Digital marketing has become one of the most trending terms recently. Every kind of business is adopting digital marketing techniques. Consider a large or small business, everyone has adopted digital marketing activities in some capacity or other. In this article, we would cover what digital marketing is, its importance, and the fundamentals of digital marketing also referred to as the types of digital marketing.
- What is digital marketing?
- Why is digital marketing important?
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
- Want to learn more about Digital Marketing?
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is marketing your product, whether a good or service, through digital means. It involves marketing through online mediums and can be understood as the opposite of traditional marketing.
Digital marketing constitutes all the modern marketing techniques and is a growing marketing trend, which is why it is important to learn about the fundamentals of digital marketing. It has opened many avenues for different organizations, and every brand has to imperatively employ digital marketing techniques for leading their business successfully, Also a career in Digital Marketing is in huge demand.
Also, you can learn more about marketing with the help of this free digital marketing course with certificate.
Why is digital marketing important?
There were 624.0 million internet users and 448.0 million social media users in India in January 2021. The number of social media users in India was equivalent to 32.3% of the total population. Now, if we consider this number, then we would easily get the answer to the question of why digital marketing is important.
When 32.3% of the population is on social media, then it is only smart to use that medium for your benefit. There are many reasons why digital marketing has been booming.
- Wider audience- With traditional methods of marketing, your efforts get limited to a particular demographic but with digital marketing, your presence can be felt globally, hence reaching a wider audience.
- Compete with the big forces- If Reliance is on social media, so can be you. Now the marketing opportunities are not limited to big businesses alone, but anyone can use digital marketing methods for their benefit, hence placing a small brand also in the major leagues.
- Reach potential customers- Earlier it was difficult to reach out to potential customers, but with the efforts of digital marketing it has become easy to identify and reach the target audience. Targeting the potential audience will yield better results.
- Track the reach- Traditional marketing methods were hard to track. It is difficult to track how many people saw a particular billboard and ultimately made the purchase, but with digital marketing, it is possible with various tools that help to track the social media presence, website activity, etc.
- Return on Investment- Based on the Litmus report, email marketing ROI stands at 4,200% or 42x. For every dollar brands invest in email marketing, they receive $42 in return. This is the kind of return we are talking about. It is huge and hence it would be a great decision to invest in digital marketing opportunities and see your business grow.
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
1. SEO
The first and the most inexpensive part of the fundamentals of digital marketing is SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is one of the best and simplest ways to increase a brand’s visibility.
SEO can be explained as the process of optimizing the content through the strategic use of keywords and complying with the algorithm of search engines so that during a search on Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any other search engine, they index the content and show it to the right people.
The more visibility one can get through a search, the more are the chances of attracting traffic and potential consumers. This explains why understanding SEO is important. The Internet has become the top medium for people to get information, so if businesses want to get noticed and get ranked on a search, they have to invest in SEO activities.
SEO is the organic way of gaining traffic. It is through the bots that Google or any other search engine uses that indexes the content. The bots crawl the web, and using various algorithms, they analyze the content index and then decide in which order the content would appear in the search results.
While SEO can be done free of cost, you can also invest in SEM practices. Search engine marketing is a paid advertising practice to increase visibility on SERP. Get to know more about it with the free Search Engine Marketing course.
2. Online Advertising
Where SEO was referred to as the inexpensive aspect of the fundamentals of digital marketing, online advertising is the paid aspect, also termed as paid media. When you search on Google, let’s say free courses with certificates, on the top of the search results, you would notice some links before which the word, Ad is mentioned. This is an example of online advertising. All those ads that pop up on your screen while you are scrolling through Facebook or Instagram are also examples of paid media.
There are many channels for online advertising like Youtube ads, Facebook ads, Linkedin ads, Instagram ads, Google ads, PPC Campaigns, etc. Brands have to identify what works best for them and which channel would be the best way to reach their target audience.
Online advertising is considered the best way to reach the target audience and increase brand awareness.
The mediums like Google and Facebook have provided many resources that help the brand in building their ads and reaching the targeted audience. Also, online advertising has offered the brands the ability to keep track and analyze the reach, which is not possible with traditional marketing.
3. Content Marketing
To put it simply, content marketing is a strategy to target the desired audience by creating relevant content, which can be in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, or any other media meant to engage and retain an audience. It can be achieved through blogs, newsletters, emails, etc.
Content marketing is also an organic way of increasing traffic by developing SEO- friendly content and helping in increasing brand awareness. Content marketing, when done strategically, leads to great results, which can be analyzed through the fact that businesses with blogs get 67% more leads than other companies. Content marketing helps in earning leads and helps brands to convey the product ideas and vision.
