Orji-Oko UzorIntroduction
What if I told you that the number of internet users are on the increase, would you believe me?
Pew Research has it that in the last three years, the constant internet users among adults increased by 5%. Although, the manner and way people shop and buy has changed alongside with it. This shows that offline marketing isn’t as effective as it used to be.
Right from time, marketing has to do with connecting with your target market in the right place and at the right time. Nowadays, it means you have to meet them where they are already spending their time. That’s on the internet.
In other words, digital marketing is any marketing that’s done online.
Here in Urbizboost, we get a lot of questions about digital marketing from people all around the world. So, this article is written to answer these questions. Keep reading to see the questions asked about digital marketing are answered.
- What is digital marketing?
- Who is a digital marketer?
- What does a digital marketer do?
- What types of digital content should I create?
- Is digital marketing a good career in 2020?
- Which field is the best in digital marketing?
- Does digital marketing work for all businesses?
- Conclusion
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a type of marketing that makes use of Internet, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other channels to reach customers. Many marketing experts do consider digital marketing as an entirely new endeavor. Making use of a new way of approaching customers and new ways of understanding how customers behave. This helps to show how digital marketing works.
ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=onyx7790e-20&marketplace=amazon®ion=US&placement=B08NDVJWR1&asins=B08NDVJWR1&linkId=f1d48d23dac4784084c43d43eddb6d66&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066C0&bg_color=FFFFFFSome of the digital marketing assets and strategies businesses use to reach people online include:
Digital Marketing Assets
Anything can be a digital marketing asset. It just simply needs to be a marketing tool you use online. Some people fail to realize how many digital marketing assets at their disposal. And how digital marketing works. Here are just a few examples:
- Website
- Branded assets (logos, icons, acronyms, etc)
- Video content (video ads, product demos, etc)
- Images (infographics, product shots, company photos, etc)
- Written contents
- Online products or tools
- Reviews
- Social media pages
Most digital marketing assets do fall into one of these categories. That’s why some clever marketers are constantly coming up with new ways to reach customers online.
Digital Marketing Strategies
The list of digital marketing strategies is equally constantly evolving. Here are some of the strategies most businesses use:
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a term covering any type of digital marketing where you pay for every user who clicks on an ad.
Paid Search Advertising
Google, Bing and Yahoo allows text ads on their Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Paid search advertising is one of the best ways in targeting potential customers who are actively online to search for a product or service like yours.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is use to try and rank pages or blog posts on your site organically.
Paid Social Media Advertising
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Snapchat allows you to run ads on their sites. It’s great for building awareness with audiences that might not be aware that your business, product or service exists.
Social Media Marketing
SM marketing is a free, organic way in using social media platforms to market your business.
Content Marketing
A type of marketing, used in covering any digital marketing effort that uses content assets. Like blog posts, infographics, eBooks, videos, etc in building brand awareness or drive clicks, leads or sales.
Native Advertising
In most articles, native advertising falls under content marketing because it uses content to attract clicks.
Email Marketing
It is the oldest form of online marketing and still going strong. Most digital marketers are using email marketing to advertise special deals, highlight content, or to promote an event.
Affiliate Marketing
This is basically paying someone else to promote your products and services on their website.
Who is a digital marketer?
A digital marketer is the one responsible for using digital channels to generate leads and build brand awareness for a business. The digital channels include:
- Company websites
- Social media
- Search engine rankings
- Email marketing
- Online display ads
- Corporate blogs
Beyond this, he uses measurable analytics in identifying weaknesses. And to find ways to improve performance across these channels. In this particular role, you can equally be in control for all aspects of a company’s digital strategy or still, focus on one.
It is understood that smaller companies tend to have one general specialist or manager. While corporations do spread these responsibilities around to an entire team.
What does a digital marketer do?
Digital marketing doesn’t only deals with marketing online. But it incorporates the use of wireless media as well. A good digital marketer works coherently with the members of the marketing team and make sure all online activities complement offline efforts, showing how digital marketing works.
