What is Digital Marketing? A Basic Beginner’s Guide

Digital Marketing: Everything You Need To Know About It

Mobile phones and the internet have drastically changed our lives. From the way we interact with each other to the way the businesses are run, the world has been digitized and how! In the last decade itself, the number of internet users has jumped from 361 million to 4.13 billion, and the number is increasing every day.. 

Increased use of social media and the internet has significantly impacted consumer behavior. With more and more people preferring to rely on online reviews and even shop online, digital marketing has become an integral part of how businesses operate. 

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing includes all marketing and promotional efforts that are done through various digital channels to reach out to the target audience. Websites, search engines, email, social media platforms, and mobile apps are some of the popular digital marketing channels.

Why Do We Need Digital Marketing?

Studies have revealed a steady shift from physical to digital platforms among consumers across the globe. Around 67% buyers prefer researching online about products and services before making any decision.

With the growing number of internet users, consumer engagement, and brand awareness, maintaining a consumer’s loyalty becomes a difficult task. Digital Marketing facilitates brand awareness. It is a precondition to positively influencing consumer’s decision making. The more the brand awareness, the more is the consumer confidence in the brand.

What are the Channels of Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing platforms have evolved over the last three decades to include an array of channels through which marketing and promotional content is delivered. Some of the components of digital marketing are as below:

• Website Marketing: Nowadays every brand has a website of its own through which it reaches out to the world. Moreover, the brand website is the first stop where a consumer goes to know more about its product. Combined with various online campaigns, website marketing becomes a powerful tool of digital marketing.

• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: This form of advertising uses various digital and social media platforms through paid ads. These ads appear on the individuals’ social media accounts based on the account holders search history. Facebook and Google ads are the most popular PPC platforms.  

• Search Engine Optimization: SEO is the buzz word in the digital marketing sector. SEO increases the rank in the various search engines, consequently increasing the traffic towards your website.

• Social Media Marketing: Using various social media platforms to promote and increase brand awareness and create brand confidence is what social media marketing is used for. This also positively influences traffic and generates leads. All existing social media platforms are used for this type of digital marketing. 

• Content Marketing: Content marketing leverages the power of words to reach out to their audience. The content is developed through online courses, podcasts, infographics, webinars, etc, and then advertised through social media. 

• Affiliate Marketing: It is the oldest method of marketing. With the influencers taking over the internet, affiliated marketing has been given a new shape. Influencers promote various brands and get a commission every time a sale is made. E-commerce players like Amazon have capitalized on this in a big way.

What are the Benefits and Challenges of Digital Marketing?

The concept of digital marketing comes with its share of benefits and challenges as well.

Benefits of Digital Marketing:

• Companies can reach out to a much wider customer base.
• It is a very cost-effective way of marketing as it has a comparatively lesser cost attached to it. 
• With so many digital media platforms and tools, companies can choose where to invest their resources.
• It increases the scope of direct customer engagement through real-time feedback. 
• Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing is measurable and allows the marketers to access real-time results. 

Challenges of Digital Marketing:

• Digital marketing is a very dynamic field. This makes it challenging for marketers to keep up with the pace of technological change.
• With every company taking the digital marketing path, the user is avalanched with competing ads.
• Many companies find it difficult to effectively utilize the vast amount of data they generate through digital marketing.

Conclusion

Digital marketing has transformed the way products and services are marketed. Various social media platforms, websites, and other digital methods serve as a cost-effective and efficient way of reaching out to a vast majority of potential customers and increase brand awareness and trust. Businesses have understood the importance of incorporating digital marketing into their marketing budget to stay ahead in the race.