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Digital Marketing is a marketing strategy that uses digital technology and channels to attract customers and control promotion. The number of digital channels helps to influence a potential buyer most effectively, regardless of the market segment, promoted product, and other conditions. Digital marketing is equally effective in the goods, works, or services market in the B2B and B2C segments.

The emergence of the term “digital marketing” refers in 1985. However, the phenomenon arose earlier, simultaneously with the advent of the first digital devices. Furthermore, most developments are used for profit, used in marketing research and promotion strategies. As a result, business and marketing are often the first to introduce technical innovations.

Digital Marketing Overview

Types of marketing are named after the specific tools and channels used for marketing purposes. As the name implies, digital marketing uses only digital channels to reach potential consumers.

For example, you can use television, but only digital channels will be considered; traditional analog channels will not. This makes the separation somewhat arbitrary since both digital and analog channels fall into the standard broadcasting grid. But it allows you to more accurately influence the target audience if digital channels are watched by subscription on TVs, computers, and smartphones connected to the Internet. It is easy to explain what digital marketing is: these are marketing activities for which digital devices or channels are used.

How is Digital Marketing different from Internet Marketing?

Increasing the presence and influence of the company on the Internet is a mandatory direction for business development. Most cases, especially after the pandemic, are conducted remotely through the network. A website represents the company; employees correspond with partners, and goods or services are listed in catalogs where background information is provided. Even payments or shipments take place virtually through special services.

We are accustomed to the phrase Internet marketing; its necessity is obvious. Digital Marketing is perceived by many as a synonym for Internet marketing, although the difference follows already from the name.

Internet marketing works only until the user logs out of the network. As soon as the smartphone is put in a pocket or the computer is turned off, Internet marketing has no chance to convey information to a potential client. However, digital marketing continues to work: messages come to the smartphone, and the TV broadcasts ads. This type of marketing combines digital technology and marketing communications.

Internet marketing is one of the areas of digital marketing, which uses all Internet promotion methods and additional ones. Therefore, by limiting itself to Internet marketing, the company deprives itself of effective promotion methods.

Digital Marketing Tools

Technologies are developing, annually increasing the number of digital marketing tools. Based on the company’s field of activity, the product being produced, and the target audience, you can use all digital marketing tools simultaneously or focus on the most effective ones for a specific task.

Basic

Some digital marketing tools have become indispensable elements of running a business:

The company’s website is a business card or company’s office on the Internet; at the same time, it is a full-fledged digital marketing tool. Increasingly, communication and the conclusion of transactions take place remotely. Moreover, we can talk about multimillion-dollar contracts in B2B and small purchases in B2C. The site replaces a real office: employees answer customer questions, make deals, make payments and shipments, and provide user support. The more solid the site looks, the clearer, more complete the information posted on it, and the higher the trust of customers.

• • SEO. The company’s website should be not only solid but also noticeable. For places in the first lines of search results for keywords, SEO is fighting – an effective tool for online and digital marketing. As part of improving search results, SEO specialists conduct:
    • Technical optimization – site adjustment for search robots, which includes software elements and correct design.
    • Internal optimization – writing or editing texts to coincide with search questions, revealing the topic as much as possible, and differentiating from competitors.
    • External optimization – maintaining the reputation and credibility of the site with links to it from other resources.

Contextual advertising that appears only on the screen of the target audience. Customizable according to user preferences and behavior. Google ads have become one of the most effective tools for such advertising. Contextually advertising often causes the user to feel that “he is being watched.”. It is sensitive to search queries and considers frequently visited sites, interests, purchases, and offers advertisements for what is most likely to be interesting.

Display advertising that attracts attention with graphic images, more often in the form of banners, including a logo, text, an active link, etc. After the spread of digital television, digital marketing and media have become almost synonymous.

• • SMM is marketing that works exclusively on social networks, based on communication with users through publications in accounts and comments.

Targeted advertising in social networks is targeted advertising that is seen only by the audience selected according to specific criteria.

