In a nutshell, digital marketing simply means to any marketing methods via electronic electronic devices such as a computer or a mobile phone. This covers online marketing on social media, search engines, apps and also other platforms on the internet.

Screen time is at an all-time high for many people, and ever increasing too. Digital marketers takes advantage of this phenomenon, promoting business products and services across the internet. In this way, they ensure that their marketing efforts are more likely to reach customers, by targeting them where they spend most of their time at.

Businesses began to experiment with new marketing methods as digital technology exploded, including popular and pervasive use of computers and smartphones. As a result, digital marketing was created. During the current times, digital marketing is just as crucial as traditional marketing strategies, if not more so. As many organisations shift their marketing budgets from traditional to digital marketing, this gap appears to be widening. Overall, it is important that businesses would be able to create and implement a successful digital marketing strategy.

History of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing has been around for far longer than it was popularised back in the early 2000s. Much, much longer or to be precise, almost 100 years longer.

This is a picture of the first digital marketer:

Guglielmo Marconi was the first person to show a “public transmission of wireless signals” in 1896. The radio was invented by this guy. Morse signals were broadcast across open ocean shortly after his demonstration in England. While it would take another ten years for the radio to reach the general public, it didn’t take long for the inventors to understand they could utilise it to make money. After the first live broadcast, which was from a Met opera performance, they bought tickets to the show and this was how the concept of digital marketing was developed.

Basics of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing, unlike traditional marketing, which is static and frequently referred to as “one-way” communication, is a dynamic, ever-changing process. Customers won’t be able to interact with a company through a billboard or newspaper advertisement. However digital marketing allows for two-way communication between a company and its audience.

From small businesses to large corporations, a diversified digital marketing strategy can yield major commercial advantages. Online advertising, search engine optimization and marketing, social media marketing and management, and content development, for example, are all common components of a successful digital marketing plan.

Traditional Marketing VS Digital Marketing

Radio, non-digital billboards, print publications, and offline events are examples of traditional marketing. Digital marketing spending is predicted to rise by 14.3% in 2021, while traditional marketing spending, on the other hand, was predicted to fall by 0.2%.

Types of Businesses that use Digital Marketing

Any firm, regardless of industry, may benefit from digital marketing by creating customer personas to better understand the demands of the target demographic and then creating online content that they would find useful. Digital marketing techniques will differ based on the needs of the firm and the consumer, even though it is a helpful practice for all businesses. Within digital marketing, there are two fundamental distinctions:

• B2B digital marketing – Businesses who sell products or services to other businesses, often known as business-to-business or B2B, should concentrate their digital marketing efforts on generating online leads. The majority of these encounters will most likely result in someone seeking to talk with a sales representative. A B2B marketing plan must achieve this goal by attracting high-quality leads through digital platforms such as LinkedIn or a corporate website.
• B2C digital marketing – Most business-to-consumer (B2C) organisations aim to attract visitors to their website and then convert them into customers without ever having to speak with a salesperson. As a result, rather than producing traditional leads, B2C organisations frequently focus on providing a short and straightforward buyer’s experience. In other words, powerful calls-to-action (also referred to as CTAs) and emphasised product features assist a visitor to the company’s website through the process of making a purchase. Digital platforms like Pinterest and Instagram sometimes benefit B2C businesses more than business-focused channels like LinkedIn.

The Many Ways of Conducting Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a catch all phrase that which basically refers to a variety of methods for promoting a company’s interests to potential clients. There are numerous strategies to perform digital marketing depending on the objectives and goals of the company. It’s not a one-size-fits-all workout. However, there are a few typical strategies for conducting digital marketing, such as:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – SEO is the field of increasing web traffic by optimising for page rankings in major search engines.
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – SEM is a type of internet advertising that uses sponsored ads to improve a website’s exposure in search engines. SEM frequently goes hand in hand with SEO.
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) – PPC is an online advertising approach in which a company only pays for its advertisements when someone clicks on them.
• SMM (Social Media Marketing) – the activity of promoting business products or services using social media channels. SMM makes extensive use of social media influencers, often known as influencer marketing.
• Email Marketing – Email marketing enables businesses to distribute branded, promotional content to potential customers directly through email. In this situation, automated newsletters are frequently used.
• Affiliate marketing – a performance-based activity that allows for revenue sharing and pay-per-sale (PPS) compensation inside a shared network.
• Content marketing – the publishing and dissemination of text, video, and audio resources to clients via the internet. Businesses commonly engage in content marketing through blogs, videos, and podcasts.
• Native advertising – entails mixing marketing materials into a medium, emphasising the importance of both the underlying message and the marketing goals. Sponsored content is a typical form of native advertising in which a company uploads its own material on another website.

