Marketing has been transformed by the internet. Discover how you can use digital marketing to kick-start your career.
Digital marketing, also known as "online marketing," is a type of advertising that connects with customers through the internet and digital technologies. Digital marketing tries to achieve the same goals as traditional marketing, but it does so through the use of computers, smartphones, and other digital devices rather than traditional media such as print, radio, or television.
Continue reading to learn more about digital marketing, its methodologies, and what a career in digital marketing entails.
What basically is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a type of marketing that connects with customers by utilizing the internet and digital technologies such as computers and smartphones. Its goal, like that of other forms of marketing, is to raise brand awareness, drive sales, and promote goods and services.
The exponential growth in internet users over the last two decades has resulted in a corresponding increase in digital marketing efforts. In fact, approximately 59 percent of the world's population is now online. The following figures from a January 2021 study demonstrate the global pervasiveness of digital technology.
As a result, advertisers have been allocating an increasing portion of their budget to digital marketing year after year. According to one study, while digital marketing budgets were routinely increasing by double digits, traditional marketing budgets were consistently decreasing by single digit percentages. As a result, digital marketing is a developing field with a growing impact.
Data is also important in digital marketing. Data allows marketers to target specific audiences by tailoring content to their preferred digital channels, in addition to collecting valuable information by tracking a customer's journey in real time. Starbucks, for example, has been known to use data collected from their rewards mobile apps to identify seasonal trends and create promotions tailored to their customer base.
There are five types of digital marketing (with examples)
Potential customers are reached out to by digital marketers via a variety of channels. The following digital marketing tactics, used by both small and large businesses, continue to be among the most popular and effective used today.
Optimization for search engines (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a technique for improving the ranking of online content on search engines like Google or Bing. If you've ever searched for something on Google, you've probably noticed that even the most basic search can produce millions of results. However, you are unlikely to read past the first few suggestions, let alone the next page.
In such a crowded marketplace, digital marketers rely on SEO to ensure that potential customers find their products or services online. Some common approaches to SEO include:
Creating high-quality content that satisfies searcher intent.
Using keywords to assist search engines in identifying relevant content.
Using long-tail keywords (specific phrases used by searchers) to assist content in reaching its intended audience,
ensuring that content loads quickly and is mobile device compatible
Marketing through content marketing is a strategy for connecting with a specific audience through the creation of unique content. Rather than focusing on sales, content marketing typically aims to increase brand awareness through material that appeals to a specific audience.
Blogs and articles that are informative,
Videos that are unique
Podcasts
Marketing via email.
Email marketing, as the name implies, uses email to reach customers. Marketers do this by sending out timely emails to large groups of people who have signed up for their contact list to promote sales, discounts, and new products or services.
The power of email marketing is undeniable. According to one July 2017 study, email marketing had a 124 percent return on investment (ROI). Another study conducted the same year discovered that 30% of marketers polled ranked email as having the highest ROI of all their marketing efforts.
Email marketing is commonly used in the following ways:
Emails sent at specific times of the year to raise brand awareness during the holiday season.
Send out email blasts informing recipients of upcoming sales events.
Emails that send personalized offers and messages to specific groups on an email list are known as targeted emails.
PPC (pay-per-click) marketing
Banner ads that appear on the sides or top of the page and flank web content
Ads on social media that appear in the feeds of specific audiences
Advertisements that appear when a specific keyword is entered into a search engine, such as Google.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a digital marketing model in which an advertiser pays a publisher each time one of their advertisements is clicked. The publisher is typically a website owner, search engine operator, or social network platform operator, such as Facebook or Instagram.
Typical PPC advertising examples include:
Banner ads that appear on the sides or top of the page and flank web content
Ads on social media that appear in the feeds of specific audiences
Advertisements that appear when a specific keyword is entered into a search engine, such as Google.
Marketing on social media.
Social media marketing is a type of digital marketing in which customers are reached through social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Social media marketing, a key component of modern digital marketing, combines the reach of social network platforms with data-driven efforts to reach out to specific consumers.
Because of the large number of active users on social media platforms, they are particularly appealing to marketers. According to one study published in January 2022, the number of active social network users is in the billions:
Facebook currently has 2.895 billion active users.
There are 2.291 billion active users on YouTube.
Instagram currently has 1.393 billion active users.
Whether through computers, mobile devices, or mobile apps, social media allows you to reach a large—and targeted—audience of potential customers.
Social media marketing examples include:
Videos shared on social media as part of a larger campaign, such as this 80s-themed music video created for the holidays by the peanut company Planters.
Instagram photos that reflect a brand's identity, such as Patagonia's nature-themed Instagram account.
Salary and job prospects in digital marketing.
Digital marketing is a burgeoning industry with a burgeoning impact. It not only consumes an increasing portion of marketers' budgets, but it also provides the opportunity to reach billions of people who use the internet today.
As a result, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that jobs for advertising, promotions, and marketing managers will increase by 10% between 2020 and 2030.
As of January 2022, Glassdoor estimates that the average annual salary for a digital marketer in the United States is $60,175. However, for digital marketing managers, who earn an average annual salary of $123,899, that salary more than doubles.
What is the best way to become a digital marketer?
In general, digital marketers require the services of a firm, must be well-versed in marketing, business, communications, and digital technologies. Many employers prefer candidates with a bachelor's degree in business or communications, though a degree isn't always required if you have the necessary skills. It may also be advantageous for candidates to have completed an internship while still in school.
You will need to create a portfolio that demonstrates your digital marketing abilities in addition to having the necessary credentials. The following are some skills you should highlight in your portfolio:
Marketing
Communication
Collaboration
Creativity
Making a decision
Data examination
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