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Digital Marketing

Digital marketing has become one of the most popular forms of marketing in recent years. As more and more people have access to digital devices, marketing through digital platforms is a must for all businesses. Let's take a look at how companies can use digital marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness and influence customer purchase decisions.

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Digital Marketing

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Digital marketing has become one of the most popular forms of marketing in recent years. As more and more people have access to digital devices, marketing through digital platforms is a must for all businesses. Let's take a look at how companies can use digital marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness and influence customer purchase decisions.

Digital Marketing Definition

First, let's examine the definition of digital marketing.

Digital marketing is the act of promoting a product or service using the Internet and digital media.

The rise of digital marketing not only brings changes to how market research is carried out but also influences the marketing mix:

  • Data: The Internet allows businesses to gather information about their customers quickly.

eCommerce websites can observe past shopping behavior to recommend similar items customers are likely to purchase.

Platforms like Youtube and Facebook can track your activities and provide advertisers with data to create customized ads.

  • Price: Thanks to the Internet, businesses can adjust prices based on the time of order or user history. This ability to change prices according to various factors is called dynamic pricing. One typical example is when buying a flight ticket. You'll see an increase in the price by visiting a site too many times.

  • Promotion: The Internet also affects the way products and services are promoted. For example, content marketing and social media marketing are common ways businesses attract customers on the web. Digital marketing also makes it possible for companies to target specific segments and involve customers in the marketing process (for example, through product reviews or social media marketing).

  • Distribution: Companies in the digital age don't need a physical presence to operate. An entrepreneur can easily set up an eCommerce store on platforms such as Shopify and Etsy to distribute all sorts of products. The Internet allows businesses to sell directly to customers instead of via an intermediary.

  • Product: Many products today only exist in digital forms, such as ebooks, online courses, newsletters, etc. They can be downloaded directly from the web rather than collected from a physical store.

  • People: While the Internet has grown significantly, it hasn't been able to replace humans in customer service and personal selling. However, it provides customers access to sales representatives and support teams anytime, anywhere.

  • Process: The buying process can take place more smoothly on digital channels than brick-and-mortar stores. With a few clicks, people can locate an item they need on an online store and make instant payment with a card.

  • Physical appearance: Physical appearance, in the literal sense, physical appearance is no longer required to establish a business. Most businesses nowadays would instead invest in web design to increase customer experience on the web.

Types of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a big umbrella term that can be split into several sub-categories. These categories are the different types of digital marketing.

Digital Marketing: Search engine optimization (SEO)

The goal of SEO is to drive organic traffic to the company's website and transform that traffic into potential sales.

SEO is the combination of all activities to help a site rank higher on a search engine.

SEO practices are grouped into two categories:

  • On-page SEO includes activities that focus on improving on-page elements of a site, such as keywords, internal links, page speed, and images.

  • Off-page SEO includes activities that happen "off the page" to improve a site's ranking. For example, you can write guest posts, build backlinks, and create social media posts to drive traffic to your website.

Check out our explanation of SEO marketing to find out more.

Digital Marketing: Paid search

Paid search involves paying the search engine for ad space on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

These ads often work on a PPC (Pay per click) basis where you only pay when people click on your ads. You can find info on a keyword's competition level and pricing via SEO tools such as Ubersuggest, Moz, or SEMRush.

Digital Marketing: Content marketing

Content marketing is creating and sharing online materials (such as articles, videos, infographics, social media posts, podcasts, etc.) to attract, engage, and retain an audience. This strategy's key is delivering the right content at each stage of customer awareness.

Take a look at our content marketing explanation to find out more.

Digital Marketing: Social media marketing

You might already be familiar with social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok.

Social media marketing refers to the act of promoting a product or service using social media platforms.

Companies engage with various audiences on social media, including potential customers, journalists, employees, influencers, and the general public. One common aim of social media marketing is encouraging user-generated content such as product reviews or comments.

You can find more details in our explanation of social media marketing.

Digital Marketing: Email marketing

If you've ever provided your email address to a company or brand, in-store or online, you have engaged with email marketing.

Email marketing involves informing customers of a business's products and services via email.

It is also an important activity to nurture leads and generate sales. One example of an email marketing campaign is to send a weekly newsletter to inform your audience of the latest industry news. This allows your brand to establish itself as a trusty source of information and encourage people to do business with you in the future.

