Introduction to E- Marketing

Module -4
Part-4
 Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is the use of websites, apps, mobile
devices, social media, search engines, and other digital
means to promote and sell products and services.
Digital marketing involves many of the same principles as
traditional marketing and is often considered an additional
way for companies to approach consumers and understand
their behavior.
Companies often combine traditional and digital marketing
techniques in their strategies. But digital marketing also
comes with its own set of challenges.
Digital marketing started to become popular with the
widespread adoption of the internet in the 1990s.
 Types of Digital Marketing
•Content marketing.
•Search engine optimization (SEO)
•Email marketing.
•Social media marketing.
•Mobile marketing.
•Pay-per-click.
•Affiliate marketing.
•Paid Advertising.
•Website Marketing
•Video Marketing
•Text Messaging
Digital Marketing Strategies:
•What is a Digital Marketing Strategy ?

•A digital marketing strategy is a plan for using channels to grow your visibility

online. It should look at factors such as your target audience, strengths and

weaknesses, and competitors.

•To create an effective strategy you should use data across the business to

inform and speculate. This will help you establish which marketing channels

to use or test, your target audience, and how to communicate your message

or brand.
Tips for Creating an Effective Digital Strategy
There are a few key elements to consider in creating a digital marketing strategy.

1. Understand your customer

•No digital marketing strategy will be effective if you don't have a clear
understanding of who buys your product, why they buy it, and where they buy
it.
•Use data and demographics to create a robust profile of your audience and
inform your tactics by following these steps:
Define the channels that fit your key demographics

Speak your customer’s language

Understand their pain points and how to switch on emotions

 Create buyer personas to help customize content and predict buying
patterns
 Be culturally aware

 Consider partnerships such as with influencers

 Focus on action-oriented experiences and results rather than the product

 Use automation tools for segmentation and targeting

2. Audit & Assess
•To create an effective strategy, it’s important to know the digital marketing channels and
assets you currently use and have.
•Therefore you should conduct a full channel and content audit and include everything on
a spreadsheet to get a full picture of your marketing activities (across owned, paid, and
earned media).
•You should then link each piece to your organizational goals. So if your key goal is to
drive revenue, look at each channel and asset (you may just want to look at the top
performers if you have a lot of content) and map it to revenue.
•Doing this will help you understand what is currently driving revenue and what isn’t. You
can then double down on what’s successful and look to explore new content pieces or
channels for any further impact.
3. Focus on the End Result

In marketing and product development, there can be so much

emphasis on the product and the ‘numbers’ around it (i.e. revenue)
that sometimes people lose sight of the need that the product fulfills.

What truly matters is who you are marketing to, and why. You need
to understand their pain points to get what people are doing with
your product or service. In other words, when you demonstrate the
post-buying moments, they will remember why they need it in the
first place.
4. Review and Refine

When you develop your strategy, it's essential to include key performance indicators
(KPIs) that fit with crucial business goals.

You need to have a plan in place to understand your goals and objectives and then
monitor the metrics to get insights about the KPIs that matter. To do this you'll need to:
•Step away from vanity metrics – don’t pay attention to the numbers that aren’t
crucial to long-term success, e.g. Facebook likes
•Use KPIs to measure success, but don't have them set in stone

•Set up continuous intervals for analyzing, understanding, measuring, and reporting

•Understand how to isolate critical metrics if it looks like something is not working
What are the Most Effective Digital Marketing
Strategies?
•The digital marketing strategies you use will depend on the
needs and goals of your business: for example, to grow leads or
build brand awareness.
•Keep in mind that any strategy you use should align with your
brand and message. Let’s look at a few digital strategies that are
proven to get results and help you build online visibility and
generate leads.
 Types of Digital Marketing

Content Marketing

There are many ways of generating leads, but one tried and tested method is by
providing valuable content and using digital channels to promote it. This is what’s
known as content marketing.

For example, you can tie an Instagram post to a specific offer using a landing page,
thereby boosting your conversion potential. This could be as simple as promoting an
ebook that is relevant to your audience but making it gated so you gather a visitor’s
details.

There are a lot of content types that you can use so don’t just stick to one. Along with
blogs, create videos, put some energy into creating a valuable ebook, or look at hosting
a webinar with in-house staff or experts to drive leads and engagement.
SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important digital marketing strategy as it can

make your brand, product or service more visible online.

The goal of SEO is to optimize your content - whether that’s a homepage, landing page
or blog - so it gets found easily by existing and prospective customers. It not only
helps to drive traffic but improves user experience and can help to boost your
authority.

There are a few key elements of SEO to tap into user intent that you should consider:

Keywords, Backlinks, Links, Meta descriptions, Images.