Also, you can learn all the basics of content marketing by enrolling in this free content marketing course offered by Great Learning
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing is an easy and effective way to stay connected with existing and potential customers. Email marketing is nothing but generic mail that is used to target the audience. It can be understood as an advertisement that is aimed at garnering traffic on the website and has the highest conversion rates. Most of the email marketing constitutes emails that communicate new offers and coupons to spike the recipient’s interest.
There are many tools like Mailchimp that have made the job of email marketing easy. They help in generating emails and sending them to the list of potential leads.
5. Social Media Marketing
Using social media platforms to market a product or a service is social media marketing. It is the easiest and most effective way to connect with the target audience. We all have witnessed the power that social media holds. The impact of social media on our opinions is immense. There are millions of people on social media swaying others with their opinions, and if brands use this fact for their benefit, then that becomes social media marketing.
Also, in comparison to the before-mentioned fundamentals, social media marketing can be adopted by any brand size, small or big. If you are running a business in 2021, then make sure that your presence is felt on social media.
Every brand should aim to stay relevant on social media and be equipped with the knowledge of current trends. Social media marketing also allows the brands the opportunity to track the reach of their content, and with the various tools that are offered by the social media platforms themselves, it has become very easy for the brands to identify patterns and find what works best for them and where they can improve.
6. Pay-Per-Click
Pay-per-click is a part of paid media that is used to increase the rankings on search engines through paid means. Pay-per-click is used to improve rankings by moving on top of the search results and drive more traffic. The advertisement stays for as long it is being paid for, afterward, it won’t exist.
It is called PPC, as every time the advertisement is clicked by anyone, your ad account is charged for it. PPC is a short-term solution to drive traffic, and many big companies invest heavily in it during seasonal deals, new product introductions, etc. The amount charged is fixed on the basis of the time period of the ad, the keywords used (more competitive the keywords, more would be the price).
7. Mobile Marketing
How many people do possess a phone? Too many is the general answer.
Mobile marketing dominates the digital landscape. It focuses on reaching the target market by means of phones or smartphones. This can be achieved through social media, text messages, email, etc.
Mobile marketing involves everything that is done on the desktop and presenting it for the mobile. The websites that are designed should be mobile-friendly, and activities that can be considered unique to mobile marketing are in-app-built notifications, text messages, and social media activity to a certain extent.
8. Affiliate/Influencer Marketing
Affiliate marketing is getting the product promoted through another person and paying commission to them on every sale made. It is using the reach of an individual to your own advantage. Here, the affiliate needs not to be an individual alone but can be an entity also.
The affiliate promotes the product, whether a good or service, through any medium like a YouTube video or a blog, and when anyone clicks on the link provided to them for the product, ultimately buying it, then they are compensated for it through commission.
Also Read: Top 5 best examples of Influencer Marketing
Most of the companies have started collaborating with influencers to increase their brand awareness. Social media influencers have a great impact on the views of their fanbase, and brands are using this to their advantage by getting their products advertised through influencers. It benefits both the parties as influencers who here are working as affiliates get the commission as an incentive, and the brands get the sales.
9. Video Marketing
It is a proven fact that videos are more engaging than any other form of content. If you are thinking about how to market your product, this has to be on the list. Video marketing can be used to increase awareness about the product and increase traffic on the website. Video marketing also holds the potential of the video getting viral. Nowadays, many brands collaborate with influencers to create trending videos and hope for them to get viral. With the younger generation literally stuck to their phones, there is nothing better than a viral video to catch their eyes.
The videos can be showcasing the product while educating the consumers about its uses. Also, it can provide client testimonials to build trust among stakeholders. You can learn Video Marketing online and help your business grow.
10. Audio Marketing
Audio marketing is now not limited to the realms of radio. Also, radio is not what it used to be, with the introduction of internet radio, the audience has changed, and so has the potential it holds. There are other options available now for audio marketing, like streaming an audio ad on mediums like Spotify or one of the most popular methods like a podcast. There are also smart home assistants like Ok Google and Alexa who have contributed towards audio marketing.
Want to learn more about Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a growing vertical of marketing that holds immense scope. It has many aspects that one can explore. The career opportunities are vast and digital marketing is certainly the marketing of the future. If you want to dive deeper into it and build a career in it, you can check out the Digital Marketing courses on Great Learning. The program will enable you to master all the digital marketing fundamentals and land your dream job.
