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Digital marketing has revolutionized the way businesses engage and communicate with potential customers for their products and services. That said, it can still be difficult to determine which digital strategies work in this rapidly evolving digital age.
Forbes Advisor India has put together a detailed guide that will tell you everything you need to consider to develop successful digital marketing strategies for your business. As you continue reading this article, you'll learn what digital marketing is, what types and methods work best, and examples that have delivered incredible results.
Digital marketing has revolutionized the way businesses engage and communicate with potential customers for their products and services. Learn more about the types that work best.
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characteristics
Keyword research, location tracking, website auditing, traffic analysis and more.
Monthly and annual plans
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50+ tools for SEO and PPC professionals, marketers and large digital companies.
Analyze websites and keywords, create content, check backlinks, find on-page SEO issues, group multiple keywords and monitor rankings daily.
Monthly and annual plans
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What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing, sometimes called online marketing or internet marketing, is a means of communicating with potential customers using digital technology. The main purpose of digital marketing is to generate interest and sales for products and services.
You can conduct digital marketing activities online on any connected device using a variety of communication methods, including text messaging, email, online advertising, and social media.
Why is digital marketing important in 2024?
Traditional marketing channels such as television, radio and newspapers are still intact, but no longer dominate the large audiences they once had. In order to be successful in marketing, you need to focus on your target audience and therefore your market, and today people are online.
According to Statista, there are over 1.2 billion internet users in India and this number is growing. As the use of digital technology increases, so do the opportunities for digital marketing. But digital marketing is important not only because the use of the Internet is widespread; This is important because digital marketing strategies deliver unparalleled results.
In a recent Nielsen marketer survey, 62% of participants said their digital social media marketing spend was very or very effective for them. Search engine marketing and display marketing scored high and highly effective on web and mobile, respectively, at 57%, while online video and mobile scored 58%.
What is a digital marketing strategy?
A marketing plan is a roadmap for how you will use marketing to achieve the goals and objectives outlined in your company's business plan. A digital marketing strategy describes how you use technology and digital communications to reach your target audience and convert them into customers.
The best digital marketing strategists use a variety of digital processes. Digital advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, content marketing, and email marketing are some of the digital hacks that work together for exceptional results. Your digital strategy should define which tools you want to choose and how you want to use them for your business.
Types of digital marketing
Multimedia marketing
If you look at social media statistics, the number of current and potential social media users is enormous. 4.9 billion people worldwide use social networks, and experts predict that number will rise to 5.9 billion by 2027.
In 2023, Facebook will continue to dominate with 2.9 billion active users worldwide, followed by YouTube with 2.5 billion, WhatsApp with 2 billion and Instagram with 2 billion. LinkedIn has more than 900 million users worldwide, and TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter and Pinterest have 450 million active users. Clearly, this large audience presents tremendous opportunities for marketers.
A major advantage of social media marketing is that it doesn't have to be ineffective. All digital marketing platforms allow you to create an account for free so you can share content instantly, even if you want to cut costs or avoid advertising costs. Social media channels also offer paid advertising options that allow you to create highly targeted campaigns designed to reach your target audience.
Social media has a strong track record of increasing sales; 76% of consumers said they bought a product after seeing it on social media. For best results, it's best to focus on one or two social channels first and then expand as needed. Consistency is also important in social media marketing; You need to interact with your audience regularly.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
At this point, internet users are probably searching for products and services offered by your company. You can only find these potential customers if your company website is visible in the search engine results pages (SERPs). You simply need to be visible, appear in Google search results and rank high if you want your visitors to be directed to your site.
Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the smartest marketing moves you can make. Good SEO can yield an ROI of 700% or more. With a little advance planning, you can be sure that your website content will be easy for potential buyers to find. And when you use engaging content and marketing messages, you can convert your website visitors into buyers.
If you have a rough or limited budget, you can easily get started with SEO by using free tools like Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends to do your research. There are also paid SEO tools available that make the process of planning and conducting SEO research much easier. The best SEO software gives you the knowledge you need to rank well on Google and other search engines.
SEO can be difficult, and if you don't have experience in the field, consider hiring an expert to help you. The best SEO services can help you with all aspects of SEO, including technical SEO, on-page SEO, link building, mobile SEO, keyword research, and SEO writing.
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characteristics
Keyword research, location tracking, website auditing, traffic analysis and more.
Monthly and annual plans
YES
50+ tools for SEO and PPC professionals, marketers and large digital companies.
Analyze websites and keywords, create content, check backlinks, find on-page SEO issues, group multiple keywords and monitor rankings daily.
