Digital Marketing basics for beginners

Digital Marketing basics is understanding the study of a digital marketing concept that is widely known all around the world. Digital marketing is also known to the term ‘’Internet Marketing’’ referring to the marketing done on the internet. Digital marketing basics highlights all about using the right medium, method and tools to help a company effectively promote the business. Living in the 20^th century, we all understand what digital marketing says. Through the evolution of technology and its benefits, digital marketing has grown in the industries adding value to its purpose. Digital Marketing campaigns are becoming efficient day by day in the industry, and many businesses are using them to achieve success. Companies use marketing tactics to promote the business through online marketing and social media marketing.

Businesses often wonder why it is better to use Digital Marketing than traditional marketing. It is practical to use Digital marketing because every business competitor is using it to advance with technology. The advantage of reaching out to the customers in a wide net is to be able to carry forward marketing campaigns and efficiently observe its movements, having a broader platform to reach out and target audiences effectively.

Following the advantages of using digital marketing for businesses. They benefit from:

• Increase in sales for the business
• Increasing brand awareness through effective marketing methods
• Being ahead of the competition in the industry
• Lower costs in marketing

There are different methods for Digital marketing

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• SEM (search engine Marketing)
• Content marketing
• Influencer marketing
• E-commerce marketing
• Social media marketing
• Display advertising

On this article, we will highlight the digital marketing basics, the effective use of each basic methods, and how a beginner can learn to be effective in digital marketing.

Planning an effective marketing strategy

When a professional decides to prepare an effective marketing strategy, it is essential to concentrate on the on-going trends of marketing. The marketing methods that are highly used and recommended by professionals to increase business success. These are some of the basic digital marketing methods businesses use in the industry.

• SEO
• Content Marketing
• Website design and website optimisation
• Social media advertising
• Social media management
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Email marketing

SEO

Search Engine Optimization is among the effective methods of Digital marketing. Businesses in the industry aim to increase their business ranking on Google through SEO techniques. Google is the most common and highly used search engine site used by billions of people all around the world. Ranking the business on Google will increase sales and other benefitting opportunities for the company.  An effective SEO marketing strategy rotates around Link building, Social network, website optimisation, web design, traffic, software development, feedback, keyword research, ranking and content. By concentrating on these, a professional can achieve an effective SEO marketing strategy. Google emphasises on certain factors (Content, Backlinks and speed) while ranking a business, by concentrating on boosting these factors, a company can gain marketing benefits.

A beginner starting a study on digital marketing should first understand the concept of SEO marketing and techniques used in the platform. Due to the high demand for SEO marketing in the industry, the opportunity for jobs is increasing. The increased digital marketing salary and many professions in the business industry have encouraged people to study and learn more about SEO and Digital marketing. To build a career path on the digital marketing field education through online courses can be obtained. With a detailed knowledge on the topic, a marketer can understand the basics of digital marketing and SEO and achieve the marketing objectives without having to face many difficulties. For example, a student or professional can attend an online course, such as a professional diploma in Digital marketing and SEO (The CCM UK). It can be a start for a beginner to get a detailed idea and practical experience in conducting effective SEO marketing. A professional can also benefit from such courses and develop marketing skills. Digital marketing SEO techniques are continually updating due to the changing nature of technology development. By possessing the outline of the subject and being skilled in the digital marketing industry a marketer will be able to adapt to technology development changes and lead the business to success.

Content Marketing

While following in the course of digital marketing, publishing good content is essential. Content is the main attraction of your business. Without proper content marketing, the company will not be able to connect with customers. The opportunity to reach out to too many audiences all around the world through digital marketing can be used as an advantage to publish SEO friendly content. Different types of contents can be published on the internet: blog posts, article posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, image posts. Why is content marketing important? According to studies shown on research regarding digital marketing content, there are 20% internet users all the time on content. 57% of users read the materials published on the internet, 68% of users spend time searching for content that interests them regarding brands and business information, and 80% users find the information provided on materials useful for them. In return, it will increase the customer base for the business providing the content. Focusing on keywords and using organic keywords while writing the content will attract traffic towards the business website. Google identifies the importance of the keywords and ranks the business website higher according to it. There are SEO tools available to search keywords that are related to the content of your business and which shows a reasonable click-through rate (CTR) to select the keywords. Tools such as Ahref is a complete SEO tool supporting SEO techniques that business use. SEO specialists can also use Yoast SEO to check whether is article sets the SEO friendly standards. When content is high on its readability, unique and high on its credibility, the ranking of the business will increase.