The key is to use SEO to target the people searching online that are most likely to be
interested in your brand.
Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing because it works!

With the demise of third-party cookies and privacy becoming a bigger concern
for customers, email marketing provides businesses with a way to inform and
engage people that have shown an interest in their product or service.

Not only that but it enables personalization as marketers can segment groups by
their activity. This is where AI-powered marketing automation tools have made
things so much more effective: for example, if you have a cohort of prospects
that have downloaded an ebook, follow up with something on a similar topic to
drive click-through.
Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is an effective way to reach and influence 4.6 billion people
across the globe. Plus depending on the network, social media has such reach you can
target specific age groups and locations.

While you can simply use social media to promote your brand, product or service, it
can also be instrumental in developing a community. This allows you to have
meaningful engagement with prospects or customers and create brand advocates that
will promote your brand without being asked.

Social media marketing covers a highly varied landscape that is constantly changing,
and each channel requires its own strategy and metrics. Make sure you keep social
listening as part of your overall strategy to help you understand and engage with your
audience.
Mobile Marketing

Over 83 percent of people globally have a smartphone. That’s a market

population of over 6.6 billion people. Nearly half have made online
purchases in the last three years while using them. Add to that the three to
six hours people spend on their phones daily and you’ll want to give your
mobile marketing strategy higher priority.

The prevalence of smartphones and devices has made them an essential

part of any digital marketing plan. Any content or initiative you have should
be compatible with cell phones and should be considered
Pay-per-click Marketing
Pay-per-click, or PPC, is a form of digital marketing in which you pay
a fee every time someone clicks on your digital ads. So, instead of
paying a set amount to constantly run targeted ads on online
marketing channels, you only pay for the ads individuals interact
with. How and when people see your ad is a bit more complicated.
One of the most common types of PPC is search engine advertising,
and because Google is the most popular search engine, many
businesses use Google Ads for this purpose. When a spot is available
on a search engine results page, also known as a SERP, the engine
fills the spot with what is essentially an instant auction.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and
the digital world has given it new life. In affiliate marketing,
companies and individual "influencers" promote another
company's products and get a commission every time a sale is
made or a fresh lead is added to their list. Many well-known
companies, including Amazon, have affiliate programs that pay
out millions of dollars to affiliates that help sell their products.
Paid Advertising

While organic marketing can go a long way to helping drive traffic and generate leads, using
a paid channel can help you to be targeted and reach new audiences.

Many channels offer paid advertising such as social media networks, search engines like
Google through Google Ads along with pay-per-click (PPC) marketing.

The beauty of most platforms is that you can fix a budget and see the results easily. This
means that any size business can reap the benefits and you can test imagery, content and
CTAs to see what resonates with your audience.

You can also gather data from your paid marketing campaigns to inform your marketing
activities. For example, let’s say you created a Facebook ad promoting a podcast that drives
tons of traffic. Consider repurposing the content to create a blog or downloadable checklist
as the topic obviously has an interest to your audience.
Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing can help you gain reach in a targeted audience or niche and drive
campaign performance. The key is to partner with an influencer that aligns with your
brand and has an audience that will be interested in your product or service.

Bear in mind it’s not just about the number of followers when choosing an influencer,
it’s about how they engage with their audience and the topics they promote and are
passionate about.

You can collaborate with an influencer in several ways:

•Promote an event, Gifting or sending a sample for them to try,

•Giveaway, Social channel takeover, Use them as a host, Challenge them

•Commission unique content

Website Marketing

Companies often use their own website as the centerpiece of

their digital marketing activities. The most effective websites
represent the brand and its products and services in a clear and
memorable way. A website today must be fast-loading, mobile-
friendly, and easy to navigate.
Video Marketing

A lot of internet users turn to sites like YouTube before making a

buying decision, to learn how to do something, to read a review,
or just to relax. Marketers can use any of several video marketing
platforms, including Facebook Videos, Instagram, and TikTok, to
run a video marketing campaign. Companies find the most
success with video by integrating it with SEO, content marketing,
and broader social media marketing campaigns.
Text Messaging Marketing

Companies also use text messages (formally known as SMS, or

short message service) to send information about their latest
products and promotions. Nonprofit organizations and political
candidates also use texting to promote themselves and solicit
donations. Today many marketing campaigns make it possible for
consumers to make a payment or donation via a simple text
message.
There are many methods you can engage to encourage people to provide their
personal information so you can add them to your list:
•Use enticing CTAs (Calls to Action)

•Promote your social media channels

•Use pop-ups or forms

•Run a competition

•Offer free downloads

•Promote an offer

•Start a blog subscription

•Ask for a review or feedback

•Run a webinar or podcast