Monthly and annual plans
YES
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search engine marketing (SEM) once encompassed all forms of search marketing, including SEO, which aimed to generate traffic organically, and paid SEO, which charged for sponsored posts in the SERPs. Today, SEM primarily refers to paid search.
SEM can be especially useful for businesses that believe their potential customers are searching online with the intention of purchasing similar products or services. For example, if a user searches for "plumber near me", it means that they have an urgent need and are likely to hire a plumber soon.
Typically, the higher your business ranks on Google, the more traffic you can drive to your site. Therefore, paying a commission to improve your ranking through paid advertising can give your business an edge over the competition.
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Email marketing has been around for a long time, but it's one of the most powerful digital tools in a marketer's arsenal. In 2023, more than 347 billion emails will be sent and received every day, and by 2025 this number is expected to rise to 376 billion. On average, every dollar invested in email marketing generates a return of $36.
To make the most of email marketing, you need access to software that will help you create email campaigns. The best email marketing software makes it easy to manage topics and contacts, send emails, and track performance statistics like email open rates and conversion rates.
Many companies use a comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage their contact database and email marketing campaigns. The right software for you depends on the specific needs of your business. Forbes found that HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho, and Zendesk are some of the best marketing CRMs for small businesses.
Content marketing
John F. Oppendahl coined the term "content marketing" in 1996 at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Since then, marketers have used the term to describe all forms of communication that provide value to their target audience. A strong content marketing initiative can produce significant results for your bottom line, as engaging content can build your subscriber base and increase sales.
Content marketing can include written words, audio, images, or videos. Blogs, eBooks, case studies, infographics, white papers, podcasts, checklists, guides, and short and long videos are all popular forms of content marketing. You can engage in content marketing or promote your content through a variety of channels, including websites and social media.
The best content marketing strategies provide actionable information about what potential customers want and need. You can easily use content marketing techniques to entertain, inform, persuade or educate. The most productive content marketing is never sales focused, but intuitive and effective. If your content is interesting enough, it can go viral as people share your content with others who have similar interests.
Influencer marketing
The growing use of social media and the number of innovative social media stars with large fan bases has fueled the growth of influencer marketing in recent years.
Influencers have large or niche audiences on social media. As the name suggests, influencers can use their "influence" to convince fans to buy certain products or services. For example, if Selena Gomez, who has more than 420 million Instagram followers, posts herself on Instagram wearing a certain brand of mascara, sales of that product may increase.
Although an influencer's recommendations can easily influence a purchase decision, recommendations are not free. Influencers charge fees to recommend, recommend, and post products and services to their followers. Rates may vary based on number of followers, audience engagement, and type of post, such as a short mention or a lengthy personal promotion.
Some influencers have millions of followers on social media, while others have smaller audiences, but their fans can be perfect for your brand. Influencer marketing can be pure gold for businesses that match their target customers with influencer fans.
Video Marketing
Videos are so important to modern marketers that they need special attention as one of the most effective and essential digital marketing methods they can use to grow their business.
Using video marketing techniques can easily be applied to your website, social media, as content marketing or as part of a mainstream marketing campaign. In a survey conducted by animation video production company WYZOWL, 87% of marketers said that video marketing helped them increase sales, and 92% said that video provided a good return on sales.
The most popular types of videos used by marketers are sales videos, how-to videos, testimonials, and product demo videos. According to a survey by Wyzowl, 71% of marketers used video on social media in 2022.
Marketing via podcast
Have you ever thought about creating a podcast for your business? Are you thinking of marketing your products and services by advertising them on popular podcasts on your business site? Both can be considered digital marketing techniques.
Thousands of companies use podcast marketing to increase product awareness and establish their brand as a trusted authority. There are many ways to harness the marketing energy of podcasts. To start your own podcast, you can visit podcasts on your business website or buy them by advertising on relevant podcasts.
Marketing for Short Message Service (SMS).
SMS or text marketing is a means of communicating with potential customers through regular text messages. SMS marketing has incredibly high open rates, with research showing that recipients open 98% of text messages.
However, there are also disadvantages of SMS, for example a message is limited to 160 characters and there is no space for visual design. Additionally, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires your written consent to send advertising messages; Not everyone wants to sign up to receive advertising on their phone.
You can start SMS marketing by partnering with an SMS service. The best bulk SMS services will make your customer a possible base for sending marketing messages to your company.
What are the benefits of digital marketing?
Each type of digital marketing has its advantages. For example, Linkedin is a great way to attract marketing professionals, while Instagram and Tiktok B2C offer unlimited potential for businesses. Email marketing allows you to maintain online relationships with your communication base, while content marketing allows you to pay high prices to potential buyers.