Website design and website optimisation

Focusing on your website design is one of the essential factors of effective digital marketing. The business should highly concentrate on the speed and the structure of the site while publishing contents. The online users all around the world searching for the service or product provided by the business will click towards the business website. Content posted on the website should be unique, attractive and customer friendly. The business website developer should understand, maintain and keep the site updated to satisfy the existing customers and attract new customers. Through designing the website for mobile and web by using friendly approaches the business can attract customers and increase traffics. The design of the website also determines the speed of it. The company should make better developments on the website using an updated CMS (Content Management System). The right functionality and attraction should be on the business website. The website should be responsive, Effectively optimised (SEO). When you have created a website that marks up to the standards of customer-friendly sites the business can focus on targeting audiences for the business product/ services. Along with monitoring the website and its progress, website optimisation and design will help you support effective digital marketing tactics.

Social Media advertising

One of the best advantages of digital marketing is social media platforms available to advertise a business. If you take a look at the 21^st-century generation today, everyone uses social media for different purposes and to reach out to people. There are many top social media sites available to promote a business. Examples of some of the top used social media all around the world: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Pinterest.  According to business research studies based on social media advertising, there are 75% internet users surfing social media. 98% of small to medium-sized businesses use social media marketing strategies to create brand awareness and promote business. Six hundred forty-five million people explore market through Facebook monthly. Five hundred million active users on Instagram engage with businesses monthly. 93% of users follow small businesses on Twitter, and 100 million people discover business ideas on Pinterest, exploring new companies in the industry. However, to understand how this digital marketing basics work effectively for business, research on the target market, the marketing campaign costs and how to approach the social media audience should be understood clearly. An individual can study more about it through blogs, online courses from the UK, video tutorial or take advice from a professional social media specialist.

Social media management

Anybody can post and view content on social media, but not many can manage and handle the social media promoting sites for business. Observing, monitoring and tracking the progress of marketing is essential while conducting digital marketing. Many companies fail to keep up with digital marketing due to neglecting the process. If you look inside a digital marketing business, you will observe that there is a team with a social media specialist to handle all marketing aspects. The management process is essential. There are social media tools that can be used to manage the activities on social media platforms. Examples of social media tools: Buffer, Hootsuite, Google trend. By using tools, a professional can manage marketing efficiently.

Pay-per-click advertising

There are organic and inorganic ways to increase traffic and attract new customers to the business. SEO techniques are focusing on both Organic and inorganic approaches. One of the most commonly used advertising methods by many companies is display advertising. Pay-per-click advertising is an excellent method to increase CTR on the business. Pay Per Click advertising is less costly compared to other methods when the research is done on advertising right and effectively. Companies use pay-per-click advertising methods to rank on Google and advertise in a broader range in the digital platform. The right content,  the researched keywords and an attractive image relevant to the business product/service advertised through display advertising will help the business attract different customers from all around the world.

Email marketing

Is email marketing still effective? Even though email marketing was among the first marketing methods used by businesses when technology introduced to the industry. 83% of B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to customer) businesses in the industry still use it. Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing methods used in businesses today, and it is growing effectively in the digital marketing industry. There are many advantages that a business will get through maintaining marketing through emails. Customers prefer the email method due to a stronger connection with individual customers. Businesses interact through emails with updates, new offers and a sense of importance is felt at the end of the relationship. Customers feel wanted through this method. Engaging with customers is one of the key points of effective marketing, and email marketing fulfils that in a positive way.