What Is Digital Marketing

Also known as Internet Marketing or Online Marketing, the term Digital Marketing refers to to the use of the Internet and various online platforms and tools as a marketing strategy to introduce and promote specific brands and services to the general public. Created in the early 1990s, digital marketing has slowly replaced the more traditional forms of marketing, appealing to the new generation that spends more time online than ever before. 

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are a few of the many venues that host this type of marketing strategy. By introducing users to adverts and offers while browsing their favourite posts and videos, companies have ensured that millions of clients are introduced to their product or service. 

Types Of Digital Marketing Strategies

To effectively utilize digital marketing campaigns, companies can use several forms of Digital Marketing strategies. These include: 

• Influencer Marketing – This form of digital marketing involves social media personalities known as Influencers. These Influencers usually have large followings and provide their communities with expert advice in a specific field. Through Product Placement, a company can allow an Influencer to advertise their product through reviews and testimonials effectively —this allows the company to potentially gain clients from the Influencer’s pre-existing fan base. 
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Search Engine Optimization involves routing organic or unpaid visitors to a specific site designed to advertise the product or service in question. To properly utilize the effectiveness of search engine optimization, companies must examine the algorithms designed to control how a search engine operates. By targeting the keywords and search engines preferred by potential clients, companies can ensure that their site ranks highly on the Search Engine Results Page. This issue of ranking is significant as customers are much more likely to trust websites found on the first page of their search engine results. Therefore by making their sites immediately visible, companies are almost assuring a sale. 
• Email Marketing – This digital marketing strategy refers to the practice of advertising a product or service by contacting potential clients via their email. Email marketing is usually used to create an awareness of the brand in question, providing clients with a direct link to the company’s website. Companies may also use email marketing to generate loyalty by providing prior customers with offers and discounts designed to ensure that they will continue their patronage with the company in question.
• Search Engine Marketing – This tool often works in tandem with search engine optimization. By using paid advertisement promoted on the search engine results page, companies can promote their business each time a potential client uses their preferred search engine. This increases the company’s online visibility and ensures faster client growth than the traditional forms of advertisement. 
• Content Marketing – Content Marketing is one of the most popular and versatile forms of digital marketing strategies. It involves companies examining the habits of potential clients to identify their specific wants and needs. Upon identification, the company can create content tailored to meet this need and sell their product or service simultaneously. The content created may take several forms, such as podcasts, ebooks, videos, how-to guides, among many others. This form of digital marketing aims to garner interest from potential clients, which will then lead them back to the product or service that the company is selling. 

Other strategies utilized by digital marketing campaigns include display advertising and e-commerce marketing. 

The Advantages of Digital Marketing Campaigns

The idea of the effectiveness of any marketing campaign is crucial, but it can sometimes be quite challenging to track. However, with digital marketing, companies can easily view the various advantages that the strategy affords. 

1. Cost-Effective – Traditional marketing strategies are usually expensive due to the equipment and resources expended on ensuring that the campaign reaches as many potential clients as possible. In digital marketing, such spending is minimal as the content needs only to be produced once before it can be spread to millions of potential clients worldwide with only the click of a button. 
2. Tracking Effectiveness – Through web analytics, companies can track how effective specific digital marketing strategies are by tracing how clients found their site and services. This helps companies invest in digital marketing strategies that are the most effective while removing any underperforming systems. This form of tracking is near impossible using traditional advertising methods. 
3. Targeted  And Personalized Marketing – By using strategies such as email marketing, companies can create personalized and targeted offers designed around the unique needs of specific clients. This approach helps to build appreciation between the client and the company, promoting a sense of loyalty to ensure that a client returns. 

With the world of technology growing each day, digital marketing is essential to ensure that companies are not left behind as clients move further into the online sphere.