What is Digital Marketing? A Detail Overview and Secret to Master it

What is Digital Marketing? Detail Overview and Secret to Master it

Digital Marketing: A Simplified Step by Step Guide

This simplified digital marketing guide will tell you what Digital marketing is? Types of digital marketing, why you need Digital marketing for your business and what are the advantages you have. If you master this, there won’t be any need to hire a Digital Marketing Agency. To be honest, Digital Marketing Agency will send you reports to justify the expenses sake. No one knows how many real conversions/sales you got through them. So it is good to master Digital Marketing on our own so that at least we can ensure that no one cheats us.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is often referred wrongly to web marketing or internet marketing or online marketing, but honestly, it is not wholly dependent on the Internet. Digital marketing is about achieving marketing objectives by applying digital technologies & media such as Television, Radio, Internet, etc.

If you a running a business, you have to do Digital marketing to acquire clients or to establish your brand. This enables the promotion of products or services through digital channels such as search engines, websites, social media, email, and mobile apps. It is similar to our traditional marketing but on a digital platform.

Nowadays people spend more than 5 hours on the internet a day. Digital marketing is the easiest way to reach the mass as well as targeted audiences. Creating awareness for a new brand is much easier with Digital Marketing. Display advertising and social media advertising are the leading channels for brand development as we can connect the right audience at the right time.

The best recent example I see is the Zomato’s Video Campaign on YouTube and TV. No one knows about Zomato before a year, but now there is no one who is not using Zomato App. There are many criticisms (incl. troll videos) with respect to the aggressiveness of ads delivered on YouTube. However, their campaign is a big hit and trollers are indirectly promoting the brand and made it viral.

Earlier people spend tons of money on Billboards across roads, bridges. Those days are passed when we looked at banners or billboards and purchased something. Still, banners and billboards work, but not for all sector of people. In today’s world, everyone is busy on their smartphone. Banners or billboards will have no impact on decision-making. We have to reach them on a platform where people spend most of their time.

There will be days in the future without internet even your car might not start, Sorry for exaggerating 🙂 but the truth is digital transformation is not avoidable.

Digital marketing is suitable for all businesses whether you target B2B or B2C. Digital marketing can be done even by you if you are aware of concepts like Website, Blog posts, Ebooks and whitepapers, Infographics, Social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc., Online brochures and Branding assets such as logos, fonts, etc. So there is no need to approach a digital marketing agency if you can identify and choose the right marketing platform for your business by yourself. For example, LinkedIn works better for the B2B segment while SEM and Facebook support both B2B and B2C.

Gaining traffic either to your business location or your website should be the immediate goal of any digital marketing campaign. You should able to construct a proper sales funnel to filter your customers from the bunch of website visitors. You can hire a digital marketing agency if your marketing goals are high and you feel difficulty in constructing a profitable campaign. Even though you hire a digital marketing agency, you should work closely with them to create a win-win situation.

types of digital marketing

Advantages of Digital Marketing vs Traditional Marketing.digital marketing

Earlier marketing was done through Newspapers, billboards or flyers distributions which are not as effective as Digital Marketing. In traditional marketing, we cannot target the audience who are about to buy our products/services. We have to do marketing broadly. Our ads will be seen by people who never buy/never have the interest to get our services/products. So we are spending tons and tons of money to show ads to people who are not going to be our customers ever. You need a huge budget to do marketing on these platforms. Moreover, the conversion rate in traditional marketing is less as it has to create an interest first and then makes the person buy. Secondly, we cannot measure the returns on investment. There is no proof that the person purchased by seeing the ads you created.

On the other hand in Online Marketing, we have greater control over whom to show ads. If you’re using traditional marketing, then the sequence of your ads are defined as per the cost you paid. The more you spend, the higher your ads are shown. Unlike that, in Digital marketing, we can show ads when the customer is actively searching for the products/services. The interaction rate for the ads can be tracked. The visitor’s behavior can be identified, and further optimization of the campaign can be done to improve the conversion. If you’re running a company, then you should know at least about the basic of Digital Marketing because the world is evolving and Digital Marketing is the future.