Here are some of the main benefits of digital marketing:
- Fit for any budget : You can start digital marketing with a limited budget or invest more to get bigger results.
- Chance to go viral : Anything with viral or interesting content will be widely shared. Digital content is very simple and easy to share, and the best channel content is published frequently, increasing your marketing reach.
- Easy to get started : You can start your first digital marketing efforts with a few things like a social media account and a device, phone or computer.
- Controlling the recipient's behavior . Most forms of digital marketing allow you to track visits and content engagement. You can also track what your audience does after viewing your content.
- High Return on Investment (ROI) Prospects : If implemented correctly, digital marketing can provide an excellent return on investment.
Three examples of digital marketing
If you use a digital device all day, you've probably seen several examples of digital marketing strategies. Below we provide examples of companies using content marketing, dominance marketing and video marketing to promote their business.
Examples of content marketing
Content marketing for ebooks is a popular form. The secret to ebook success is being recognized as the right brand for a person who wants to have an email address in their contact information, but sometimes a person who wants a real address or phone number.
Hubspot is one of the best CRM deals in marketing, offering an extensive collection of free eBooks and promoting them through their website, email and social media marketing. Hubspot is one of many ways to use digital marketing in your marketing mix.
For example
Gymusk is a British fitness clothing manufacturer and retailer, and a passionate supporter of mainstream marketing. One of the brand's influential face campaigns revolved around this concept: it takes 66 days to change your life. To bring this campaign to life, Jimsher broke with six influential people to spread the word. Each major label achieved over 45.5 million views with their #GymShark66 posts and campaigns.
Rahmel Dockeri, who has 4 million Tiktok subscribers under the handle @realdockery, dominates Gymusk. The hashtags @gymshark and #GymShark under the Tiktoka post: 3 million likes, 10.9 thousand comments and 42.9 thousand reposts. That's a huge amount you'll receive in just one message, and it shows how important it is for your company to collaborate with the right influential people.
Examples of video marketing
As a cloud platform, monday.com helps companies manage projects, tasks and work processes. They use many digital marketing methods, including videos.
Monday.com is one way to use short videos to explain the properties and benefits of your products. The video is published on the YouTube channel and broadcast through the company's website and social networks (examples of businessocr screenshots are below).
Digital marketing costs
The cost of digital marketing is a bit complex. Marketing investments vary depending on the cost of digital marketing methods, population and audience, advertiser policy and influence, software used and digital advertising message.
You can easily enter digital penile marketing on social media, on the other hand, lead marketing, large-scale email marketing, and video marketing methods can bring thousands of good results. The table below presents an overview of the costs associated with different types of digital marketing.
THE END
Digital marketing offers unique opportunities for your business as it helps you find the perfect buyers and increase your sales. Some of the most popular digital marketing are SEO, email marketing, social media and content marketing. You don't need a huge marketing budget to start digital marketing. Moreover, the right investment in marketing ensures that companies will receive a high return on investment (ROI).
Proposed partner
characteristics
Keyword research, location tracking, website audits, traffic analysis and much more.
Monthly and annual plan
YES
50+ tools for SEO and PPC professionals, marketers and large digital companies.
Analyze website and keywords, create content, check backlinks, find on-page SEO issues, group multiple keywords and monitor rating daily.
Monthly and annual plan
YES
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is digital marketing?
Some of the most popular types of digital marketing are email marketing, SEO, influencer marketing, SMS marketing, and social media marketing. Content marketing, video marketing, and financial research are also great digital marketing methods.
What is the easiest type of digital marketing?
While any marketing endeavor requires a complex strategy, social media marketing is one of the easiest areas to start digital marketing. You can create a free account on Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, SnapChat, LinkedIn or other social networks. As soon as your account is monetized, you can immediately distribute valuable content about your products and services.
What is the best digital marketing platform?
The best digital marketing platform is where your ideal buyer spends time. For B2B companies, LinkedIn is often the best platform. For local businesses, Google Advertising Services is a great platform. Instagram and Tiktok are leading digital platforms for consumer goods and services.
Which social media management software is right for digital marketers?
The best social media management software are Buffer, SocialPilot and Sprout Social. Hootsuite is the best software for those who control multiple platforms, while Zoho Social is best for individual developers.
Digital Marketing: A Good Career?
For those interested in marketing, strong communication skills and ease of working with digital technologies, a career in digital marketing is a great option. If that's the case, consider earning your online civilian marketing degree to increase your success.