There are several ways to implement a digital marketing strategy, as seen in the list above. Also, inbound marketing requires the use of numerous digital marketing tactics.

Benefits of Digital Marketing

Given the variety of digital marketing strategies, digitally savvy benefits offer a similarly wide set of benefits. On a broad level, digital marketing allows firms to reach clients when they are doing things like browsing social media, reading online articles, and watching videos. Customers can profit financially from being exposed to marketing in this natural and regular manner. Companies can use digital marketing to achieve any or all of the following benefits:

• Can be done anywhere – Unlike traditional tactics, digital marketing is not limited to a single geographic location. Nowadays, people are able to access the internet from anywhere. Hence companies can market and sell to customers in other states or countries, lowering physical barriers to entry.
• Low Barrier to Entry – Using traditional means to obtain the worldwide reach of digital marketing would come at a significant cost. Certain aspects of digital marketing, on the other hand, can be performed with very little time and effort. Smaller businesses, for instance, can develop a website, manage social media, and write blogs without breaking the bank.
• Measurable ROI – Businesses can examine ROI in order to optimise profitability. Traditional marketing ROI is difficult to quantify, if not impossible. Conversely, digital marketing gives business owners real-time visibility into the efficacy of each campaign, allowing them to make well-informed decisions to improve sales and profit.
• Improved Targeting – Businesses may target highly specific demographics of potential clients through digital marketing. By engaging clients in a certain area, industry, or social channel, businesses have a much better chance of reaching their target population.
• Dynamic Adaptability – Digital marketing tactics are incredibly flexible and fluid, allowing organisations to change course if necessary. Marketers can change their digital efforts on the go, allowing for quick pivots when economic opportunities occur, unlike traditional long-term marketing strategy.
• Immediate Connection – Modern shoppers typically do their own research and evaluate reviews before committing to a purchase. The search engine is usually the first place they go to. Businesses with well-developed SEO, SEM, and PPC strategies can connect with clients immediately in this way.
• Building Relationships – As social media has grown in popularity, it has become the main communication tool for various client segments. Apart from that, customers are being increasingly demanding that firms connect with them on their terms and on their preferred platform. As a result, companies that use efficient SMM strategies can develop long-term and loyal relationships with their present and potential clients.

Digital marketing may help reap significant benefits. Not only that, the cost of digital marketing may be adjusted  and is unique to each individual organisation, removing many of the traditional approaches’ entrance hurdles. It’s very easy to see the reason why so many firms are flourishing with digital marketing efforts when there are so many perks accessible for almost any budget.

Cost of Digital Marketing

The amount of money you’ll need for a digital marketing strategy is entirely dependent on the strategies you want to use to fulfil your company’s unique requirements. The focus of inbound strategies like content development, social networking, and SEO is on generating high-quality content that your audience will find interesting, so you’ll often have to invest more time than money. Unless you decide to pay for the work to be outsourced.

There is a digital marketing approach for every budget, to put it simply. Digital marketing methods are flexible enough to help businesses of all sizes, from small to large. It’s impossible to give a price for digital marketing because there are so many different ways and strategies.

Instead, it’s a good idea to look at how much money small businesses spend on digital marketing compared to larger businesses. For instance:

• Basic Digital Marketing – Most newly set up and small businesses do not have a lot of resources to spend on digital marketing. As a result, many companies concentrate on low-cost approaches, such as using websites, blogs, and social media to generate revenue at a cheap cost. Basic digital marketing can set you back several hundred ringgit per month.
• Intermediate Digital Marketing – Medium-sized organisations are more likely to have established income streams and the financial resources to invest more in digital marketing. This is when SEO, SEM, PPC, and email marketing become increasingly popular. Intermediate digital marketing might cost a couple of thousand ringgit every month.
• Advanced Digital Marketing – Digital marketing will often be used in a complete worldwide manner by large businesses. Most digital marketing channels have established tactics for these businesses. These companies frequently invest significant efforts in building a digital marketing strategy that utilises a variety of media. Advanced digital marketing services usually cost tens of thousands of ringgit every month.

As previously said, the cost of digital marketing varies tremendously depending on the size, revenue, and goals of the company. Smaller businesses will normally begin with a basic plan and then slowly progress to intermediate or advanced approaches later on. In the end, almost every firm may devise and implement a digital marketing strategy that suits their requirements and budget.

Ways to Create and Successfully Implement Digital Marketing Strategy

Many procedures and considerations are involved in developing and implementing a digital marketing strategy. It is vital to commit resources in planning and creation before implementing anything. Information, analytics, and research gathered throughout the planning and development stages can improve execution significantly.

