Introduction
Digital marketing is the form of marketing that uses the internet to promote its brand. Digital marketing started gaining some momentum in 2010. Businesses started to shift from traditional ways of marketing to the digital world after realizing the power of the internet.
The world has 7.7 billion people of which 4.4 billion people use the internet. Customers these days use online shopping over going to the shops. It is feasible for both the customers as well as the brands, it is easy to target a large audience in one space.
Digital marketing is a constant change as it evolves every fast, changes could happen because of technological advancement, consumer behavior, etc. It is important for companies to be updated with the latest trends and techniques for the survival of their business in the digital platform.
“If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business” -Bill Gates
Why is it important?
There are many important elements of digital marketing.
- Large reach – The Internet is very vast. There are millions of people surfing the internet on a daily basis. There is a huge number of people who could be your potential clients. So digital marketing campaigns reach out to those clients at once.
- Cost efficient – Digital marketing is cheaper and cost effective when compared to other means of marketing. Benefits the company in terms of lower cost and higher reach; it’s a win-win situation for them.
- Customization – With the database of customers, it has been easier for companies to understand the psychology of the customer. As and when the customer visits the website you can customize it according to their need.
- Brand loyalty – Customers tend to be more loyal if there is direct contact with the companies. Digital marketing bridges that gap. The reputation of the company hence is high.
- Easy measurable – Many digital marketing tools help calculate the results of the campaigns. It analyses the whole campaign which gives references for planning out the future.
- Conversion rate – Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to your website that accomplish the desired task you want from them out of the total number of visitors. Due to the higher reach and personalization, the conversion rate is higher than any other form of marketing.
- Global audience – The Internet connects people from all over the world. So when you market your brand over the internet, you are actually marketing it to the entire world. People from all across the world can see your product. So it offers global trade with low investments.
- Brand awareness – Nowadays people find it convenient to shop online so if a company has an online existence it can create an impact.
- Customers understand have a better understanding of your product. And are genuinely interested in buying the product. People have a better understanding of your brand and are interested in buying your products.
- Easy to analyze competitors – With the help of technologies it is easier to locate who are the competitors is what all changes you can bring to outstand them
Rise in digital marketing in recent times
When the world was hit with COVID 19 and with the lockdown restrictions, businesses had to come up with urgent strategies to promote their product. And a different approach to reach out to the target audience, other than the digital platforms. Small as well as big companies found an urge for a digital presence. They started promoting their brand on various digital media platforms. According to the statistics, the social media market was the most convenient and effective medium for them to reach out to the masses.
There was a drastic change in consumer behavior and due to this, the percentage of internet sales went higher than the retail sales. Therefore, there was a sudden shift from traditional marketing to digital marketing.
Businesses seeking to expand their connections with consumers, therefore, can reap benefits by localizing their marketing on online platforms. Only in the last 20 years has digital marketing evolved to what it is today for which a lot of credit goes to the pandemic.
Different types of verticals
Digital marketing consists of different verticals and the businesses will have to strategically work on these verticals. Some of the effective verticals are as follows:-
Content marketing – It is the online material that the brands use to create interest and entertain the customer. It’s not necessary that it generates sales cause the main motive is just to keep the customer occupied and not create sales. It is done for brand awareness purposes.
Search engine marketing – It increases the website visibility for promotion purposes. Paid advertising is mostly used.
Mobile Marketing – It is the technique of reaching the audience through smartphone applications, emails, SMS, MMS, social media, etc.
Social Media Marketing – It uses social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc. to promote its business. It is termed as one of the efficient ways of digital marketing.
Email Marketing – Email marketing is the promotion of business through the means of email. It’s an old but effective mode of digital marketing.
Influencer Marketing– It endorses opinion leaders/influencers for promoting a particular business.
Affiliate Marketing – It uses a third party to generate leads or to drive traffic to your website. The company pays a certain percentage of sales to the sale which is done by them.
Conclusion
During the pandemic, digital marketing became one of the primary aspects of a marketing strategy. Nothing offers the level of personalization that digital marketing can provide.
Continuously, monitoring of the data and the constant change in consumer behavior has always been crucial for planning strategies. Given the nature of the pandemic and the changes, there should be a digital shift to expand the marketing boundaries.
Talking about the future of marketing there will be a time where we not only see it as result-oriented but as a key factor of the business to survive. It will surely be essential to prosper in the digital sphere when the time is right as digital marketing sure remains the most effective way of marketing in the future, either business-wise or career-wise.
Also Read: 12 Key Challenges of Digital Marketing Listed!