You’re a business owner or have been tasked with spearheading improving your brand's online presence – but where do you start? In this blog, we’ll talk about digital marketing, online marketing and all the online channels that fall underneath this overarching category and how it improves your brand.
What is Digital Marketing?
To answer this question fully, lets first review what marketing is. Marketing is the action of promoting your business’s products and/or services through advertising based on market research. Digital or online marketing, is defined as any marketing campaign centered on digital communication through web-based platforms such as online search platforms, websites, social media, email marketing and text messaging.
Why is Digital Marketing Important?
Digital Marketing helps improve your brand presence through different online channels and connects your business with your target audience ultimately generating more quality leads. Each type of digital marketing has a specific approach to target customers and effectiveness for each can vary. Digital marketing lets you measure your efforts and get really nitty-gritty into who your buyer is, allowing you to refine your digital marketing strategy. Because of the data capabilities and analyzation, efforts are typically less expensive than traditional marketing.
More and more consumers are online. Over half the world is connected to the internet and depending on location, some areas are seeing nearly 100% internet penetration rates. According to a Statista article, the United States ranks as the third largest population of internet users with 313 million active users. Moreover, this also means that your competition is likely online and has been implementing digital marketing practices so it’s time to get busy and ensure your brand is up to snuff in all online channels.
Are there Different Types of Digital Marketing?
There are several different types of digital marketing that enable you to elevate your brand.
· Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
· Paid Advertising
· Content Marketing
· Social Media Marketing & Advertising
· Email Marketing
· Text/Mobile Marketing
The uniqueness of each online marketing approach has the ability to target very specific groups of people and each channel can be more effective depending on who your target audience is as a business. Each type of digital marketing varies in strategy and based on what your goals as brand are, may adjust how you tackle each strategy within the different types of digital marketing.
What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?
As with any goal, you need to implement a strategy built with objectives to achieve your goal. A digital marketing strategy is a plan that a business develops in order to attain a specific goal using web-based channels such as SEO, paid advertising, content marketing, social media marketing and advertising, email marketing and text/mobile marketing. Often, it’s best to follow the SMART acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely to outline your digital marketing strategy. Remember that overtime, your goals and strategies can change, especially because digital marketing is ever-changing.
How to Get Started Improving your Brand Online?
Today, it is more important than it ever has been to connect with your customers and businesses must rely on online marketing to do that. Begin evaluating your current digital marketing efforts, spend, and results to adjust your SMART goals.
Conducting an online audit can help you hone in on specific priorities. I offer an inexpensive online audit + DIY Guide that will aid in you that process. If the DIY route is wishful thinking and you know you don't have the time to dedicate, it’s time to book a consultation with a professional online marketing expert. At Ashley O'Brien Marketing, my goal is centered on creating a tailored yet streamlined approach to digital marketing to take out the guess work for you.
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