Taking First Step to Digital Marketing

January 26, 2022
7 min read

Digital Marketing is a part of our lives knowingly or unknowingly. Almost every business or brand is digitized in today’s digital world. In fact, these days if you want to be noticed, it is through digitizing your business.

If you are entirely new to the world of digital marketing and wondering where to start from, continue reading….

Before we start talking about taking the first step to digital marketing, let’s take a look at what digital marketing is.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing, in simple terms, means promoting and selling your products and services online. Usually through the internet and using other digital media platforms, one is able to go digital and sell their products. Digital marketing makes use of digital tools like social media marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), online advertising, and influencer marketing.

A part of marketing strategy, digital marketing makes use of digital technologies such as mobile phones, desktops, etc. Also called online advertising or online marketing, digital marketing makes you visible and puts you out there. It not only increases your sales but your brand gets recognition too.

In that sense, a digital agency has an army of experts that are well-versed and well-coordinated to help you achieve better profit and sales.

Kinds of Marketing Strategy

Digital marketing has two types- online and offline. In today’s digital world, online marketing is more effective than online because everyone has access to the internet and social media. Online marketing provides real-time results and one can easily track return on investments (ROI). Overall, it becomes easy to assess your digital marketing strategy in order to increase traffic, content performance, lead generation, and attribution modeling.

Pros of Digital Marketing

Following advantages pour out when one employs digital marketing strategy-

It is perhaps the most basic process of getting people to notice your brand.
Digital marketing provides for better customer communication.
Creating a loyal customer base is a reality.
One can present appropriate products and services at the correct time.

Various Platforms for Digital Marketing

There are several platforms to digitally market your brand or service. However, three critical ones will fetch you desired results-

Social Media- as a digital marketing strategy provides maximum returns. It is a great tool for companies to connect with their customers. A campaign can go viral on Facebook and people can hashtag on Twitter. These two social media platforms are enough to gain a fan base. You have the liberty to create a business account and communicate exclusively with your clients.
Email marketing- this strategy, although, when used correctly may benefit you. Emailing customers about the latest offers, sales, and more information about your brand can make a difference. However, for it to be successful you need permission from your customers to mail them. Emailing is an effective mode of communication provided you do it right.
Search Engine Optimization- this helps you improve your website’s ranking. Since the search engines use complex algorithms, it leads the customers to you. To make this strategy a success, you may need to employ the services of digital marketing wizards who will design your campaign in such a manner that relevant keywords will direct the potential customers to your website.

Taking The First Step

If you are planning on taking the first step, keep the following strategies in mind-

Make yourself visible- that doesn’t mean you only talk about your product or services. In addition, explain why you are different from your competitors and why should a customer buy from you. Be empathetic and focus your energy on what the customer wants. Discover what your competitors aren’t already offering and build on it.
Tell about yourself- next is to tell about your brand story. Discover where you can find your target audience. LinkedIn is good for selling services, and Instagram and Facebook are more suited for products. In addition, carry out an SEO on your website. This way, you will know where your brand website stands on google.
Sell your product- selling isn’t just selling. You have to make the entire journey for the customer a smooth ride. Do not forget to keep customer service as hassle-free as possible. Retargeting is equally important. Once you have an audience base, continue pouring more digital advertising campaigns.
Keep yourself updated- digital marketing isn’t a one-time process but an ongoing one. You need to keep yourself informed and learn new strategies. This will help you reach your audience. So, start small, keep updating and adjust to new versions. Learn over time and grow.

Creating a Marketing Strategy

Once we are aware of things to bear in mind regarding taking the first step, it is time to educate ourselves about creating a marketing plan-

Identify the customer- get to know your potential target audience by making use of online tools such as MakeMyPersona and Persona Creator.
Define your goals- set realistic and measurable goals for yourself. Setting goals is the key to a successful marketing strategy.
Go blogging- it is a great tool for creating good quality content on your website. It ensures more traffic and a better media presence. Maintaining a blog helps your customers and makes your website more visible.
Assess the digital marketing channels you are using right now- if the marketing channels that you are presently using like Google Adwords, blogs, social advertising, paid to advertise, etc are effective this year, then employ the same albeit in an improvised version next year as well.
Marketing Automation- due to new and improved software and technologies, marketing automation can help your digital marketing plan. Make sure it is a part of your marketing strategy.
Mobile Optimization- before people open their laptops, they reach for their mobile phones. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and provides a user-friendly experience.
Good customer service experience- the last you want for your online business is for potential customers to not reach out to you easily. Connecting with your customers is important so, ensure that this process is a smooth one. Use tools like Zenreach and Target Everyone to make customer engagement easy.
Employ the correct technology- your entire marketing strategy will render useless if you do not employ appropriate technology. In addition to using marketing automation software, some tools can assist you during your digital marketing process. One such tool is Snapshot Report by Vendasta.
Assess your competitors- your customers need to know why your company or brand is unique and why you are different from your competitors. Do a bit of research on it and include the same in your marketing campaigns.
Monitor your progress- ensure that you keep a track of your strategy. For any marketing strategy to work, a lot of hard work goes into it. Learn from your mistakes and continuously improve on your marketing strategy. Well-planned and effective strategy always works.

Treat the above-mentioned steps like gospel when it comes to planning a marketing strategy. It may sound overwhelming, but digital marketing strategy is perhaps the cheapest one. In fact, a digital agency as a marketing agency can help you reach a sound plan.

In a Nutshell…

Digital marketing has revolutionized the way we sell or buy. If you have a product or a service to sell, you have got to digitize it. It helps not just big businesses or brands, but even small businesses can benefit from it.

Digital marketing includes an array of activities like communicating and managing customer relationships, providing goods and services, putting together good quality content, and coming up with various promotional activities. There is no harm in employing the services of a digital agency to walk you through the entire process.

So, take the first step towards digitizing your business. It will open doors to untapped potential.