DIGITAL MARKETING

DIGITAL MARKETING. By  Mohd . Siraj Khan.

INTRODUCTION. Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers , mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development during the 1990s and 2000s changed the way brands and businesses use technology for marketing. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly use digital devices instead of visiting physical shops , digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing , influencer marketing , content automation, campaign marketing, data -driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing , social media optimization , e-mail direct marketing , display advertising , e–books , and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones ( SMS and MMS ), callback, and on-hold mobile ring tones..

One of the key objectives of modern digital marketing is to raise brand awareness , the extent to which customers and the general public are familiar with and recognize a particular brand. Enhancing brand awareness is important in digital marketing, and marketing in general, because of its impact on brand perception and consumer decision-making. According to the 2015 essay, "Impact of Brand on Consumer Behavior": "Brand awareness, as one of the fundamental dimensions of brand equity, is often considered to be a prerequisite of consumers’ buying decision, as it represents the main factor for including a brand in the consideration set. Brand awareness can also influence consumers’ perceived risk assessment and their confidence in the purchase decision, due to familiarity with the brand and its characteristics. Recent trends show that businesses and digital marketers are prioritizing brand awareness, focusing more on their digital marketing efforts on cultivating brand recognition and recall than in previous years. This is evidenced by a 2019 Content Marketing Institute study, which found that 81% of digital marketers have worked on enhancing brand recognition over the past year ..

Increasing brand awareness is a focus of digital marketing strategy for a number of reasons:.

Online methods used to build brand awareness. Search engine optimization (SEO) Search engine optimization techniques may be used to improve the visibility of business websites and brand-related content for common industry-related search queries . The importance of SEO to increase brand awareness is said to correlate with the growing influence of search results and search features like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and local SEO on customer behavior . Search engine marketing (SEM) SEM, also known as PPC advertising, involves the purchase of ad space in prominent, visible positions atop search results pages and websites. Search ads have been shown to have a positive impact on brand recognition, awareness and conversions. 33% of searchers who click on paid ads do so because they directly respond to their particular search query ..

Social media marketing 70% of marketers list increasing brand awareness as their number one goal for marketing on social media platforms. Facebook , Instagram , Twitter, and YouTube are listed as the top platforms currently used by social media marketing teams.As of 2021, LinkedIn has been added as one of the most-used social media platforms by business leaders for its professional networking capabilities. Content marketing 56% of marketers believe personalized content – brand-centered blogs, articles, social updates, videos, landing pages – improves brand recall and engagement..

DEVELOPMENTS AND STRATEGIES. Segmentation : More focus has been placed on segmentation within digital marketing, in order to target specific markets in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors. Influencer marketing : Important nodes are identified within related communities, known as influencers. This is becoming an important concept in digital targeting. Influencers allow brands to take advantage of social media and the large audiences available on many of these platforms. It is possible to reach influencers via paid advertising, such as Face book Advertising or Google Ads campaigns, or through sophisticated SCRM (social customer relationship management) software, such as SAP C4C, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage CRM and Sales force CRM. Many universities now focus, at Masters level, on engagement strategies for influencers..

Online behavioral advertising is the practice of collecting information about a user's online activity over time, "on a particular device and across different, unrelated websites, in order to deliver advertisements tailored to that user's interests and preferences .“ [ Such Advertisements are based on site retargeting are customized based on each user behavior and pattern. Collaborative Environment : A collaborative environment can be set up between the organization, the technology service provider, and the digital agencies to optimize effort, resource sharing, reusability and communications.Additionally , organizations are inviting their customers to help them better understand how to service them. This source of data is called user-generated content . Much of this is acquired via company websites where the organization invites people to share ideas that are then evaluated by other users of the site. The most popular ideas are evaluated and implemented in some form..

Using this method of acquiring data and developing new products can foster the organization's relationship with its customer as well as spawn ideas that would otherwise be overlooked. UGC is low-cost advertising as it is directly from the consumers and can save advertising costs for the organization . Data-driven advertising: Users generate a lot of data in every step they take on the path of customer journey and brands can now use that data to activate their known audience with data-driven programmatic media buying. Without exposing customers' privacy, users' data can be collected from digital channels (e.g.: when the customer visits a website, reads an e-mail, or launches and interact with a brand's mobile app), brands can also collect data from real-world customer interactions, such as brick and mortar stores visits and from CRM and sales engines datasets. Also known as people-based marketing or addressable media, data-driven advertising is empowering brands to find their loyal customers in their audience and deliver in real time a much more personal communication, highly relevant to each customers' moment and actions ..

Channels -- Affiliate marketing. Channels -- Affiliate marketing.

DISPLAY ADVERTISING. DISPLAY ADVERTISING. As the term implies, online display advertising deals with showcasing promotional messages or ideas to the consumer on the internet. This includes a wide range of advertisements like advertising blogs, networks, interstitial ads, contextual data, ads on search engines, classified or dynamic advertisements, etc. The method can target specific audience tuning in from different types of locals to view a particular advertisement, the variations can be found as the most productive element of this method..

EMAIL MARKETING. EMAIL MARKETING. Email marketing in comparison to other forms of digital marketing is considered cheap. It is also a way to rapidly communicate a message such as their value proposition to existing or potential customers. Yet this channel of communication may be perceived by recipients to be bothersome and irritating especially to new or potential customers, therefore the success of email marketing is reliant on the language and visual appeal applied. In terms of visual appeal, there are indications that using graphics/visuals that are relevant to the message which is attempting to be sent, yet less visual graphics to be applied with initial emails are more effective in-turn creating a relatively personal feel to the email. In terms of language, the style is the main factor in determining how captivating the email is. Using a casual tone invokes a warmer, gentler and more inviting feel to the email, compared to a more formal tone..

Search engine marketing - Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. SEM may incorporate Search engine optimization , which adjusts or rewrites website content and site architecture to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results pages to enhance pay per click (PPC) listings . Social Media Marketing - The term 'Digital Marketing' has a number of marketing facets as it supports different channels used in and among these, comes the Social Media. When we use social media channels ( Facebook , Twitter, Pinterest , Instagram , Google+, etc.) to market a product or service, the strategy is called Social Media Marketing. It is a procedure wherein strategies are made and executed to draw in traffic for a website or to gain the attention of buyers over the web using different social media platforms . Social networking service - A social networking service is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relations with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.

BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. Allows companies to promote themselves to large, diverse audiences that could not be reached through traditional marketing such as phone and email based advertising. Marketing on most social media platforms comes at little to no cost- making it accessible to virtually any size business. Accommodates personalized and direct marketing that targets specific demographics and markets. Companies can engage with customers directly, allowing them to obtain feedback and resolve issues almost immediately . Ideal environment for a company to conduct market research. Can be used as a means of obtaining information about competitors and boost competitive advantage. Social platforms can be used to promote brand events, deals, and news. Social platforms can also be used to offer incentives in the form of loyalty points and discounts..

SHUKRAAN JAZZILAN.