What is Digital Marketing? A Guide to Its Benefits
Learn about the role of digital marketing in reaching a larger audience, and how it can help your business connect with its customers!
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a term usually used in association with online marketing. It can be defined as the use of various digital channels. These include social media, email, blogging, and more. You use them to build awareness for a product or service, drive traffic to a website and increase conversions.
With so many people using the internet every day, it makes sense that businesses want to get in on digital marketing. They should bring digital media into their marketing strategy.
Here’s why digital media is easy to create and distribute, and provides instant feedback from internet users. And it can reach millions of potential customers within seconds.
Why digital marketing works so well
Digital marketing is a digital strategy, so digital media can be used in many ways to persuade your audience. Online digital marketing plans and strategies can reach a larger audience. And also instantly adjust their digital media based on customer feedback.
Digital communication has been proven to be more effective than traditional communication methods. This is because digital communication is interactive and can be tailored to the customer’s needs.
A digital strategy offers so many benefits than traditional marketing tactics. A digital strategy can be used for many things. These include the ability to sell products or services, inform customers about new products or updates, launch digital campaigns for events.
These include both local and worldwide events. And you can use it to build your digital brand, and keep customers coming back.
The digital era has revolutionised the way businesses work today. So many companies are now shifting their focus from traditional marketing methods to digital marketing strategies. And for good reason, digital strategy works.
How digital media affects the way we interact with brands and products
Digital media has had a significant impact on how we interact with brands and their digital messages.
It is the digital messages that are important to remember when thinking about digital media in marketing. Digital messages shape how people react to brands on digital channels.
As digital media grows, so does digital marketing. Businesses are realizing that digital media is an excellent way to reach large audiences of potential customers. It benefits from low costs, and digital marketing has grown quickly due to social media marketing.
Digital marketing is not only limited to social media platforms. It also encompasses advertising on websites, digital media, search engine marketing, digital television and radio channels.
This phenomenon is called digital migration, which is the movement of buyer attention from offline to online.
When interacting with digital messages, buyers can research their purchase more in-depth by using digital messages at their leisure. They can do this anywhere in the world, at any time where they have an internet connection.
This convenience is changing the way people interact with brands. Digital messages can provide products and services to consumers 24 hours a day.
Search engines, digital television and digital streaming audio are other digital marketing channels.
Digital messages are available on social media platforms to engage potential customers whenever they have time to interact with brands. This increases engagement between both the consumer and the brand.
What digital marketing looks like
Digital marketing can be defined as the use of digital channels. This includes social media, email marketing, digital display networks and digital video. You can use them to build awareness for a product or service. 
Digital marketing has a lot in common with traditional advertising methods. It relies on generating a lot of buzz about a brand. The difference is that digital marketing is done entirely online and doesn’t rely on print or TV ads.
Digital marketing offers many benefits compared to traditional advertising. The biggest benefit is the immediacy associated with digital marketing. With digital marketing, there is no need to wait for deadlines to ensure your articles are published in magazines.
Besides the instant feedback, digital marketing also has a low cost compared to traditional advertising. With digital marketing, there is no need for expensive TV and magazine ads or newspaper and radio spots. These traditional methods can get costly really fast.
Digital marketers also spend less time on their campaigns. This is because the distribution of digital media (usually via email) allows digital marketers to skip some steps. These include design work and printing costs associated with traditional advertising.
Another benefit of digital marketing is that digital campaigns can be used to target specific demographics. You can use digital campaigns for direct mailings and email blasts. You can use digital banners and videos to display on websites or social platforms, depending on the needs of the campaign.
Since digital marketing relies on digital content, publishers have nearly unlimited digital channels they can use to get people interested in their product or service.
Another important element of digital marketing is digital analytics. Digital marketers should always track digital content to determine if it’s reaching the audience they’re trying to target.
And if it affects their metrics, such as website traffic or social media following. Digital content should be measured for success before the campaign goes into effect. This will help you avoid wasting time or money on digital ads that won’t yield the results you need.
Different digital marketing channels
There are many digital marketing channels that you can use to create awareness, drive traffic and increase conversions. These digital media include blogs, social media platforms, digital ads and email.
Blogs are an excellent digital marketing channel for your small business, because they contain blog posts.
A blog is a website that shares content on the web in real time. The way it works is when you submit new content on your site, your readers automatically receive it. Posts can be text, video or images.
The most popular types of posts are photos, because people like to look at them. You can also post sections of articles that you might have written in the past, like how-to’s or FAQ’s. You can even post photos of your digital ads to get more people to notice them.
The digital marketing channels you choose depend on what you’re promoting and the type of customer you’re targeting. For example, if yours is a B2B company, it might make sense to create a LinkedIn account. Many business owners use LinkedIn.
However, a digital marketing channel won’t make your business successful. It’s the digital ads and content that you put on those digital channels that will drive people to buy your product or provide your service.
Once you have a digital ad, whether it’s a blog post or a blog post, you have no need to wait before you know if the campaign was successful or not. You will know immediately, because digital content can be tracked through digital analytics software.
With digital marketing, brands can prove that digital campaigns are working. You get real time reports to clients with information on how many people have visited their website.
Plus, they can tell which social media platforms they’ve shared the content on. And how many people have viewed or interacted with the campaign image? Then it’s time for digital marketing distribution.
Distribution refers to digital media distribution and includes social media platforms like Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram. Just like there are many digital marketing channels, there are also many digital marketing distribution channels. You can use them to get your digital ad in front of the right people at the right time.
