Introduction
Digital Marketing is the collection of rapidly evolving strategies and practices that businesses use to connect with their potential customers through the internet or other forms of digital communication. This involves methods such as email, social media, web-based advertising, text and multimedia.
Essentially, through Digital Marketing a company tries to improve its market share by promoting its products and services. To really be successful, one requires a combination of an advertising savvy sales team, and the ability to deliver quality goods to the end-users.
The role of Digital Marketing becomes very important, due to the wide reach of the internet and the size of cellular networks. As a matter of fact there were 5 billion internet users globally in April 2022 alone and no one can survive without a mobile phone today. Another important factor which makes Digital Marketing so lucrative is that it has minimal upfront costs making it a cost-effective method.
According to Expert Market Research, the global market size of digital marketing reached a value of nearly USD 363.05 billion in 2023. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.1% between 2024 and 2032 to reach a value of around USD 1099.33 billion by 2032.
Types of Digital Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization: This method involves improving the ranking of a web page or web site on the search results page of a search engine application. Some of the criteria for a good ranking are – user engagement, quality of content, quality and number of inbound links, and mobile-friendliness of the web page
- Content Marketing: Relevant and engaging content can both maintain and expand one’s customer base. Some of the content used for this can be blog posts, e-books, newsletters, video transcripts, audio transcripts, whitepapers and infographics
- Social Media Marketing: This method involves using social media platforms to engage people in online discussions and thus direct traffic and brand awareness. With billions of people spending their time on social media platforms, this type of marketing can be very rewarding
- Pay-per-click Marketing: In this method, the search engine evaluates your Ad for quality, keyword relevance, landing page and bid amount before popping it up for the customer. You then have to pay a fee to the search engine, only if the customer clicks on your Ad.
- Affiliate Marketing: This kind of marketing involves a promoter who advertises someone else’s business. The promoter gets a commission from the business every time someone makes a purchase
- Native Advertising: This kind of advertising tries to circumambulate customer cynicism in believing Ad as he or she thinks that it is circulating because of payment. To sidestep this, some information or entertainment is offered before getting to the promotional side of things.
- Influencer Marketing: In this kind of marketing, the business ties-up with an individual with a large following, such as a celebrity, industry expert, or content creator to try and attract customers
- Marketing Automation: This type of marketing uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to empower the sales teams. For instance, website visitor behavior is monitored, so that appropriate advertising can be targeted
- Email Marketing: This kind of marketing involves connecting with people with strategic emails like blog subscription newsletter, welcome emails to new customers and holiday or special events promotions
- Mobile Marketing: This type of marketing engages the target audience using mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, as well as wearables like smartwatches. This can be done via SMS, MMS, social media notifications and mobile app alerts
Benefits of Digital Marketing
- Expansive Reach: Due to the wide reach and accessibility of internet and cellular networks, Digital Marketing can reach out and connect to far away audiences
- Cost Efficiency: Methods such as email and social media cost very little compared to traditional methods. Also because everybody is online or has a phone, Digital Marketing is very cost effective as well
- Quantifiable Results: Software and Platforms can be used to track sales metrics. They can tell you email-open rates, visits to home page, direct purchases and much more
- Easier Personalization: Due to the accessibility of data in digital form and the ability to react to it automatically, personalization is easier
Final Note
There is no doubt that Digital Marketing should be at the core of any business’s overall marketing campaign. With the kind of reach that this media possesses, the possibilities seem endless. One of the biggest challenges is how do you set yourself apart in an atmosphere of competition. Never before has there been a way to stay in such direct contact with customers and nothing competes with the level of personalization that is attainable through data. The more one embraces the possibilities, the more one can realize their business growth.
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