In this article we’re talking all about digital marketing. What it is and how it works. We’re going to explain whats one of the most complicated, significant and powerful aspects of running a business. By the end of this blog you’re going to leave with a better understanding of what it really is.
You will also know how it applies in the real world. It can play a role in helping form a foundation and base knowledge. It’s completely different when we take those concepts and theories and we actually apply them in the real world.
That’s what I want to help you with but before we dive into the theoretical and academic stuff . First we need to decode what exactly we’re talking about. It does have some more complicated and technical aspects involved. That doesn’t mean you need to know what every single one of them is and how to do them.
What exactly is digital marketing?
It’s just marketing done digitally. Its the same concepts, principles and theories that apply when marketing your business. These are going to be applied but done on digital platforms like social media, through email and other online channels. If you’re using a digital platform to communicate your business’s value to your customers then you are doing it.
How does digital marketing work?
Digital marketing works the same way as offline or traditional marketing. In fact, when you hear somebody talking about digital marketing they’re referring more to the tools than the underlying strategy behind it. It is just marketing done with digital tools.
What are the best tools available and the best way to make it work?
Step 1: Identify your market
The first step when it comes to creating an effective digital marketing strategy is to identify your market. This is going to be the same whether we’re talking traditional or digital marketing. The first step is always in identifying the target market. This is the ideal customer or prospect or potential person that you really want to connect with. This is the foundational piece of an overall strategic campaign. Without the right person in mind, nothing else is really going to matter.
Spend a little time and do some digging into your ideal target market. Their demographic details (like their age, gender, income, occupation, etc.). What are their geographic details (where do they live, what city, state, province, country, etc.). Their psycho-graphic details (like their attitudes, interests, opinions and behaviors). The better you’re able to form a really clear picture of who your ideal market is the more effective your digital marketing strategy.
Step 2: Your message
Creating a really effective message is one of the most important steps. Take a look at your customers and the market that you’ve just identified. Take a look at their miracles and miseries. Their miracles are going to be things like their wants and their needs, their goals and their dreams. The better you understand your market the better you’re going to understand their miracles . Ideally your business is going to be the one that’s positioned to deliver those miracles for them. The flip-side is their miseries. Their fears, their frustrations, their pains, their nightmares and all the things they’re trying to avoid. Step two is going to be pretty much the same whether we’re talking traditional or digital marketing.
Step 3: Media
This is where things really differentiate between traditional and digital marketing. It’s here that we’re going to decide which platform we’re going to use to communicate our message. Traditional media are things like the newspaper or the radio or Direct Mail or any form of print. Digital is going to include things like social media, online video, email marketing, online pay-per-click advertising and so on.
Digital marketing is such an effective overall strategy to deploy. Everyone regardless of age or gender or income or occupation is online. No matter who you’re trying to reach, you can reach them with digital marketing. Digital marketing also has some other benefits above traditional marketing. If you create an ad and put it in a magazine you’re going to have to wait a long time. Then your market decides to react or not react. Digital marketing is almost the opposite. You create an ad and market it in as little as a few hours and get immediate response. This lets you know if you’re on track or if something needs to be changed.
Once you mastered Step 1, 2 and 3 then you’re on the path to mastering digital marketing! One of the most proven effective way of digital marketing is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is how you end up in google search results and have your rank higher on search. You don’t have to do all the hard work alone, we are here to help you with that! Contact us for more details and we can help you with a free assessment of your business.
To get you started, check out our free step-by-step internet marketing guide.