Types of Digital Marketing

  1. Television and Radio Ads
  2. Paid Search
  3. SEO
  4. Content Marketing
  5. Social Media Marketing
  6. Email Marketing
  7. Mobile Marketing
  8. Remarketing
  9. Influencer Marketing
  10. Video Advertising
  11. Affiliate Marketing

Television and Radio Ads

As I said earlier, Digital marketing is not restricted to the internet alone; it is all about the usage of digital technologies to market your product. Even the advertisements you see on Television or Radio is also a part of Digital Marketing. But these are expensive and not easily measurable as online marketing. Television and Radio ads are like the ancestors of Digital Marketing. But I do not recommend this platform for small businesses as this was the costliest digital marketing platform with limited control of user behavior.

Paid Search

Paid search is part of Search Engine Marketing, people say it as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. You might have seen websites at the top position on search engines with a mark as the “sponsored result or ads” on the top or side of a search engine results page (SERP). (Refer to the image below)

sponsored results on serp

In search marketing, you pay when your ad is clicked by the searcher. You have the advantage to create specific ads to appear when specific search terms are entered into a search engine; As I said earlier, we’re creating ads that are targeted to a particular audience. So we are not going to spend money to show ads for people who are not relevant. Remember Google is handling more than 40K (Approximately) search queries every second. There are billions of searches happening in a day on Google alone. The very first platform you should try for your company is Paid search advertising.

Pay Per Click ads are effective for many organizations. There are 2 popular platforms to begin the Search Marketing

  • Google Adwords
  • Bing Ads
Google Adwords

Through Google Adwords, we can bid keywords on Google and its syndicated search partner sites. Google is the most popular search engine in the world. So this should be our first choice while thinking about PPC or Search Advertising. Read my post on How to improve your impression share on Google Adwords/Bing ads and to outrank the competitor for more details.

Bing Ads

Through Bing Ads, we can bid keywords on Bing, Yahoo, Info and other syndicated search partner sites. Even though Google is popular, we cannot avoid using Bing Ads as it is quite cheaper (Low CPC) compared to Google Adwords and almost the click quality is similar.

Remember, Paid search is the best way to get the ROI faster. Search Advertising is easy to learn, but it requires excellent marketing skills to build a successful campaign. We have to concentrate on 3 factors namely Quality Score, Ad relevance and Landing page optimization. Apart from that your bidding strategies like maximum CPC, location and devices settings also contribute to a campaign’s success. Also many lose their money by bidding on wrong keywords or using improper strategy. As I said earlier, the concept of PPC is simple, but due to that, there is enormous competition. The average cost invested in Search engines are getting higher year by year. It is a real-time online auction; there are free resources available on the Internet. Equip yourself with the basics before starting Search marketing.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential task that any business with a website should do. It is a process of optimizing the website content, and other vital tags, sitemaps, etc. so that your web pages appear at the top of any search engine result page (SERP) for a specific set of keyword terms. You have to choose the keyword based on sales intent for maximum conversions. Read my previous post on How to put your website on the 1st page of Google for more information. There are several SEO agencies online who can help you to bring traffic. SEO agencies might be expensive, but you can make it yourself if you read that article and follow the 3 steps I mentioned. It may be a time-consuming task, but there is no need to spend bucks.  Ultimately, the goal is to list your website on search engines for a specific search term/keyword and bring the visitors to your site and convert them into your customer.

SEO makes the web page both Human and Search engine friendly with engaging content. Another critical factor is Backlinks which are the ranking signals and considered as the reputation factor for any website. Once your site is ready, we have to start creating the relevant backlinks ethically. Do not buy links try to build it.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is the pillar of Modern SEO. What to promote without content? Great content converts many visitors into your customers. Search Engine Loves Content, and now Content is the New King. Your content should be focused on Sales intent. You should have strong points over your competitors to justify the readers and to convert them into your potential customers. Both Social Media and Search Engines value content a lot. They never fail to acknowledge your best efforts. Even you may get a higher ranking on search engines that too without backlinks if your content is good. Nowadays, Facebook gives importance to content which is unique/original. Original content is engaging better organically. What happens if you’re reading one news in a newspaper continuously for 2-3 days? You will get irritated and stop buying the newspaper. Similarly, Facebook wants its users to feel engaged always with the content on its website. So it boosts the visibility of original content organically.

