The era we live in is one where we are constantly in contact with technology. The Internet is easily the most used invention of the past decade and rightfully so. It is a tool that has granted us unprecedented reach — whether it’s information, our friends and families, or business prospects — and the frequent use of the Internet gave rise to the concept of digital marketing.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital Marketing encompasses each and every activity that involves marketing on an electronic device. There are several channels through which businesses are able to market themselves. A few examples of these platforms are email, social media, search engines, and of course, their own websites.
Now, how exactly is digital marketing important and how is it done? Here are a few methods that every entrepreneur worth his salt should know about:
1. Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the process of tweaking your website in order for it to rank higher in search results. This increases organic traffic to your site, which also means that you enjoy an increase in potential clients and customers.
2. Email Marketing
This method is used by businesses to not only build a relationship with their audience but to also nurture it. As the name suggests, email marketing involves promoting content, promos, and discounts directly to people who have opted to subscribe to your service.
3. Content Marketing
Content marketing places a heavy emphasis on creating content in order to give important information, as well as spread brand awareness. There are a lot of companies that offer blogging, eBook writing, infographic creation, and guest posting services like this. All of these serve not only to increase exposure but to also help with search engine optimization.
4. Social Media Marketing
With social media being as popular as it is, it’s only natural that it also becomes a viable marketing platform. Promoting your brand on social media channels such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter serves to help increase brand awareness, as well as to help direct traffic and generate leads to your site.
5. Pay-Per-Click Marketing
As the name suggests, a pay-per-click campaign involves paying a publisher whenever your ad is clicked. The most common uses of this method can be seen on Facebook ads, those non-intrusive ads in apps, as well as sponsored messages on LinkedIn.
6. Affiliate Marketing
In this method, you receive a commission for promoting someone else’s products and services on your site whenever that service or product is sold or hired. This also inversely applies to you if you’re the business that’s being promoted. A prime example of this method can be found in the form of the YouTube Partner Program.
Conclusion
The premise upon which the Internet was built was to provide a platform that allows for the sharing of information at great range with minimal time. The fact that almost everybody owns a smartphone greatly increases the potential of digital marketing as an extremely effective way to make your brand known. Failure to utilize this technology would be a major waste.
Please keep this in mind, however: Before any entrepreneur is able to utilize this tech, they need to have an understanding of the methods that they’re going to be using. It is, in a sense, a way of knowing the tools at your disposal.