Content marketing raises credibility and business reputation through published texts, images, and videos, which leads to increased customer confidence and demand. Content designed to raise the image and form an attitude as an expert can be:

• • • Publications on thematic sites – informational articles contain a link or mention of the company’s name and a specific employee as an expert.
    • Articles published on the company’s website, with answers to frequently asked questions, reveal the subtleties. For example, on the website of a manufacturer of finishing materials, there will be articles about repairs, the choice of finishes, methods of application, etc.
    • Videos – educational or informational videos containing material similar to those in the articles. For example, a manufacturer of finishing materials may have videos on how to plaster or paint walls, stick wallpaper, and choose a harmonious tone of paint.
    • Infographics – visualization of information using graphs, charts, diagrams, etc. Visual images are easy to perceive and inspire confidence in the audience.
    • Blogs attract more and more people’s attention to diaries, where companies or authoritative people talk about everyday events and their opinions about goods and services. A client immersed in the company’s life trusts her more because he knows her “from the inside.”
    • Images are used increasingly in marketing as the trend shifts from reading texts to viewing pictures. Additionally, website users prefer to watch videos or photos rather than read texts.

Email marketing is a system of informational or promotional mailings, receiving people learn about ongoing promotions, new products, special offers, and bonuses.

Affiliate programs – cooperation with manufacturers or sellers of goods and services that complement the company’s products. It is expressed in providing discounts and services with a partner’s discount card link to each other’s products or services on websites, etc. When companies do not compete, they can cooperate effectively and mutually beneficial, expanding the reach of the target audience and the number of customers.

User support: technical, warranty, after-sales service, consultations, and hotline are used to continue working with the client and receiving feedback about a product or service.

Advanced

Basic tools have become almost mandatory for any company, but this is not enough to effectively promote a product or brand. Here is what is included in the digital marketing of advanced marketers and promotion specialists:

Influencer marketing is the use of the authority of a particular person as a representative or guarantor of quality. They are often used in social networks and blogs. A person with many followers tells the audience about the company, product, or brand.

• • User experience – The uses of stories about the experience of acquiring and testing products for advertising purposes. People share their impressions, how easy it was to use, whether the tasks were solved, and whether they liked the purchase.
  • Landing Page – one-page auxiliary sites for attracting additional leads and working separately or attracting additional traffic to the main site. App Store and Google Play applications make products more accessible and partly confirm their safety. In app stores, you can read independent reviews and evaluate the popularity of a product by the number of downloads.
  • Games. Companies develop games with animated characters or products. For children’s goods, the range of games can be significantly expanded.
  • Audience engagement. To raise interest in the company, many involve potential and regular customers. For example, companies hold competitions; offer to participate in creating a new slogan, logo, or even a product. This is done, for example, by drawing prizes for registering a barcode from a package or a receipt and by voting and assigning a reward to the idea with the most likes.

Offline

The advantage of marketing in the digital environment is that you can remind potential or regular customers about yourself at any time. For this use:

• • SMS mailings;
  • Outdoor advertising on digital displays;
  • QR codes;
  • MASS MEDIA.

Digital Marketing Channels

To use digital marketing tools, they use all channels or select individual ones based on the preferences of the target audience or product features:

• Internet;
• Digital television operates on a subscription basis on the Internet or is broadcast to ordinary televisions through public or private cable networks, house antennas;
• Mobile devices;
• Local networks: corporate, regional, in institutions or organizations, from individual providers;
• Smart gadgets that connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, computers, and smartphones;
• Interactive screens used in institutions, payment terminals, information boards at stations, airports, exhibitions, etc.;
• Digital art is a new type of art using digital technologies, broadcast through gadgets: images, music, etc.

The number of digital marketing channels is constantly increasing as new digital technologies are invented and proliferated.

Most digital channels are connected to the Internet and can be controlled, transmitted, or received data. However, some continue to function effectively when the connection is disconnected. For example, the user does not have to be on the Internet or even hold a smartphone in his hands to receive an SMS notification about a promotion.

Goals and objectives of Digital-marketing

The goals and objectives of digital marketing in market research, attracting and retaining customers differ little from standard marketing tasks. However, the effectiveness of digital marketing is often higher than in other areas due to the convenience of collecting information, highlighting the target audience, and fixing its reaction. In addition, most gadget accounts in social networks and accounts report information about the owner they use in analytics.