Creating content focused on promotional nature will never help your conversion rates unless it goes viral, so create content that educates and inspires the users to think about your brand. I know it is tough, but you will reap the benefits once you’re gaining traffic. Offering relevant content to your visitors make them see you as a knowledge source of information. So they think you’re an industry expert, thereby we’re winning the customer. You can approach Resume Master if you need any assistance in creating SEO compatible content writing for your business website.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media is the “Modern Generation’s GrandPa.” It teaches people what is good and what is bad. I can give a real-time example to show the power of Social media. People of Tuticorin were protesting peacefully against a Corporate Gaint for 100 days. The protest becomes viral on both Facebook and Twitter. More than one lakh people joined the rally and moved toward District Collector Office to document their interest. In order to curb the intensity, the Government of Tamil Nadu issued complete Restriction of Data Service for more than 3 days. The Government achieved resisting the protest not only by restricting Internet in Tuticorin but it stopped internet services across its neighboring cities viz Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari so that no one fuels the aggression. Alas, the climax was successfully kept in dark and no one knows the intention of the police to gunfire their own people.

The same social media brought awareness to the people of Tamil Nadu to protest against procuring goods made by foreign companies via Jallikattu Protest.  Initially, the protest was for lifting the Jallikattu Ban. (Read why I’m against Jallikattu Ban) Later, people became aware of the interest in banning the Jallikattu which is in favor of Corporate Companies. During the time of protest, many hotels boycotted soft drinks from foreign companies such as Pepsi and Coco-Cola.

People aren’t just watching funny videos or posting selfies on social media these days. They rely on social networks to discover brands, research on the products and educate themselves about the pros and cons before contacting that organization. Marketers like us should tailor social elements into every aspect of your marketing plan and create more peer-to-peer sharing opportunities. Use SUMO.ME which is my favorite. This is a free tool which helps us to get more social shares. The more your audience engages with your content, the more likely it is that they share or recommend. This not only converts them to become our customer but it also brings the voice of mouth which is highly powerful. As their opinion are sharable, it will influence their friends to become our customers. So we’re getting new customers for free. Nowadays video content is popular on social media. Post like images and infographics also helps us to gain more shares. Plan well before starting Social Media Marketing. Read my previous post on Google Adwords vs. Facebook ads to get an idea of what to use for your business to get faster ROI.

marketing on Facebook Ads vs Google Ads

Email Marketing

Email marketing is the most reliable channel in Digital Marketing. Email is the quickest and most direct way to reach customers with the necessary information. Writing an Email to clients and answering their questions will help us to gain their trust. You have to schedule a series of email conversation for a particular user based on their preferences. For example, first, you have to send an email about the product or services which are relevant. Secondly, you should post the advantages that they get if they opt for or buy your products or services. Finally, you have to send some irresistible offers through which we can maximize the conversions. Monitoring Email marketing campaign and analyzing the user behavior is crucial. You may need to remove users who’re not responding or engaging with your emails. This can be identified by using email marketing applications.

Mobile Marketing

As mobile devices become an integral part of our lives, it is important to understand how to utilize this platform and connect with the clients. Mobile devices are easily usable by the users. This makes marketing on mobile incredibly important. Bulk SMS and in-app marketing are the popular ways to do marketing on mobile devices/tablets. You may notice ads while using your mobile apps or games. These ads are created using mobile marketing campaigns.

Remarketing

Remarketing plays an important role in digital marketing. It is similar to display advertising. This tactic allows us to show targeted ads to visitors who visited a web page earlier. Showing ads, again and again, make the visitor come back to your website. After a certain time, those visitors may buy your products or services. We can show ads with attractive offers to bring back the visitors and to convert them to our customers. Proper search marketing and Remarketing combo will gain you tons and tons of customers at a reduced investment as remarketing cost are generally lower than search marketing. We have Search remarketing now on both Google Adwords and Bing Ads. For this search remarketing campaign we should have minimum 1000 users on the remarketing list. In search remarketing, you can use broader keywords which have lower CPC as your audiences are already identified using the normal search marketing.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is nothing but identifying and getting the support of the individuals who influence potential buyers and affects their decision-making skills. Actor Prabu’s ad for Kalyan Jewellers is a perfect example of a successful influencer marketing. I can tell you another example if Modiji endorses me as the Member of Parliament of Tuticorin Constituency (Just for a Joke), there are chances that I may win the election. Modiji was a successful politician, and his opinion will be valued. In this case, Modiji will be the influencer.