A good digital marketer handles the following key responsibilities:
Website Design and Development: He will coordinate the design and functionality of a company website. Equally working together with web developers and web designers and thus coordinating the process.
Content Strategy: Together with the design and functionality of the company website. A digital marketer has the responsibility for all website content. Creating and implementing the content strategy to make sure that the online objectives are met.
SEO and SEM: He is responsible for ensuring that the website is easily found by the target market or customers. To optimise website structure and content for search engines (SEO) and the use of paid online advertising (SEM) are two ways a digital marketer helps to drive relevant traffic to their website.
E-Commerce: Here, a digital marketer is saddled with the responsibility of converting website visits into online sales. This is mostly achieved by making the online shopping experience an easy one and by introducing special deals.
Social Networking: He may has the responsibility to manage the online presence and brand of a company. Social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ allow businesses to engage with their customers in real time.
What types of digital content should I create?
The kind of content created, depends on the needs of your audience at different stages in the buyer’s journey. You need to start to create buyer personas (use these free templates, or try makemypersona.com).
Identify the goals and challenges of the audience in relation to your business. On a simple level, your online content should aim to help them meet these goals and overcome their challenges.
Then, think about when they’re most likely to be ready to consume this content in relation to what stage they’re at in their buyer’s journey. This stage is called content mapping.
With this content mapping, the goal is targeting content according to:
- The person characteristics of who will be consuming it (this is where buyer personas come in).
- How close is the person in making a purchase (i.e., their lifecycle stage).
- In relation to the format of your content, there are whole lot of different things to try. Here are some options recommended at each stage of the buyer’s journey:
Awareness Stage
Blog posts. Great for increasing your organic traffic when is paired with a strong SEO and keyword strategy.
Infographics. Very shareable, this means they increase your chances of being found via social media when others share your content. (Check out these free infographic templates to get you started.)
Short videos. Again, these can be shared and will help your brand get found by new audiences by hosting them on platforms like YouTube.
Consideration Stage
Ebooks. Great for getting lead generation as they’re generally more complete than a blog post or infographic. This means someone will be more likely to exchange their contact information to receive it.
Research reports. Again, a high value content piece which is powerful for lead generation. It can also work for the awareness stage though, as they’re frequently picked-up by the media or industry press.
Webinars. An interactive form of video content. Webinars are an effective stage content format as that offers more comprehensive content than a blog post or short video.
Decision Stage
Case studies. Having a detailed case study on your website can be an effective form of content for those who are ready to make a purchasing decision. It helps you influence their decision positively.
Testimonials. Probably case studies aren’t a good fit for your business. Having short testimonials on your website is a very good alternative. For B2C brands, think of testimonials in a more loosely way. Probably you’re a clothing brand, it will take the form of photos of how other people styled a shirt or dress. It’s pulled from a branded hashtag where people can contribute.
Is digital marketing a good career in 2020?
Digital marketing has long taken over, and no one can question it. Modern day customers have become extremely dependent on online platforms to solve different needs.
Electronic devices’ availability and the dependence on the internet have contributed to this phenomenon. Is either a land owner is listing a property on a site. Or a student is researching material for their school project. Online resources have become almost indispensable.
Digital marketing has made things possible in many ways. The importance of digital marketing and how digital marketing works has opened numerous doors for individuals. With the great intentions of pursuing careers in the field. As the importance of online media grows, so does that of digital marketing.
In 2015, digital marketers were the most hired persons by companies according to Smart Insights. This year 2020, experts in this area are one of the most influential and with a good reason. Before evaluating the future of digital marketing, though, it’s important to equally know how digital marketing works.
Why a Career in 2020 in Digital Marketing
The advantages of one working in a digital marketing offer and the impact of covid 19 pandemic on the world’s economy. Are some of the reasons why more people joined the field professionally this 2020. For one, the industry is incorporating skills in marketing and technology. To advertise for an online media mean having to work in a particular technical aspects such as website development or graphics design. There is room for someone without a degree in marketing to capitalize on their skills.
