Just stepped into the digital marketing world? Do you have several questions about digital marketing? Well, that is common if you are new to this world. To make your digital journey easy and confusion-free, we are answering the top ten frequently asked questions about digital marketing. Here we go.
Q1: What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is the marketing of your products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including phones, display devices, and other digital mediums. It is the most popular method of marketing we have. High return on investment (ROI), better reach, and easy to manage are the few reasons that make people choose digital marketing over traditional marketing methods.
Q2: Why do I need digital marketing?
Let us understand this with an example. You have a luxury hotel. Unfortunately, nobody knows about it. Do you think people will visit your hotel? No right? People will check-in only if they know about your hotel.
Similarly, just creating a website for your business is not enough. People should know that your business exists. This can be done through digital marketing. There are several types of digital marketing. A digital marketer will choose the one or more methods which suit your business goals and deliver the results.
Q3: What are the different types of digital marketing?
There are several digital marketing methods. We are listing the popular ones and briefly explaining them,
SEO: SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is the most fundamental type of digital marketing. It is basically a methodology of strategies and tactics used to increase the number of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search engine results page.
PPC: PPC stands for pay per click marketing. It is a way of marketing on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc. It is an internet advertising model used to attract traffic to your website, in which the advertiser pays only when someone clicks on the ad displayed.
SMM: SMM stands for social media marketing. It is the type of marketing where various social media platforms and websites are used to promote products and services. It helps to gain huge traffic and a better consumer relationship.
Content marketing: It is another commonly used digital marketing method, where the whole focus is on content creation, posting, and distributing content for the target audience. Content marketing goes hand in hand with other digital marketing methods. This is because almost all digital marketing methods largely rely on quality content.
Email marketing: It is an act of sending a business message to a target audience using email. In simple words, each and every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing.
Online advertising: This type of marketing is known by various names such as online marketing, Internet advertising, web advertising, etc. Here the Internet is used to spread promotional marketing messages to potential customers.
Mobile marketing: With the rise in the number of mobile phones, more and more people are using this digital marketing method. It is basically a promotional activity designed for delivery to all kind of phones and handheld devices. This is usually done as a component of a multi-channel campaign.
Viral marketing: Viral marketing, also known as viral advertising, is a marketing strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product or a service. Here the consumers are encouraged to share vital information via the Internet.
Affiliate marketing: It is probably the most different type of digital marketing we have. Here the affiliates are rewarded for each customer brought by his or her own marketing efforts. In other words, it is a way of earning a commission by promoting other products and services.
Digital marketing companies usually recommend using a mix of different types of digital marketing in order to reach your target audience. Sticking to only one type of digital marketing strategy simply blocks growth opportunities.
Q4: What are the benefits of digital marketing?
There are several benefits of digital marketing. Here we are mentioning some.
Cost effective: Digital marketing is cost effective compared to traditional marketing. You can save a lot of money through digital marketing without compromising your business goals.
Easy to measure: It is easy to measure results in digital marketing. In the marketing world, it is really important to know how your campaign is running. Only when you know the results, you can make the required changes to your campaigns.
Easy to evolve: One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is that it gives us an opportunity to make the required adjustments. In other words, you can keep evolving the campaign to achieve a new landmark.
Brand development: Digital marketing helps you in building a strong online reputation via a well-developed website, a blog featuring valuable and useful articles, and social media channels. A good online reputation is necessary to attract new customers.
Limitless: Digital marketing makes you reach any kind of audience throughout the world. In simple words, you can promote your products or services across the globe. Your small business may turn big.
Target: One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing over traditional marketing is that you can target your audience precisely. That is you can target a particular city, state, country, gender, age, or community easily.
Segmentation: We already saw how digital marketing helps you to target a specific audience. In addition to that, it also allows segmentation, which furthermore increases the chances of sales.
More traffic: One of the primary goals of digital marketing is to increase the traffic to your website. More traffic simple means more sales opportunities.
Q5: Can I do it myself?
There is no one answer for this. Digital marketing is a huge industry. We have already mentioned nearly ten types of digital marketing. Each one of those is quite different from one another. It requires a lot of time, experience and hard work to master the art of digital marketing.
As a business owner, your business is your top priority. Focusing too much on marketing might distract you from the job you do the best. So, it is always best to hire a digital marketing agency and leave the marketing part to the experts.
Here there is no place for trial and error methods. One mistake is enough to significantly harm your business. So, taking control in your hands can harm your both online presence and online reputation.
Q6: How much does it cost?
The answer to this question depends on various factors such as the type of service, business goals, region, level of competition, etc. It is common to see the same service being offered at a different price range.
Usually, the popular and experienced digital marketing agencies give you guaranteed results and charge you more.
Whereas, the newer ones do it at a cheaper rate. It is advised to choose a digital marketing agency on the basis of research and not on the basis of price.
Q7: When should I start and stop a digital marketing campaign?
When should I begin digital marketing? The answer is now. Your competitors are running digital marketing campaigns. If you haven’t started yet, start right now. This is the only way to beat them.
When should I stop a digital marketing campaign? The answer is never. Digital marketing is not a one time process. On the contrary, it is a continuous process. You must never stop a digital marketing campaign.
Q8: How do I stay updated with the latest digital marketing trends?
Staying up to date with the latest digital marketing trends is one of the most fundamental best practices. Doing so can help you to avoid outdated practices. Here are some ways to stay updated with the latest digital marketing trends.
Subscribe to popular blogs
Attend webinars
Read the latest books
Keep an eye on Google updates
Subscribe to popular digital marketing YouTube channels
Q9: How much time does it take to see results?
It depends on the type of digital marketing you choose. If you opt Pay Per Click, you will get almost instant results. Whereas, if you go for search engine optimization (SEO) you may have to wait for a couple of months. Now, that does not mean SEO is not a good digital marketing method. All digital marketing methods are different and have their own positives.
The time required to see results also depends on your business goals and the level of competition you have.
Q10: How to select a digital marketing agency?
Before you choose a digital marketing company, do in-depth research. Here is how you can do research.
Read sufficient online reviews.
Talk to former clients, and know their experience.
Meet existing clients, and know their problems, if any.
Know the history of the firm.
Discover how well the agency has ranked itself on the search engine results page.
Find out the experience of the company and its employees.
Try to know the number of projects handled by the team.
Discuss your business goals with the firm.
Based on the above information, you will get a pretty good idea about a digital marketing firm.