Each company sure has its own set of requirements and objectives and as a result, the blueprint of the digital marketing plan will differ from one company to the next. Many businesses follow a similar procedure for developing and implementing a digital marketing plan, as detailed below.

• Determine Marketing Objectives – The initial step in this process is to pinpoint particular objectives, such as growing sales, generating leads, expanding brand awareness, or increasing subscribers.
• Solidify the Sales Process – Understanding the digital sales process and how clients will make digital purchases is critical to maximising the benefits of digital marketing.
• Isolate your target market — Using enhanced buyer personas to create a solid target demography helps isolate the perfect clients to acquire your goods or services.
• Select Marketing Channels — Knowing your target demographic and buyer profiles enables you to figure out which digital marketing channels will help you reach your ideal customers.
• Establish Clear Criteria – To evaluate a digital marketing plan, it is advisable to set clear success benchmarks and track progress along the way.
• Adjust as Needed – After developing and implementing a digital marketing plan, it’s critical to track progress and make any changes if required.

Digital Offline Marketing

Though most digital marketing occurs online, there are four key types of digital marketing that can be used offline:

Enhanced Offline Marketing

Although this form of marketing can take place in person, electronic devices can enhance the experience. Customers in restaurants, for example, frequently utilise tablets to place their orders. Improved offline marketing can also be found in modernised classic advertising tactics. Electronic billboards are a good example of modified traditional advertising since they use LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to create engaging and occasionally interactive advertisements.

Demos or product samples in a digital format can also be used for enhanced offline marketing. Offering a sample to your audience when establishing a digital marketing strategy for an electronic product can be a terrific approach to pique their curiosity and generate leads.

Radio Marketing

The oldest kind of digital offline marketing is radio marketing. Even though the internet’s growth and widespread use has had a negative impact on many conventional media channels, radio continues to have a loyal following. Radio commercials are a fantastic marketing tool that is surprisingly inexpensive. With so much emphasis on social media marketing, you may be able to quickly find a local radio station eager to interview or commercialise you If you choose this path, keep in mind that you must be entertaining to succeed on the radio. Spend some time creating a radio commercial that incorporates audio and sound effects to effectively communicate your message.

Television Marketing

Television has been greatly influenced by streaming services and video hosting sites such as YouTube. The lack of detail in television advertising is one of the causes for their failure. Consumers have been conditioned to anticipate items that are especially matched to their experience and wants thanks to email, social media marketing, and search engines. As a result, they disregard any content that is unrelated to them.

Consumers desire control over the content they read and are often uninterested in topics that are unrelated to their daily lives. However, most industry professionals create television advertising to appeal to a broad population. They’re up against custom-tailored experiences with a higher return on investment (return on investment).

Phone Marketing

Telemarketers have been employing phone marketing for a long time, and most of us detest getting calls from unfamiliar numbers. Smartphones, on the other hand, provide up a plethora of new possibilities for digital offline marketing, and mobile advertising is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for businesses to promote their goods and services. While a lot of this happens online, offline mobile marketing can be just as powerful.

Whether a phone is smart or not, every mobile device has two functions: texting and calling. When a sales representative calls a customer to try to offer them a product or service, they are referred to as “cold calling.” This strategy is excellent, but it lacks the scalability of email and social media.

Unlike cold calling, texting nearly guarantees that the person you’re texting will receive your message, and usually within a few minutes of getting it. When customers consent, text message marketing can be a useful tool for distributing discounts, promotions, and special offers to existing customers. Many businesses run text message marketing campaigns in which customers text a code to a phone number to sign up for promotional messages.

Text message reminders are an excellent approach to improve customer service at your organisation. Some delivery services and other businesses, such as pharmacies, have started sending text messages to consumers to inform them of changes or revisions to their purchases. Customers are also encouraged to return by loyalty schemes that work within apps or by swapping phone numbers. Text messages are used by certain businesses to promote prizes. Texting, in whatever form, can be a powerful tool for engaging with your audience and increasing your company’s conversion.

The bottom line

An good digital marketing plan must include the specific needs and objectives of the company in question. Accordingly, a digital marketing strategy that works for a small “mom-and-pop” store is likely inappropriate for a global brand. The good news is that digital marketing offers a wide range of methods, channels and strategies. So, any businesses can leverage digital marketing to great effect.

As technological advancements have produced a culture that predominantly exists online, it’s only natural to adjust your marketing methods to meet your target audience where they are. Digital marketing is a successful, and perhaps necessary, form of marketing that allows you to contact your target audience, create leads, and track the results of your efforts more effectively than any other marketing method. As a result, it’s critical that you commit to learning about and providing digital content that will enhance your audience’s experience while also producing measurable outcomes.