Digital Marketing: Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a form of advertising whereby companies pay others to promote their products or services.

It can range across many industries and product types. One example is bloggers who review Amazon books with an affiliate link for people to buy. The affiliate marketer earns a commission when someone purchases the book through the link.

Digital Marketing: Mobile marketing

With mobile making up more than 50% of total web traffic, mobile marketing has grown to be an indispensable part of all digital marketing strategies.

Mobile marketing includes reaching the audience on smartphones through emails, SMS, websites, and social media.

Digital Marketing Tools

There are a variety of tools digital marketers may use to facilitate the marketing process. Digital marketing tools can be divided into following categories:

  • Social media marketing tools
  • Email marketing tools
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools
  • Conversion optimization tools
  • Graphic creation tools

Most of these tools help businesses automate their marketing processes.

Marketing automation involves using automated technology to streamline your marketing activities and make them more effective.

Digital Marketing Strategies

As with traditional marketing, marketers have to develop digital marketing strategies.

A digital marketing strategy is a set of planned actions to help your business reach its goals.

Figure 6 below illustrates the six steps of developing a digital marketing strategy:

1. Research and define goals

2. Collect customer information

3. Create leads

4. Nurture leads

5. Retain existing customers

6. Build marketing automation

Step 1: Research and define goals

This step includes researching your competitors and collecting customer feedback to identify your business' online position. Once the research is gathered, the next step is to set a goal to help you realize your digital marketing goals.

You can increase your website's SEO ranking by setting goals such as creating quality content, building quality backlinks from authoritative websites, and improving page speed.

Step 2: Collect customer information

The next step is to collect data about your target groups. Marketers can do this by creating a buyer persona, including your customer's preferences and behaviors online. A tool like Google Analytics can help you collect real-time customer data and create more relevant content marketing campaigns.

Step 3: Create leads

This step is about collecting your audience's personal data for future contacts. The most common way to generate leads for websites is to give away free ebooks or coupons in exchange for customer emails. Other popular methods include target ads display, search engine optimization, social media, and influencer marketing.

Step 4: Nurture leads

Once the leads are generated, the next step is nurturing those leads into long-term relationships and potential customers. How can this be done? The best practice is to educate your customers about your business and service in a "non-salesy" way. In other words, to add value to their life.

One example of nurturing leads is to develop an email course to help people solve a nagging problem or keep them informed of industry news.

Step 5: Retain existing customers

In the long run, marketing should turn one-time buyers into loyal customers. Once you have convinced the hard-earned lead to make a purchase, it shouldn't be the end of the relationship. Try to turn them into repeat buyers with smart customer retention campaigns.

Some ways to nurture relationships with existing customers include:

  • Send a thank you note

  • Ask for feedback

  • Develop customer loyalty programs

  • Cross-sell related products through email newsletters

  • Disclose your plan for future product development.

Step 6: Build marketing automation

You don't have to do the same thing over and over time. Technology makes it easy to automate workflow so you can focus on more critical tasks.

Set up an onboarding email automation and chatbox to answer your customers' FAQs.

What is the job of a digital marketing agency?

If you don't want to conduct digital marketing on your own, one alternative is to outsource it to a digital marketing agency. Most agencies are well-versed in industry know-how, the latest trends, tools, and strategies. They can help to drive organic traffic, expand business reach, and generate sales with little effort on your side. You may choose a full-service agency that performs A to Z digital marketing campaigns or a specialized agency for one digital marketing area (inbound marketing, SEO, email, social media, or content marketing).

Digital Marketing Examples

Before you head off, let's take a quick look at a digital marketing example through the company ASOS.

Digital Marketing Digital marketing to boost engagement StudySmarterFig. 7 - Digital Marketing Analytics Example

ASOS uses a variety of digital marketing techniques to increase engagement and awareness and convince consumers to purchase its products. Some of the digital strategies ASOS follows are:

  • Mobile marketing by sending customers who have downloaded the app notifications anytime there is a sale or a limited-time-only event.

  • An online blog and style feed that increases its SEO traffic.

  • The company has amassed millions of followers on its social media pages, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, creating high engagement rates with customers. ASOS also advertises its products heavily on paid social media platforms.

Due to such digital strategies, the company has become one of the largest online fashion retailers in the world.