Digital technologies in marketing provide:

• Collection of contact details and other information that can be used for advertising and marketing research. The email address, phone number, full name, and other data are often obtained from an account or account.
• Growth of coverage of the target audience and increased awareness of the company, logo, brand, and product.
• The formation of a positive image of the company can happen unnoticed by the user of social networks or the Internet.
• Increasing customer loyalty – the familiar seems trustworthy. It is perceived as a familiar product that has “become familiar” and was mentioned by an authoritative person, or one can easily learn about the experience of using it.
• It informs the audience about various promotions and special offers of the company. Information can be distributed in bulk or targeted mailings for regular customers, potential buyers, and users of specific products.
• Efficient and fast promotion of new products and services. The speed of information dissemination through digital devices cannot be compared with anything.
• Creation of a pool of regular customers. Once you have a way to connect with a customer, you can use it regularly, encouraging them to make new purchases or contact you over and over again.

Benefits of Digital Marketing

Since this marketing direction works with smart technology, the benefits are dictated mainly by its unique properties.

A rare person does without a digital device, even if he does not use a smartphone. He watches TV, sees electronic advertising or information boards, and uses terminals and displays installed in banks, government agencies, and clinics. That is, there are always digital marketing channels available for conveying information. The reach of the audience is enormous. This is not to say that digital marketing involves every person, but the scale is potentially comparable to the adult population’s size.

A network connects most digital devices, if not global, then local. Therefore, the speed of information delivery can be considered instantaneous. At the same time, the information provided can be adjusted depending on the nature of the treatment, some qualities of a person, or changing circumstances. Therefore, digital marketing is a flexible, customer-focused promotion strategy.

Another unique advantage: is the ability to evaluate the results before the end of the campaign. After the purchase, the smart gadget will immediately transfer the information of interest to the marketer into the analytical program. The promotion of a product, brand, or website can be tracked in real-time. The strategy can be corrected by quickly making corrections to what, for some reason, does not work or does not work effectively enough.

Cons of Digital Marketing

Like everything else, digital marketing has its downsides, some of which are significant, even critical, if you don’t know about them in advance. Unfortunately, the problems of implementing digital marketing tools are hidden in their advantages: they are many, theferent, developing too quickly.

Only a professional can use digital tools and, as a rule, with narrow specialization. For example, contextual advertising is set up by one specialist; the site is filled with content by another; different people do SEO or targeting. This leads to a continuous increase in staff, work with many contractors, or the need to use the services of companies offering the digital promotion.

Developing, implementing, and getting feedback on a strategy takes a lot of time. This is a minus; it also affects the complexity of evaluating a company’s performance or contractors involved in developing a brand or product in the digital world.

Constant development also has negative sides: it requires keeping abreast and continuously improving technologies. In digital marketing, as nowhere else, the phrase “to move forward, you need to run twice as fast” is relevant. Doing what others have already implemented is often useless. Instead, you need to track trends and develop strategies, working ahead of the curve.

The second unpleasant consequence of continuous development is the need to introduce something new constantly. You cannot develop a strategy, set up a system, and enjoy the result. You must constantly refine, expand, or start developing something new from the scoring of a running system must be continuous.

In addition, users are tired of ads and interference with their lives and the content they view. Many are willing to pay to enjoy digital TV or ad-free platforms. To be remembered by the client, you must devise more original ways. For this, for example, provocative, controversial videos are used.

Digital channels that instantly deliver information work not only for good but also for harm. It becomes almost impossible to manage the news, hide negative events, and prevent the spread of unpleasant information. To remain a market leader, it is necessary to ensure an impeccable reputation for a company, brand, or product, achieved by high quality.

Digital strategy

Developing a digital marketing strategy is not much different from any other. The difference is only in the speed with which you need to work and the scale of each task.

When developing a strategy, it is necessary to work out all types of digital marketing, considering most channels and using many tools. Therefore, each stage becomes a full-scale project requiring the involvement of a team of specialists.

Strategy development includes:

1. Analysis of competitors and identification of the target audience.
2. Identification of possible advertising channels.
3. Preparation of media plan and budget.
4. Development of KPI for each channel.
5. Forecast of results.

Metrics to track results

The metrics that marketers use to evaluate performance are called metrics. Most of them form special programs designed to facilitate the work of marketers and other professionals involved in the promotion. They provide metrics in Bing and Google web analytics systems. Some metrics fully reflect or are part of the KPI.

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About Author

Jack Leo is a professional digital marketer working for a leading Digital Marketing Agency – inGenious Guru. Apart from that, he is an active blogger who admires reading and sharing information regarding the latest tech trends and gaming news. In addition, he is an avid gamer who spends his nights taking on any challenger he finds in all leading FPS games.

Digital Marketing and its Tools