Everything You Need to Know About Digital Marketing

What is Digital Marketing?

In short, digital marketing involves the processes used for the online promotion of products and services. From building a website to posting ads on Google, it all happens in the world of digital marketing. Today, this type of marketing is more important than ever before. With so many organizations operating online—not to mention the millions of people who shop on the web—we live in a time where utilizing digital marketing tactics is almost a necessity.

Digital Marketing Agency

While anyone can build a website, work on SEO, or start a PPC campaign, digital marketing agencies do this sort of thing for a living. From small to large teams, these professionals are experts in the industry, and they typically have teams full of content specialists, SEO experts, digital account managers, and more.

Digital Marketing Strategy

The majority of businesses today typically have a digital marketing strategy in place. This essentially involves the digital marketing plan created by the organization.

Digital Marketing Specialist

In the world of digital marketing, there are digital marketing specialists who are very knowledgeable about the industry. With the many facets of the field, including the wide variety of best practices and industry standards, being a digital marketing specialist can be very rewarding.

Why is Digital Marketing so Important to Businesses?

Simply put, you need to reach your audience as a business. Especially if you’re in a very competitive industry, you must look for ways to stand out from the crowd, and digital marketing is how that happens. While print marketing is still relevant, it typically doesn’t even compare to the importance of digital marketing in today’s world.

As more and more people search on Google and scroll the web to find their next product or service, you must do what you can to stand out from the competition. Digital marketing is what keeps your phone ringing. Without it, many organizations would struggle to stay afloat.

Digital Marketing Jobs and Careers

Digital marketing is also important because it brings tons of jobs to the workforce. From programmers to account managers, many digital marketing facets require professionals and specialists from all walks of life.

Digital Marketing Expert

If you’re familiar with digital marketing, then you’re probably aware of digital marketing experts. These specialists are knowledgeable or experienced in the vast realm of the industry, and you can typically turn to these professionals for advice and trusted services. There are many digital marketing experts today who work as consultants or provide services on a freelance basis.

Facts on How Digital Marketing Works

Since digital marketing has so many moving parts that are always evolving, it can be challenging to understand how it works. To understand the big picture of digital marketing, it’s best to break down the industry into different categories. Keep reading to learn about some industry best practices, including more information on the different areas involved in digital marketing.

Digital Marketing: Best Practices and Procedures

While there are standard best practices for digital marketing, these change frequently. That’s because the digital marketing industry is always improving and getting more advanced, and these best practices can change daily. However, there are some areas that you should master when building a digital marketing strategy. The most critical areas to consider include:

• Search engine optimization
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Content marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Email marketing

Digital Marketing Tools

As digital marketing best practices are always evolving, so are the tools used to get the job done effectively. From email marketing campaigns to advanced SEO solutions, utilizing the right tools can give you the competitive edge your organization needs.

Offline Marketing

While digital marketing involves online tactics, it’s important also to integrate your offline marketing strategies. These include product presentations, flyers, billboards, and more. A key factor to remember in this regard is that both your online and offline marketing should have the same voice. As your audience is trying to understand who you are as an organization, giving your brand a voice can help you stand out from the pack.

Areas of Digital Marketing

Keep reading to learn more information on the different types of digital marketing in the world today.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most common areas of digital marketing. While there are many factors to understand about SEO, one of the key elements involves keywords. Typically, an SEO expert will research what internet users are searching for on Google and other search engines. Then they will add those keywords to the content on their website or write fresh content addressing the keyword.

If the right words are placed naturally in the content, then that website should move up the Google rankings over time without going overboard. Essentially, the ultimate goal of SEO is to move to the number one spot in the Google search results for as many keywords as possible.

Google Algorithm

Google search is there to help us find what we need when we need it. Ultimately, it works to give us the most relevant search results possible. That being said, there are tons of factors that go into what is displayed on these Google search results, including the order in which they appear; and that order is what SEO is all about.

See, when you search for something on Google, what search results do you look at first? If you’re like most people, then you probably only look at the first couple of results.

