a digital marketing campaign will vary greatly depending on the breadth and depth of the campaign. Do you want to show an advert to everyone in a 10-mile radius of your business or target a small demographic with the aim of getting them to buy your latest product, for example?
Like with any marketing campaign, you need to select a target audience, pick a medium and choose how you want to present your message. After that, it’s a case of getting your message out, with online adverts being perhaps the most obvious choice. Because digital marketing is so versatile and variable, it’s hard to say anything more than that without specific examples.
What are the types of digital marketing?
There are as many types of digital marketing as there are sites to market on, but we’ve broken these down into three general categories based on how you’re turning resources into attention:
- Online Adverts
One of the simplest ways to get your message out is to pay people to share it: Adverts on social media, sponsored content with influencers and email chains all fall into this category. Though flexible and quick to implement, these methods can be costly and may feel forced to the consumer.
- Content-Driven Marketing
Grab the customer’s attention with quality content and you’ll begin to build up a positive reputation that makes them more likely to buy from you. Pretty pictures on Instagram, interesting blogs on your site and helpful guides all increase awareness and reputation (when done well).
- Search Engine Optimisation
By playing Google’s game and improving your ‘search engine ranking’ it’s more likely that consumers will find your website when searching for related terms. If all the people searching for a certain type of business in your area find your site instead of your competitor’s that’s good news for you.
Whatever your marketing goals – from increasing brand recognition to boosting sales on a specific product – digital marketing can help you achieve them when used properly. With an almost limitless potential for customisation and scope, digital marketing is an extremely powerful tool and one that continues to evolve and improve.
To learn more about the potential for digital marketing, request expert advice or book a free consultation with our marketing team, contact Cleartwo today.