For example, traditional digital ads, such as banners, appear on a digital marketing channel, like a screen in a shopping mall. Digital ads that are digital media take up digital media distribution channels and traditional digital ad channels.
What’s the difference? Unlike digital screens, websites and social media platforms have their own built-in codes. When you embed or add your digital ad to those digital channels, it will collect data about the channel you used. For example, if your ad appears on a digital screen in a shopping mall, it will tell you how many times that screen is being viewed.
Think of digital distribution as a way to track who’s noticing your digital ads and where they encounter them. Trackable metrics may include clicks, views, digital screen views, digital media interactions and digital media conversions.
You could also consider digital marketing agencies to help you distribute digital ads across all digital channels. They usually have access to multiple digital advertising channels, including affiliate marketing. This can increase your reach significantly.
If you’re familiar with traditional digital marketing, then you’ve probably heard digital marketers talk about digital media interactions. Digital media interactions are any digital media activity that happens on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.
This could be someone clicking the “like” button on your digital ad or digital ad banner to show they like it. Interacting with digital ads on digital media platforms is a digital marketing distribution channel.
Remember, digital marketing channels and digital ad distribution aren’t the only factors that play a role in digital marketing success. The most important factor of all is your digital ads – their appearance, the messaging and the call to action.
All those aspects combined create a digital marketing channel. Your digital ads are the digital media that get people to interact with your digital ad banners, digital screens or website.
How digital marketing is changing
Digital marketing is changing how marketers do their jobs and interact with customers. This digital era means businesses need to learn digital skills.
Digital media is used for everything from marketing to digital payments, digital commerce, digital manufacturing, digital marketing and digital customer service.
In the past, marketing meant buying ads in magazines or newspapers. In the digital era, there are so many more options for branding a company’s image. Many marketers use social media ads on Facebook and Instagram, for example.
More people are going online to search for information. This means digital marketing can be an effective way to connect with customers.
Digital marketing gives businesses the chance to create digital brand experiences, digital interactions and digital connections with customers.
Digital marketing in business and examples of digital media channels
Digital Marketing accounts for about $100 billion in global marketing expenditure. It is a digital prelude to the digital revolution.
And digital marketing and digital communications, digital media and digital technology allow marketers to target customers more effectively than ever before.
Digital channels such as social media, email, blogging and others are the focus of most digital marketing campaigns.
The most common digital media channels include:
Social Media Sites – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Email Newsletters – Email Newsletters
Video Sites – YouTube, Vimeo
Blogs – Tumblr
Characteristics of good digital advertising
Here are typical characteristics of reliable digital advertisements:
- Digital ad types should be run during digital channels’ peak traffic time, typically mid-morning, to mid-afternoon
- Digital ads need to be targeted specifically at the desired demographic. Understanding digital media makes this easier than other forms of advertising.
- Digital ads need to be interactive and provide the consumer with incentives. This increases the chances that they will take action, because digital ads are so personal. There are digital ad types that can be used in all digital channels (social, email, etc.).
- Digital ads need to be creative and fun. They should not look or feel like advertisements. Consumers want them to blend seamlessly with the rest of their digital experience.
Summary of digital marketing definition and benefits
Digital marketing can be defined as the use of digital channels. These include social media, email, blogging, etc. You use them to build awareness for a product or service, drive traffic to a website and increase conversions.
Even though digital media is more of an investment than traditional marketing techniques, digital marketing is worth it. This is straightforward to create and distribute. It provides near-instant feedback from customers and can reach an audience much larger than its physical limitation.
One of the most important digital media platforms for digital marketing is social media. Social media can help create buzz around your product or service, increase brand awareness, and drive traffic back to your website.
Social media platforms are used by all sizes of businesses because of their good value and potential reach. 500 million Tweets are sent each day, for example. In digital marketing, digital media is used for everything from digital brand experiences to digital customer service.
Pinterest, Facebook and LinkedIn are noteworthy digital media channels because of their huge user base.
But YouTube has the potential to attract more quality leads than any other digital media platform. A video on your product or service can easily be shared with thousands of people.
The future of digital marketing
The future of digital marketing is intriguing. It’s evolving so quickly, and new digital marketing channels emerge all the time. A few digital media channels that we will see more of in the near future:
Voice: Voice search, voice bot, voice first devices, voice commerce
Augmented Reality: Virtual reality on the go
Blockchain: digital advertising with blockchain tech
Mobile devices: digital first companies find success with mobile first digital marketing
Marketing automation: where systems interact with customers
With digital marketing, your digital presence is always increasing. Digital media platforms are growing every day. More and more people than ever have smartphones, so digital marketers can now reach them on digital channels 24/7.
They don’t only use the internet to shop or search for information. They want their experience seamless across digital and physical digital media. Thus, digital marketers have a challenge to reach them wherever they are.
Digital marketing has a reputation for being a bit shady. But the truth is that digital marketing shouldn’t need to involve any black hat techniques. There are plenty of digital marketing agencies who do everything from social media to PPC.
For digital marketing to be effective, it must follow a few rules:
- Quality of content is always better than quantity. Focus on creating and promoting great digital digital media content, instead of constantly doing digital marketing activities.
- See the big picture – focus on quality, not quantity. You don’t need Facebook fans or Twitter followers by the million. Concentrate on gaining digital media followers interested in your digital media content.
- Put your customers at the heart of everything you do.
Welcome their feedback, understand the customer journey, and engage with them to understand what they want from digital marketing campaigns. If you aren’t willing to listen, they’ll go elsewhere for what you’re offering.
