As one of many forms of advertising, digital marketing has faced significant growth over the years. In 2020, it was calculated that digital advertising spendings worldwide amounted to $378.16 billion. This is an outstanding growth rate despite the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Because of that, most marketers and business owners need to shift and start considering the digital space if they want to stay competitive. If you are new to digital marketing, there might be many terms and concepts that confuse you.
However, digital marketing is not as complicated as you may expect. To help you understand how it all works, we will discuss six essential elements of digital marketing and how they can benefit your business.
1. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of adjusting your website and its content to match search engines’ preferences. Practicing SEO strategies on your website can help it rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Having your website rank higher in the SERPs is essential for your online business exposure because around 53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic searches.
Boosting your website’s exposure using SEO involves various methods and strategies.
Having an SEO-optimized domain name can also help your target audience to quickly identify what your business has to offer. So perform a domain name search before you make a purchase and choose one that reflects your business best.
There are also numerous tools, both free and premium, to help you maximize your SEO efforts, including Yoast SEO, Google Trends, and Ahrefs.
2. PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click or PPC advertising is a way to promote your business by displaying your advertisements on various online platforms. By using PPC, you pay a fee each time your ads get clicked. This might be the fastest and easiest way to drive traffic to your website, even though they are not considered organic.
There are many PPC advertising platforms available, but Google Ads may be the most popular one. It uses an ad auction system, which means simply paying higher fees does not guarantee your ads will get more clicks.
PPC advertising comes in various forms, including search ads, display ads, social ads, and in-stream ads. Since each ad type works differently, it is important to research which type of ad best suits your product or service.
3. Email Marketing
Unlike other entries in this article, email marketing is not the primary tool to generate new leads for your business. Instead, it is used as a way to maintain communication with your existing customers.
Since this group of customers already purchased your product and trusted their email addresses to you, they are more likely to make another transaction. Email marketing can help you maintain this relationship by providing helpful information, like weekly newsletters and promotional offers.
There are several recommended tools to help you manage your email marketing, including, ActiveCampaign, and HubSpot.
4. Website Marketing
Having a business website is a must if you want to boost your online presence. Around 79% of entrepreneurs with a business website expect to grow at least 25% in the next three to five years, compared to those without a site.
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A good website can influence potential customers’ decisions to purchase your product. Including essential information about your business on a website makes it easier for customers to trust you, as your brand seems more credible and professional.
To achieve this, make sure your website provides the best user experience. Pay attention to its performance, overall design, and responsiveness. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Mobile-Friendly Test to ensure your website’s quality and performance.
5. Content Marketing
Another way to promote your business is by providing helpful content for your audience. Roughly 60% of marketers stated that content marketing is very important or extremely important to their overall marketing strategy.
By constantly producing relevant and valuable content for your target audience, your brand may gain credibility and trust. Creating content for your marketing efforts also requires little-to-no costs, making it a great choice, especially if you are low on budget.
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Content marketing comes in various forms, including blog posts, videos, podcasts, and ebooks.
To create relevant content, try to understand the market and audiences’ characteristics. Take your time to analyze your competitors and see what type of content works best for them. Use web analytics tools or provide questionnaires and surveys to your target audience to get to know them better.
6. Social Media Marketing
In today’s digital marketing ecosystem, social media is one of the largest platforms. In 2020, the number of social media users worldwide reached around 3.6 billion and is projected to increase up to 4.41 billion in 2025.
As a marketer, using social media in your digital marketing strategy can be a great idea. It offers easier ways to connect and engage with your target audience. Other tasks such as checking trends and keyword research are also integrated within their system.
Most platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, allow users to create business accounts with specific features to enhance their online presence. These platforms also provide an intuitive and robust advertising system to help you promote your content easily.
Conclusion
With the rapid growth of technology and the digital ecosystem, businesses need to adapt and utilize various digital platforms to promote their brands. Digital marketing includes several methods, each of them requiring different techniques and approaches.
In this article, we have learned about six effective ways to conduct a successful digital marketing campaign. These methods include:
- Search engine optimization
- PPC advertising
- Email marketing
- Website marketing
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
Understanding different types of digital marketing strategies can help you engage your target audience, build credibility, and eventually increase sales and profits. So take your time to practice each digital marketing strategy presented in this article, and hopefully, you’ll see positive results for your business in no time.