11 Digital Marketing Concepts Every Beginner Should Know
Introduction
The 1990s: www starts the first phase of DM with Banner ads and Email Marketing and with Google being born in 1998 the era of SEM starts.
The 2000s: The Dot-Com takes the world by storm. Adsense by Google makes blogging popular. Social media platforms like Facebook and Orkut have emerged. YouTube brings Video content creation to a new level.
The 2010s: Instagram launches, People are sharing photos, and content marketing gains traction. Big data and analytics were changing the narrative. Smartphones evolved for web taking over PC browsing, Live Streaming comes into the picture with 4G. AI comes into play with chatbots. GDPR is instated. Tik-tok becomes the thing.
The 2020s i.e. Currently…: online shopping, Voice Search, AR/VR, Metaverse, Apple’s Vision Pro, AI and Automation, and we are only halfway into 2024. The decade is yet too young to discover new opportunities!
Digital marketing has grown so much in ways and beyond!
Just look how every 10 years the list keeps growing and brings a significant change, something that is not just evident but is enormous! We are living a digital 24/7 life, just 10 years ago we paid for every MB we used, and now it’s simply unlimited data for all. Its amazing how accessible things have become, and with so much access the potential to grow is inevitable.
What is Digital Marketing?
Any form of advertising that makes use of a piece of tech or the internet is called digital marketing. It covers a wide range of tactics and platforms, including websites, email, and social media in addition to search engines. Digital marketing has changed so rapidly over the last 20 years, tweaking to new customer behaviors, insights from data, and other technological advancements.
The Role of SEO in Digital Marketing
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) basically means making adjustments to your website or its content to rank higher on the SERPs (search engine results pages). Ranking higher organically is important as it reduces the cost of advertisement and increases footfall or traffic and visibility in web terms. Basic SEO strategies include keyword research, and on-page/off-page optimizations. As you learn more about digital marketing you’ll understand why the jargon “if you want to hide a dead body, hide it on the second page of Google search results.” is so famous.
Understanding Content Marketing
If you want to bring in and keep your target audience interested, you MUST consider content marketing. It involves creating and sharing worthwhile and relevant content that could be in the form of Infographics, videos, blog posts, and more that can be included in this based on your asset/product. It not only builds authority and trust among your audience but also helps in increasing conversions and increasing brand loyalty.
Social Media Marketing
According to statistics by various organizations, an average of 62% people i.e. more than half the world is now using social media. We see ads on our Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and whatnot, its because you know! advertising on social media is not just a tool but a boon in today’s day and age, and the key to successful social media marketing is understanding each platform’s targeting features, and the present audience and tailoring your message/creative accordingly. Engaging with your audience through comments, messages, and posts is also important.
Email Marketing Essentials
One of the best digital marketing practices is still email marketing. It means sending a set of subscribers tailored emails, frequently with offers and customized content. For this you first need an email list, this is where subscriptions come into play! Exchange quality material like free ebooks, offers or access to content. Performance analysis of email campaigns should be done as well this helps in making better strategies.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
You’ve seen those ads, where its written sponsored, in your Google search results, right? the advertiser is charged with a fee every time you click on one of those, now you know why it’s called Pay-Per-Click or PPC advertising. It’s a method of purchasing website visits as compared to earning them organically. Although social media platforms also provide PPC possibilities, Google Ads remains the most used PPC platform. PPC is useful because it allows us to target based on behaviors, interests, and demographics, and provides instant traffic.
Affiliate Marketing Basics
Affiliate marketing basically means sharing a percentage of your sales to people or businesses who can make it happen for you. So you must have seen those YouTube videos where they promote some product and give you a coupon or a link to buy it from, that’s affiliate marketing. Finding the right people or business to work with is the key here as they will be increasing your reach. This is a performance-based marketing approach and is very effective in most cases.
Understanding Influencer Marketing
Let me take a moment to say this out loud “Influencers are bigger stars than ever now”, isn’t it? Influencers have a knack for creativity and they keep their audience engaged with posts/stories and whatnot. So with social media influencers, those having sizable followers, you can engage their audience by collaborating for product reviews, giveaways or simply posts/stories on their channel/account. Just make sure you choose the right influencer for your brand, the one who aligns with your services or products.
The Importance of Analytics in Digital Marketing
In digital marketing, data analytics is essential for tracking and reviewing your efforts’ impact. Website traffic, conversion rates, and engagement levels are important metrics to monitor. Tools like as Google Analytics offer insightful data that can assist you in improving your tactics and coming to data-driven judgments.
Mobile Marketing Strategies
Almost more than 90 percent of people use smartphones to access the internet, mobile marketing is the most important point to take seriously today. Among the boxes to be checked are using mobile-specific advertising channels, such as in-app or browser pop-up ads, creating content that is mobile-friendly, and mobile-optimized websites. Additionally, mobile apps, SMS marketing, and location-based services are instances of successful mobile marketing techniques.
Video Marketing
Video marketing as the name suggests is marketing/advertising via video content. A person might not be interested in reading a written ad or a photo that shows some info, but a video that keeps rolling will catch their eye for sure. A good video ad has more engagement than a static image according to multiple sources. Creating interesting, high-quality videos can increase conversions and help you connect with your audience even better. Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are great platforms for video marketing.
Local SEO
Optimizing your online presence to bring in more business from relevant local searches is the main goal of local SEO. This is especially important for physical businesses. Claim your Google My Business listing and make sure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information is correct and updated, with people leaving comments and ratings you will get more footfall with increasing local searches.
The Future of Digital Marketing
New trends and technology are always coming up resulting in an ever-changing environment for digital marketing. Staying updated with these changes is necessary for success. AI, AR/VR, Voice search are some examples of new areas of interest. Learning and implementing new strategies is part and parcel of being prepared for the future.
Conclusion
Understanding these essential digital marketing concepts is the first step toward building a successful online presence. In a detailed digital marketing plan, every idea is important. Try different techniques, ask for help from experts, read and understand case studies, look at the outcomes of your tests and that should give you an idea of what works for your brand/company. With time and experience becoming an expert in digital marketing is inevitable.
FAQs
Q. What should I prioritize in digital marketing best practices?
A. This can be different for everyone based on the goals, but generally, SEO is said to be the base of your digital success as it affects your visibility and traffic over the long run.
Q. How long does it take for digital marketing to show results?
A. With PPC campaigns or paid advertising we can get results within days, but with SEO and content marketing the process to grow visibility is slower, so it may take a couple of months.
Q. Can I learn digital marketing on my own?
A. Although you can learn concepts, it will not clear the bigger picture! Having someone to guide you and give you first-hand experience will be more beneficial.
Q. What tools should I learn to master digital marketing?
A. Tools Like Google Analytics, SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, and social media management tools like Hootsuite are some of many, alternative tools are also available so you may choose as per your liking and requirements.
Q. Are TV commercials also considered in digital marketing?
A. No, TV commercials are more of a traditional method, digital in itself says it needs some machine-readable data format that can be analyzed. TV commercial output is difficult to measure whereas any other digital marketing effort will have an attached measurable metric.