This is what drives every single SEO campaign; the goal is to get in front of the most eyes as possible, and getting to those prized top positions on Google is how that’s done.

Search Engine Marketing

Many people believe that search engine optimization and search engine marketing are the same things. However, they do have some key differences. One key difference to understand involves the fact that SEO falls under the search engine marketing category.

PPC, or pay-per-click, is the other search engine marketing area to consider. PPC involves paid search results, meaning an organization will pay Google to display ads in the results after the internet user enters certain keywords. If you’re looking to take a digital marketing online course, then search engine marketing is a brilliant area to consider.

Given how it is such a huge factor in the digital marketing industry, having the right skills and knowledge can help you excel in your digital marketing ventures. However, it’s vital to remember that search engine marketing is always changing and evolving.

While there are best practices one day, there could be a completely new best practice the next. That being said, be sure to take digital marketing training programs that are up-to-date and consider taking them every few months to stay ahead of the competition.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and distribution of online material. This includes what is found on websites, such as videos, pictures, copy, and more. While most of this content isn’t explicitly used to promote a brand, it is used to boost the interest the audience has in certain products or services.

One easy way to understand content marketing is to think of it as telling a story. While many people believe content marketing only involves website design, paid ads, and blog posts, it is a lot more straightforward—it involves storytelling. For example, the front cover of a comic book is considered content marketing.

Essentially, it involves any means of material that is used to tell a story. However, while content marketing does relate to what’s found offline, you can’t ignore the internet when crafting your content marketing strategy. That’s because the internet is where people live, and it’s where businesses and other organizations are found.

To better understand content marketing, let’s take a look at some of the most common content marketing formats in the world today. These include:

• Videos
• Blog posts
• How-To’s
• Infographics
• Quizzes
• Podcasts
• Press releases
• Photos
• White papers
• And many more

Luckily, we live in a time where there are tons of content marketing avenues. No matter what business you own, there is a content marketing approach you can implement.

Additionally, we also live in a time where education is everywhere. And with content marketing getting more popular and relevant by the day, now is the time to further your education. There are tons of digital marketing online certificate programs out there specifically about content marketing, so now it’s easy to further your knowledge in this important and thriving area!

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing has come a long way in recent years. While simply posting social media posts used to be the only tactic involved in social media marketing, it now is a lot more extensive than that.

While posting engaging social media posts is one of the key factors to consider, an effective social media marketing professional should also respond to their audience, create social media ads, post eye-catching photos and videos, and much more. Additionally, we live in a time where there are more social media channels than ever before.

That being said, a social media marketer should also know how these channels work, including the best practices to engage with their audience. To better understand social media marketing, it is categorized into five different core areas, which include:

Strategy

This involves a detailed plan of what channels will be used, the brand’s voice, the overall goals, and much more.

Planning and Publishing

This area has to do with the frequency of your posts, where these posts will be published, what tools you will utilize, and more.

Listening and Engagement

Unfortunately, this key area is frequently neglected by social media marketers. This has to do with what is done after the posts are made and publishing is completed. It involves how you connect with your audience and the engagement tactics you utilize. This covers responding to messages and comments, posting interactive content, providing useful information, and essentially listening to your audience to give them the most relevant material.

Analytics

As you are implementing social media marketing techniques, you need to know what’s working and what’s not. That’s where analytics come into play. Using various tools and processes, you can find data on just about anything. From there, these analytics are used to adjust campaigns or validate that something is, or isn’t, working.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the systematic process involved with increasing the percentage of visitors who take a specific action on a site. That action could include filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, buying a service, etc.

What is a Conversion?

A conversion is when a website visitor completes a goal. However, it’s important to remember that these goals differ from organization to organization. Some examples of conversions include:

• Making a sale
• Booking a consultation
• Signing up for a newsletter
• Joining an email list
• Calling the business
• And many more

While the conversion rate optimization process varies from business to business, it typically involves understanding how visitors maneuver around your site, what decisions they make, and what’s holding them back from making a conversion.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another considerable component in the digital marketing world. In simple terms, it involves using email to promote an organization’s products and services. There are many different strategies and best practices in the email marketing realm, but it typically always utilizes automated processes that automatically shoot emails to a large number of recipients. Today, there are many different tools and platforms out there that simplify the email marketing process.

