The marketing part of digital marketing simply is the process of promotional messaging for the purpose of selling a service or product, including advertising and market research. Digital refers to anything regarding technology. So putting that together, digital marketing is the function of promoting and selling products or services using technology.
Why is digital marketing growing?
Digital marketing is a relatively new field but many businesses world wide are already using it. Why? The use of digital marketing is growing due to the rapid growth of technology. Digital marketing will continue to evolve as long as technology continues to evolve. Digital marketing also has advantages compared to traditional marketing. Methods of traditional marketing are newspapers, billboards, posters, brochures, etc. Methods of digital marketing are social media, websites, etc. Generally traditional marketing can only reach a local audience. Results of traditional marketing can also not be properly measured or analysed which can skew a businesses market strategy. Traditional marketing is also generally more costly. The use of digital marketing has allowed many producers to reach a wide range of audience consumers. Statistics show that millennials are the largest group of consumers online and they spend approximately 18 hours a day consuming media.
Why is digital marketing important for businesses?
The internet has enabled businesses to have direct contact with audiences. This is something that Tradition media did not allow. It allows the business to target ideal and targeted audiences. A good digital marketing strategy should cater to the audience’s preferences.Digital marketing is also the best cost-effective method. Digital marketing is suitable for any business that is any size. This type of marketing allows for smaller businesses to be more competitive. Results of digital marketing can allow businesses to examine customer behavior to certain products and adjust a product.Measuring digital analytics helps companies make informed decisions about where to invest their resources, improving efficiency.
Types of Digital Marketing
A major type of digital marketing is search engine optimisation, otherwise known as SEO. SERPs or search engine results pages appear to users after they search for a given set of keywords using a search engine like Google or Bing. The higher you rank on a SERP, the more traffic is directed to your site and the more chances of making a passive visitor an active customer. Another Major one is Search Engine Marketing, otherwise known as SEM. With SEM you purchase advertisement space that appears on a user’s SERP. The last major marketing technique is Social Media Marketing. The rise of Social media platforms has created a rise in this marketing technique. Businesses use a social media platform to directly engage with an audience. Some other honorary mentions are Email marketing, Viral marketing, Affiliate marketing, Influencer marketing, Content marketing, and Pay-per Click marketing.