Working in the digital marketing world means working a fast-paced environment where something new is just beyond the horizon. An individual working with SEO, for instance, has to keep up with algorithm updates to search engines all the time.
With all these, experts seem to have a busy schedule in the field. And for anyone who is fond of an active career with tasks of changing phases every few weeks, digital marketing offers all of it.
Unlike traditional professions, it is very possible to kick-start your digital career individually. But understanding how the industry work. And gaining the right exposure online is the least it takes to begin your career as a professional digital marketer.
Actually, a lot of digital marketing experts work online, creating room to focus on marketing oneself.
Another reason the field is among the top careers in 2020, is its versatility. Professionals can specialize in several areas, depending on the passion and skills the individual possesses. As the industry continues to grow, more alternatives present themselves. This makes the field an even more exciting career move. Actually, these choices are available for aspiring digital marketing professionals.
Which field is the best in digital marketing?
Research has it that digital marketing is one of the most lucrative industries in the modern world presently.
With your laptop and a good internet connection. There is no limit to what you can achieve and how much money you can earn through digital marketing.
The results speak for themselves.
Within a matter of hours, you will be able to reach million of people with your product. That’s how digital marketing works. This places digital marketing skills in high demand for businesses of all shapes and sizes inrespective of location.
It’s only entrepreneurs who need the services of digital marketer. With the right digital marketing skill set, you can establish yourself as one of the most important members of a company within a very short period of time.
Irrespective of where you work, in an established business, a startup, or as a solopreneur. Digital marketing skills are totally relevant. Sure, no man can master every aspect of digital marketing. This means it is too big to accommodate many people.
Fortunately, there are many sub-skills in the digital marketing world. Is left for you to decide where you want and go deep in it.
Being more more creative or analytical, a team player or a lone wolf, it doesn’t matter. What matters, there are jobs within digital marketing for you.
The list of most in demand digital marketing skills. Is entirely on you to choose one and make your best field in digital marketing works:
- SEO specialist
- mobile marketing
- Email marketing
- analytics
- Social media expert
- Content management/marketing
- PPC executive/specialist
- Marketing automation
- UX design
Does digital marketing work for all businesses?
Digital marketing can easily used for any business in any industry. No matter what your company sells, digital marketing will involve building and branding the buyer personas to identify your customer’s needs. And creating valuable online content. Although, this is not to say all businesses should implement a digital marketing strategy in the same way.
B2B Digital Marketing
Probably your company is business-to-business (B2B). Your digital marketing efforts will likely center around online lead generation. With the end goal of someone (potential customer) speaking with a salesperson. For this reason, the role of your marketing strategy is attracting and converting the highest quality leads for your salespeople via your website.
Beyond your website, you may decide to concentrate your whole efforts on business-focused channels like LinkedIn. This is where your demographic spend their time online.
B2C Digital Marketing
When your company is business-to-consumer (B2C), it depends on the price point of your products. Probably the goal of your digital marketing efforts is to magnet people to your website. And at the same time make them become customers without even speaking to a salesperson.
This is the reason, you’ll probably focus on ‘leads’ in their traditional sense. Likely to concentrate on building an accelerated buyer’s journey. Starting from the moment someone lands on your website, to the point they make a purchase. This often means that your product features in your content higher up in the marketing funnel than it might for a B2B business. Using stronger calls-to-action (CTAs) matters a lot.
For B2C companies, channels like Instagram and Pinterest might be more valuable than business-focused platforms LinkedIn. This certainly shows you how digital marketing works.
Conclusion
As a modern freelancer or entrepreneur, digital marketing is one of the best industries to be involved in. All you need is learn how to cultivate marketable skills. Certainly there is no limit to how much you can earn and grow.
You can run your own business, and still freelance for variety of clients. Or just look for a stable job with one company as a digital marketer.
It is one of the most lucrative and important skills you can acquire for yourself. So, step out of your comfort zone and learn as much as you can. Develop one of digital marketing skills, and your business and life will never be the same.