Advantages

One of the leading benefits of email marketing is that it forces the user to take action. This is because an email will sit in an email box until the recipient removes it. But one more impressive benefit relates to its cost-effectiveness. Email is one of the most cost-effective tools on the market today. If you look at the numbers, the return on investment with email marketing is usually substantial.

Another top reason why organizations love email marketing is that it helps to form a solid foundation with your audience while also bringing visitors to your site or social media pages.

Additionally, email marketers can now target certain people based on many different factors, which can ultimately lead to more visitors and a better chance of crushing your goals.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

If you look at the top pillars of digital marketing, you’ll see a section for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. PPC, also referred to as paid search marketing, is similar to SEO but involves posting ads that live at the top of Google search results. As SEO works organically to move a link higher on Google search, PPC involves paid search ads that populate at the top of the search results page when specific keywords are entered.

Every time a user clicks on a PPC ad in the search results, the owner of that ad will have to pay a small fee. The amount paid depends on the popularity of the keyword, including many other factors. When choosing what keywords to use in a PPC campaign, it’s important only to choose words that your audience is likely to use when searching.

Also, you have to bid on these keywords. Once the searcher enters the keywords you sent a bid for, Google will display the most relevant paid search ads on the user’s search results page.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular up-and-coming digital marketing trends. It involves an affiliate network where products or services are being promoted, usually via links to web pages.

For example, if you own a popular blog, you may include links on your page that lead to certain products or services you recommend to your readers. If your readers use that link and end up purchasing due to your marketing efforts, you’ll receive a commission. The amount you’ll receive is based on many different factors, but this tactic is a great way to make money while you sleep.

This is referred to as a type of passive income. And this all relates to revenue sharing; if you have a product that you want to sell, you can join an affiliate program and offer promoters a financial incentive for growing your sales.

On the flip side, if you don’t have a product to sell, but you know how to engage and reach an audience, you can promote products, add affiliate links, and get paid if viewers make a purchase via those links.

Digital Marketing Education

As digital marketing is becoming more prevalent and important, millions of people are looking to learn about the industry. And with the industry growing and becoming more advanced nearly every day, there is quite a bit to learn. Keep reading to learn more about some of the educational opportunities surrounding the world of digital marketing.

Digital Marketing Degree Options

With digital marketing becoming more popular, more and more people are looking to understand the many facets involved. But with so much to learn and so-called “experts” around the industry, where are you supposed to find solid digital marketing education? Today, digital marketing degree programs can help you become a digital marketing pro in no time. And while these programs are available in-person on some college campuses, they’re even more prevalent in a virtual format.

Digital Marketing Online Degree

Luckily, online marketing degrees are starting to pop up more regularly. Whether you want to sharpen your SEO skills or want a broad overview of digital marketing, you can most likely find an online degree program that works for your needs.

Digital Marketing Certificate

If you don’t want to participate in an extensive degree program, you can also receive a digital marketing certificate. These can be obtained in just days, and you can even find certificates regarding a specialized area, such as website design, SEO, PPC, and more.

Digital Marketing Online Classes

Want to simply sharpen up on some digital marketing skills without an official certificate or degree program? Luckily, there are numerous online classes available on various platforms. From 5-minutes videos that give an overview of digital marketing to extensive slideshows that cover everything about SEO, there are a wide variety of different digital marketing classes available to you. You can even find free digital marketing course options!

Digital Marketing Bootcamp

Another one of the popular digital marketing programs on the market today is called a digital marketing bootcamp. These programs are meant for individuals looking for expedited education regarding digital marketing. These bootcamps are typically extensive, hands-on educational opportunities that can last anywhere from one week to several months.