Video Advertising

This is similar to TV ads but with advanced features. We can have a control on ad frequency for a particular user. YouTube is the worlds number one video advertising platform. You may be noticed some video ads before watching the desired video on YouTube. These ads are from video advertising. Even remarketing can be done through video advertising now. We can target audience as per their in-market interest.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is like sharing a commission to a person who referred you a customer. All popular brands like Amazon and Flipkart have its own affiliate marketing platforms. Creating an affiliate marketing system may require web development. Investing in creating affiliate marketing could help you to make others work for your business. This is similar to the concept of LIC Agents. The agents promote the insurance policies of the Life Insurance Corporation of India Ltd and earn a monthly commission.

what is digital marketing and how to master it

The secret to Master Marketing

A successful marketer is equivalent to a celebrity. They get tons of respect across the Globe. You cannot become a successful marketer unless you master marketing. Do not stick with Digital Marketing alone there are more beyond that. The toughest part is corporate marketing where you’re going to deal with millions and billions. Marketing cannot be mastered overnight. It may take several years. Even the world famous Marketer (Whom I admire the most) Mr. Neil Patel took years to become popular. Dedication and strong analytical skills are required to become a successful marketer. It is always good to begin a small company and do marketing by self. The experiment is the key factor. It took months for me to bring 100 visitors per day to my website. After that, I put all my experience to show you How to get onto the first page of Google and stay forever. that too in easy 3 steps. When it comes to marketing strategy, we have to create a plan, define a budget to reach the right audience, interact with the visitors,  convert them into customers, try up/cross-selling of your product/services, check analytics of your campaign performance, get feedback from customers for a continual improvement, build your brand and manage your growth through affiliate/loyalty programs.

If you’re relying on PPC then you must be aware of invalid clicks caused by some greedy publishers or your competitors. You can easily escape from them. All you need is to read my post on “How to identify and stop invalid clicks in Search Marketing” and follow the easy steps to exclude competitors and other irrelevant users clicking your ads and making you pay for nothing.

How to Master Digital Marketing Quicker?

The Internet is the best place to learn new things especially Digital Marketing. You can try watching videos on YouTube, to begin with. There are a lot of free resources provided by Google itself related to Search, Display, Video, Mobile advertising, and Remarketing. Do not spend money to learn the basics, these resources are readily available online for free. Attend seminars of Global marketing experts. They will focus on selling their products through webinars but we can understand the current trends in the marketing world. Updating our knowledge constantly by connecting/following with industry experts will help us to grow our marketing skills. Professional Networking is the easiest way to get answers to all your doubts. Extract inputs from all market leaders and devise a plan which you need to stick to. You should be accountable for your success and failure. Take failures as an experiment and bounce back. Self-motivation is very important. Test your digital marketing skills by attending Google Adwords online examination. This could give you the confidence to choose marketing as your career. And as a Google Adwords Certified person, you’re increasing the chances of your employability. Gaining quality traffic is an art, but creating that art requires a series of experiments. Our ultimate goal is to get customers not only traffic so you should sharpen your analytical skills. Record the visitor activities and do a research on how far you’re succeeding. As I said earlier, start a small company and begin your marketing experiments. Develop that company and show the world that you brought success all alone. This is the best way to reach the success in your marketing career.

In a nutshell, A Successful Digital Marketing campaign is all about finding the right method for your particular business. You must use paid advertising as a part of your digital strategy, to get quicker results but it’s highly recommended to focus on building your organic traffic using content marketing, SEO, and social media for a long-term success. Contact me if you want me to grow your business. You can write an email to [email protected] with your business queries for a premium marketing advice. You can expect a reply from my team within 96 working hours.

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