Digital Marketing - Key takeaways

  • Digital marketing includes promoting a product or service using the Internet and digital media.
  • Some types of digital marketing are SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, paid search, mobile marketing, and marketing automation.

  • A digital marketing strategy is a set of planned actions to help a company improve its online presence. The strategy is split into six steps: research and define goals, collect data about the target audience, generate leads, nurture leads, retain existing customers, and set up automation.

  • Companies can either conduct digital marketing on their own or resource it to a digital marketing agency.

Frequently Asked Questions about Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the act of promoting a product or service using the Internet and digital media.

An example of digital marketing can be observed through eCommerce websites. eCommerce websites can observe past shopping behavior to recommend similar items customers are likely to purchase. 

There are many types of digital marketing. Digital marketing is a big umbrella term that can be split into several sub-categories including SEO, paid search, content, social media, email, affiliate, and mobile marketing. 

The 4Ps of digital marketing are people, platforms, processes, and performance. These four Ps allow digital marketers to cater their strategies to customers online more effectively, in a more customized manner, than through the traditional 4Ps of marketing.

Digital marketing has become one of the most popular forms of marketing in recent years. As more and more people have access to digital devices, marketing through digital platforms is a essential for all businesses.

Final Digital Marketing Quiz

Digital Marketing Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

Digital marketing is the act of promoting a product or service using...

Show answer

Answer

the Internet and digital media

Show question

Question

Digital marketing can influence the marketing mix strategy. 

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Question

Give an example of digital marketing influencing a product's price. 

Show answer

Answer

When buying a flight ticket, visit a site too many times and you'll see an increase in the price. This phenomenon is called dynamic pricing. 

Show question

Question

Digital marketing allows companies to sell their products without a physical presence.

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Question

Give an example of digital marketing simplifying the process of buying. 

Show answer

Answer

With a few clicks, people can locate an item they need on an online store and make instant payment with a card.

Show question

Question

Name some types of digital marketing

Show answer

Answer

  • Search engine optimisation
  • Paid search
  • Content marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Affiliate marketing

Show question

Question

Search engine optimisation includes all activities that help a site rank higher on a...

Show answer

Answer

search engine. 

Show question

Question

What is the main difference between Search engine optimisation (SEO) and paid search?

Show answer

Answer

SEO is free whereas paid search takes fees from advertisers. 

Show question

Question

What are some forms of content marketing?

Show answer

Answer

  • Online articles
  • Video
  • Infographics
  • Social media posts
  • Podcasts

Show question

Question

What types of content does social media marketing encourage?

Show answer

Answer

user-generated content such as product reviews and comments. 

Show question

Question

Give an example of an email marketing campaign

Show answer

Answer

A company sends a weekly newsletter to keep the customers updated with the latest industry news. 

Show question

Question

Mobile marketing is becoming more and more popular in the digital age. 

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Question

What are the steps to create a digital marketing strategy?

Show answer

Answer

1. Research and define goals

2. Collect customer information

3. Create leads

4. Nurture leads

5. Retain existing customers

6. Build marketing automation

Show question

Question

Nurturing leads means...

Show answer

Answer

developing a long-term relationship with existing and potential customers. 

Show question

Question

What are some ways to retain existing customers?

Show answer

Answer

  • Send a thank-you note

  • Ask for product feedback

  • Develop customer loyalty programs

  • Cross-sell related products through email newsletters

Show question

Question

Keywords, internal links, page speed, and images are elements of ...

Show answer

Answer

on-page SEO

Show question

Question

Writing guest posts, building backlinks, and creating social media posts are activities of ...


Show answer

Answer

on-page SEO

Show question

Question

Define marketing automation

Show answer

Answer

Marketing automation is the use of automated technology to streamline your marketing activities and make them more effective.

Show question

Question

Mobile marketing is the technique of reaching the audience on smartphones, through the use of ...


Show answer

Answer

emails, SMS, websites, and social media 

Show question

Question

Give an example of marketing automation

Show answer

Answer

Set up an onboarding email automation and chatbox to answer your customers' FQAs.

Show question

Question

What is the main job of a digital marketing agency?

Show answer

Answer

A digital marketing agency helps a company to conduct digital marketing campaigns so as to drive traffic, expand business reach and generate sales. 

Show question

Question

Companies can either conduct digital marketing on their own or resource it to a digital marketing agency.

