What Is Digital Marketing? The Complete Guide
In this day and age, a world without the internet is unimaginable.
This transition to the online world has changed the way businesses promote their products and services. Like most things, the field of marketing has come to revolve around the web - with website creation, social media, and online ads largely taking the place of billboards, cold calls, and print ads.
In this guide, we’ll dive into what digital marketing is and how you can use it to promote your brand. We’ll also break down the different types of digital marketing so you can learn about the specific practices that will benefit your business.
Digital marketing is defined as the use of digital channels to promote a product or service. The goal of this approach is to connect with customers online - the place where they spend the most time seeking information or entertainment.
Digital marketing is a broad practice, simply because there are so many online channels available. Posting on social media is a form of digital marketing, as are email marketing and blogging. Together, the promotional content on these various platforms forms a cohesive online marketing strategy.
Benefits of digital marketing
Every company can gain from advertising themselves online. Here are some of the ways digital marketing can benefit your business:
Deepening customer relationships and building a loyal customer base
Guiding customers through the marketing funnel, from the first touchpoint to the sale
Digital marketing isn’t a single practice but, instead, is the sum of several elements. Some of the most common examples of digital marketing include:
While this may seem like a lot, keep in mind that you don’t need to implement each and every one of these practices. However, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with them so that you gain a better understanding of which methods should go into your own marketing strategy.
01. Search engine optimization (SEO)
A foundational element of digital marketing, SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results. When your website appears as a top result on Google and other search engines, people are more likely to click on your link, learn about your brand, and perhaps even become customers.
There are three broad ways to improve your website’s SEO:
On-page SEO involves optimizing the pages on your website by conducting keyword research. When you incorporate strategic keywords throughout your site, you can rank high on search engine results pages and guide customers through the sales funnel with relevant, authoritative content.
Off-page SEO is about improving your SEO by looking at pages external to your website. Inbound links to your website - known as backlinks - are a critical component of off-page SEO. Networking with publishers, writing guest posts, and providing information-rich content on your blog can help improve your off-page SEO.
Technical SEO deals with the backend elements of your website such as coding, structured data, image compression, and more. Optimizing these elements can make it easier for search engines to “read” your site and improve your page speed.
Closely tied to SEO, content marketing is also a core component of digital marketing. This involves creating and promoting content with the goals of building brand awareness, increasing traffic to your website, generating leads, and converting customers.
The content you create can take many forms:
Blog posts: Starting a blog - and using strategic, long-tail keywords in your articles - is a great way to bring traffic to your site and engage your customers.
E-books and whitepapers: Adding in-depth, long-form content to your website establishes your expertise in the industry and builds trust among your audience. You can also offer this content for download in exchange for your readers’ contact information, helping you generate leads.
Videos: Website content doesn’t need to be in written form. Adding videos to your website is an engaging way to provide valuable information to your audience.
Infographics: Another form of visual content, infographics are a fun, helpful way to make information easier for readers to conceptualize. Complex explanations and statistics are particularly well-suited to this content format.
Podcasts: This audible content format is a useful way to strengthen your connection with your audience and build a loyal community around your brand. To start a podcast, try repurposing existing website content, such as blog posts, and adapting it for audio.
Webinars: A merging of “web” and “seminar,” webinars further engage your audience, establish your authority, and delight customers with the extra value they provide.
Whichever content formats you choose, be sure to focus on subject matter that’s relevant and valuable for your audience and that will help boost your website’s SEO.
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