In the world of business development and branding, digitalisation is on everyone’s lips. But what exactly is digital marketing and how can we use it to grow our business digital marketing coach?
Digital Marketing Defined
Digital marketing is the promotion and advertising of
businesses and their brands through digital media channels. Digital media
currently includes websites, social media, radio, television, mobile phones and
even forms of traditionally non-digital media such as billboards and road
signs. Essentially, any marketing medium that is delivered electronically is
considered digital marketing.
Only various forms of person-to-person (P2P) marketing,
print advertising and direct marketing fall outside the scope of digital
marketing. And even then, print ads, direct mail, directories, billboards and
posters are beginning to connect with their digital counterparts. With elements
like URL landing pages, QR codes, web banner ads, online directories and text
codes, traditional marketing and advertising almost always has a connection to
digital marketing.
Why the focus on digital media?
The shift to digital media is being driven by marketing
agencies, businesses and consumers alike. The ever-increasing demand for
quantifiable results makes the shift to digital media a dream for the digital
marketing agency. Most digital media, including websites, social media and
mobile advertising, is much easier to track than traditional marketing media
such as print advertising analytics mentor.
For business owners, many forms of digital advertising
are very cost-effective. A web presence, engaging customers in conversations
via social media and email marketing are cost-effective alternatives to print
advertising and direct mail. These digital channels are available to businesses
of all sizes and help give start-ups, small businesses and independent
consultants looking for new business an equal opportunity.
For consumers, given the fast pace of life, digital
advertising is a must. When consumers need goods and services, gone are the
days when they had to flick through a phone book to find them. Today, we pull
out our mobile devices or search for answers on our computers — and we find them
quickly.
Use digital media to build your business and brand
Regardless of the size of your business — large
enterprise or small to medium enterprise (SME) — you can effectively market
your business through cost-effective digital channels. The foundation of your
marketing efforts is your website. Invest wisely in your website, and make sure
it does the following
Appropriately represents your business and brand (look
and feel, messaging).
Appeals appropriately to your target audience
Can be found by searchers on the major search engines
Is up-to-date and easy to navigate
Provides multiple channels for customer communication
Links to other marketing activities
It is advisable to work with a professional web design
company that understands web development and search engine optimisation. As
your website is the foundation on which all other digital channels are built,
it should be considered one of your most important business investments.
Once you have your website ready, the next thing you should do is start regular
monthly or bi-monthly email campaigns and engage with your customers through
social media.
If you really only have a small budget available, you
can have these tasks done internally (by someone with the appropriate skills)
or inexpensively by an external digital marketing agency. Make sure that all
your efforts lead customers back to your website, where they can fully engage
with your company, products and services and choose the channels through which
they contact you.
If you are interested in aggressive search engine
marketing, you can set aside some funds for search engine optimisation and
pay-per-click advertising. Many businesses today rely heavily on being found
online to attract new customers. A common misconception among business owners
is that having a website already means customers will find it. This is not the
case. Your website needs to be built with certain keywords and phrases,
metadata, page content and linking strategies in order to appear at the top of
search results.
Since there is strong competition for the top spots in
search results for many keywords and phrases, you need to build your google
analytics trainer
