Digital marketing is any form of marketing that exists online. This includes all channels that use the internet, such as websites, blogs, social media, email and search engines (SEO & PPC (Pay per click)).
Traditionally marketing has always been about connecting your product, service or an idea with an audience. While this principle still remains within digital marketing, what’s different is that digital methods allow you to access statistics and metrics about your marketing efforts. This includes everything from real-time users on your website, to how many people clicked your link on Google.
Whether you are new to digital marketing as a whole or are just looking to brush up your skills, it’s definitely information worth absorbing. Here’s our guide on everything you need to know about digital marketing.
Website
Remember the days of pamphlets, factsheets or Teletext? These days, your business offerings are normally presented on a website that you share with customers instead. A website is usually the most prominent piece of digital marketing a company can have. The purpose is to inform people about what you do, where you are based and if applicable, will also allow your customers to shop directly with you.
Considering it wasn’t so long ago you could only shop with a company or make inquiries in person or over the phone – websites have drastically changed the landscape of how we do business, as well as how we market our business too.
From the user experience to the content writing and images you use – this is all a part of your wider digital marketing strategy. If your web design is lacking, it’s worth calling in the professionals to take a look. A clear, informative and well-presented website will show your company off in the best light.
Social media
From Twitter to Tik Tok, Instagram to Facebook, LinkedIn to Pinterest – the world can’t get enough of social media. With over 3.48 billion users of social media, the potential for digital marketing across each of these platforms is astronomical.
Whether you plan a content schedule ahead of time in line with your wider business strategy, or post content ad-hoc, social media is an excellent way to connect with your customers. One of the best features is that every platform has analytical tools. In the case of paid ads (such as Facebook) going into ‘Ads Manager’ will give you an incredibly detailed breakdown of who has responded to your adverts – even telling you how many people have clicked on them!
Within your social media marketing, you can write messages and post images that are tailored to each platform. The messages can contain links to your products or services. You can also get creative with posts to engage followers, running polls or even competitions to build your audience.
Back in the day, letter writing was king of the marketing stakes. We know email has largely replaced how we communicate with words, but it’s not just casual conversations that have been transformed by its invention. Email marketing is huge business too, and something that all businesses should be using within their digital marketing strategy.
Did you know, that for every $1 (0.78p) spent on email marketing, $44 (£34.43) is generated? From welcome series emails to monthly newsletters, promotions and sales alerts – there are many versatile ways you can use email marketing to boost business, regardless of your industry or even company age.
Your email marketing works best when you use an inventive subject line, and keep the content relevant and on-brand. Be sure to always include a CTA so that your customers can follow up with you. For example, links to your social media, store or contact information to make a booking.
Search Engines
Whether you’re a fan of Google, Bing or even Ask Jeeves (amazingly that last one is still going!), you should know that 2.4 trillion searches are made on Google alone each year. Google also holds over 87% of web traffic at any one time.
Everything we want to know from directions to quiz answers can be found by accessing a search engine. What we also want to know is things such as ‘nearby plumbers’ or ‘restaurants still open’, and similar generic searches consumers are making every single day.
Why that concerns you as a business, is that search engines are vital to digital marketing. From SEO (search engine optimisation) directing people from their search to your website, to PPC (pay per click) advertising, displaying your business at the top of the results page.
Need a little help?
If you’re not familiar with digital marketing, it can be a lot to wrap your head around. What’s more, the health of your business may well depend on it. From email marketing to connect with customers on social media, not to mention having a user-friendly website – it’s all an important part of your digital marketing strategy.
Want to find out more? Here at Imaginaire, digital marketing is what we do best. Book in for your free consultation by clicking here, or give us a call on 0115 971 8908 to learn more.