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Question

What is the function of data in digital marketing?

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Answer

Data helps companies to analyze customer behavior and make product recommendations that match customers' needs and want. 

Show question

Question

Can you give examples of product that exists only in digital forms?

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Answer

ebook, online courses, printables, etc.

Show question

Question

Define content marketing. 

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Answer

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach of producing quality, relevant, and consistent content to attract, engage, and retain customers. 

Show question

Question

Content marketing allows brands to focus on the specific needs of the target audience and provide them with ________ solutions.

Show answer

Answer

Tailored

Show question

Question

__________ enables brands to retain existing customers and convert potential customers into new ones.

Show answer

Answer

Content marketing

Show question

Question

Marketers use content marketing to deliver value and increase the _____.

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Answer

ROI

Show question

Question

Content marketing helps brands to align their messages with the needs of the target audience.

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Answer

True

Show question

Question

Why is content marketing strategy required? 

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Answer

A business needs a content marketing strategy to plan, execute, and evaluate content marketing activities.

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Question

__________ provides a framework for content creation

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Answer

Content marketing strategy

Show question

Question

Marketers create videos, audio, and textual content by implementing the content marketing strategy.

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Answer

True

Show question

Question

What are the advantages of content marketing? 

Show answer

Answer

Quality on-site content

Show question

Question

Why do brands use consumer insights? 

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Answer

Brands use insights to match the content with the needs of consumers.

Show question

Question

Content marketing helps brands with SEO. 

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Question

Blog posts, infographics, and videos are some of the types of content marketing. 

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Answer

True

Show question

Question

What is a blog post? 

Show answer

Answer

 A blog post is a part of a website where marketers regularly provide relevant content to customers.

Show question

Question

What is the full form of SEO? 

Show answer

Answer

Search Engine Optimization 

Show question

Question

Content marketing helps a brand create a strong relationship with its customers. 

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Answer

True

Show question

Question

Inbound marketing is used to pull potential customers to the business's offerings. 

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Answer

True

Show question

Question

Define inbound marketing. 

Show answer

Answer

Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that businesses use to create content via their website, SEO, and social media channels to pull potential customers toward the business offerings. 

Show question

Question

Inbound marketing is an optimized ________ that focuses on drawing customers towards a business by providing solutions to their problems

Show answer

Answer

Marketing strategy

Show question

Question

_________ helps brands produce content on the digital channels of a business that matches the needs of potential customers and focuses on long-term customer relationships. 


Show answer

Answer

Inbound marketing 

Show question

Question

Inbound marketing is an approach that focuses on solving the problems of customers. 

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Answer

True

Show question

Question

What is the difference between Inbound and Outbound marketing? 

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Answer

Inbound marketing activities focus on drawing customers in towards the business offerings. Whereas outbound marketing activities focus on reaching out to customers. 

Show question

Question

Define outbound marketing. 

Show answer

Answer

Outbound marketing involves reaching out to the audience to evoke their interest in a certain product/service. 

Show question

Question

Marketers use targeted messaging in _______. 

Show answer

Answer

Inbound Marketing 

Show question

Question

In _________, content is used to target a wider audience. 

Show answer

Answer

outbound marketing 

Show question

Question

_______ focuses on interactive form of communication. 

Show answer

Answer

Inbound marketing

Show question

Question

Inbound marketing is a low-cost strategy to implement compared to outbound marketing. 

Show answer

Answer

True

Show question

Test your knowledge with multiple choice flashcards

Digital marketing can influence the marketing mix strategy. 

Digital marketing allows companies to sell their products without a physical presence.

Mobile marketing is becoming more and more popular in the digital age. 

Next

Flashcards in Digital Marketing104

Start learning

Digital marketing is the act of promoting a product or service using...

the Internet and digital media

Digital marketing can influence the marketing mix strategy. 

True

Give an example of digital marketing influencing a product's price. 

When buying a flight ticket, visit a site too many times and you'll see an increase in the price. This phenomenon is called dynamic pricing. 

Digital marketing allows companies to sell their products without a physical presence.

True

Give an example of digital marketing simplifying the process of buying. 

With a few clicks, people can locate an item they need on an online store and make instant payment with a card.

Name some types of digital marketing

  • Search engine optimisation
  • Paid search
  • Content marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Affiliate marketing

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