Understanding Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is taking the world of business by storm. Wherever we go, companies are promoting themselves on a digital platform, from Email Marketing to Social Media Marketing.
What is Digital Marketing? Why is this the hot new thing to learn and practice? Is this the present and future of Marketing and Business Development? These are just a few questions that will be answered through my articles.
So let us start at the very beginning-
What is Digital Marketing?
The simple definition would be- Connecting brands to the consumers through multiple platforms like Google, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Why are companies embracing Digital Marketing?
Most new-age companies are going online for the following reasons:
- It is a great way of expanding the company’s sales. They can create a product or service, and the chances of it reaching the consumer increases due to marketing online.
- A great web presence resonates with a customer and creates an overall positive Business-to-Consumer experience.
- This new-age form of Marketing not only benefits companies, it also expands employment opportunities. The free-lancing opportunities due to Digital Marketing are plenty.
- The last and the most important reason to opt for this form of Marketing is the insane reduction in costs, which would have gone for bulk advertising, Brand, and Business Development. Digital Marketing has ensured a high Return of Investment or ROI.
What are the different types?
Now that we have understood the What and Why of Digital Marketing, let us understand the various types-
- Blogging- Blogs are websites which contain an ongoing chronicle of information, about a particular topic(s), which can either be personal, sharing the author’s thoughts and daily activities, or it can also be a web page highlighting a certain topic like Fictional Books, Trends in Technology, etc.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)- Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing the website’s organic traffic, by understanding how the Search Engine works, and in turn, helps the brand get a higher click rate by making the website more “visible” to the audience.
- Email Marketing- By definition, Email Marketing is the act of sending a commercial message to a group of people, via email. It is usually sent in bulk, to target a certain set of consumers. It is one of the most popular types of Digital Marketing as the frequency of email users is much more than any other Social Media platform. It also enables the organization to deliver a targeted message to a global audience, at little to no cost.
- Social Media Marketing- It is all about the strategic use of Social Media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn to promote your brand and create awareness. It is one of the most efficient ways of getting the word out there about your product or service. Social Media can help in building links, which in turn increases the click rate or organic traffic for the website. One advantage of Social Media Marketing is the ability of the customers to connect with the Company members directly. This allows for more transparent communication and an overall positive outcome.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)- Search Engine Marketing is the form of Digital Marketing that focuses on increasing the visibility of a website by using paid methods like ads. Search Engines like Google and Bing, put out the ads at the beginning of any search page, ensuring that the click rates is higher for those websites. Combining SEO and SEM is a sure-shot way of getting quality traffic for the website.
- Affiliate Marketing- In this method of Digital Marketing, you take the help of other websites and businesses to feature your product or service in the form of ads or links. Every time a user clicks on the external link to your website, the other website gets a small commission. Affiliate Marketing is becoming much more popular nowadays.
- Instant Messaging Marketing- From sending Whatsapp forward messages to sending survey links on Facebook Messenger, the Instant Messaging platform is used by all to get the word out about their product/service. This type of digital marketing exploded over the last couple of years. People are much more likely to trust the information sent via a messenger (as if it comes from a person they know), than email or SMS that are vulnerable to spam.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Digital Marketing is the way to go in order to promote your business or service. It is a sure-shot way of generating leads and getting more customers to talk about your product.
There are definitely more types of Digital Marketing methods, but the ones mentioned above are the most popular and are a great way to start promoting your business. Over the next few articles, I will be taking each type and explaining it in complete detail, in the most simplified form. Do stick around to understand the world of Digital Marketing and many more such interesting topics.
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