DIGITAL MARKETING: THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA

Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of products or services, using digital technologies to reach and convert leads into customers and retain them. It takes place via one or more forms of electronic media. It differs from traditional marketing. It uses multiple channels and methods that enable an organization to analyse marketing campaigns and understand what is working and what is not – typically in real-time. While the internet is, perhaps, the channel most closely associated with digital marketing, others include text messaging, instant messaging, apps, podcasts, electronic billboards, digital television and radio channels, etc. Digital marketers monitor things like what is being viewed, how often and for how long, sales conversions, what content works and does not work, etc.

Digital Media 

Digital media is so pervasive that consumers have access to information any time and any place they want it—an ever-growing source of entertainment, news, shopping and social interaction.  Consumers are now exposed to what a supplier says about themselves and what the media, friends, and peers say.  They want brands they can trust, know them, and personalise and relevant content, which offers tailored to their needs and preferences.

Marketing Today

Digital marketing success involves responding to and initiating customer interactions, managing complex customer relationships across various digital and traditional channels, and; extracting value from big data to make better decisions faster. It has become synonymous with targeted and interactive marketing for products and services that deliver measurable results for marketers. It has enabled consumers to become a part of the brand’s journey and define their own expectations.

Marketing Channels 

Digital marketing is a mix of marketing channels such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer engagement, campaign marketing, social media marketing, email direct marketing (EDM), SMS Marketing, Whatsapp Marketing, display advertising and any other form of digital media to communicate the brand message to the consumers. Digital marketing is about reaching your target audience on digital devices through digital media anytime, anywhere.

Strategy and Integration

However, digital marketing is more than simply adding these online channels of communication. It requires careful integration of digital into all marketing aspects and requires a strategy to run in cohesion with traditional media. Some of the most common misconceptions that may impede the implementation of a successful digital marketing strategy for brands include:

1. Campaign result measurements are unclear in digital marketing:  On the contrary, digital marketing campaign results are measurable with exceptional accuracy. Unlike traditional media like television or newspapers, where an accurate depiction of audience data is not available, each click, each message delivered and read by the target consumers is available to the marketers, enabling them to make tactical adjustments to their strategy during a live campaign. These quantifiable insights make digital marketing a unique proposition for marketing professionals.
2. Digital marketing is about paid activities only: Digital marketing offers a larger pool of tactics to choose from to marketers. Some activities, like a search engine, social media marketing, display advertising, EDMs, etc., fall under the paid marketing activities. In contrast, others like content marketing and influencer engagement need not be paid activities at all. It is among the unique digital marketing features where the tactics do not restrain brands from achieving their targets. Brands and marketers can experiment freely while choosing which tactics to deploy without straining their resources to optimize their ROI.
3. The digital marketing campaign should cover every social media platform: Social media platforms can be critical for a brand and its audience and enable the brand to communicate with the target audience quickly and directly. However, marketing on social media platforms requires sharp focus. Employing too many platforms at the same time may weaken the campaign altogether. The social media strategy should be targeted at a select few social platforms frequently used by your audience to deliver relevant communications to them regularly. It must make sense for your brand and market and should not be governed by trending platforms. Facebook and Twitter are great, to begin with, but you may want to consider LinkedIn or Pinterest, depending on your target audience.
4.  Brands ought to define their objectives at the beginning of any campaign. Then customize to reflect those objectives by incorporating the overall brand strategy that will inevitably differ for each brand and each marketing problem.
5.  Marketing will deliver the desired results when it is a sustained effort. It needs to be incorporated into the overall marketing strategy as a sustained strategy to communicate with the target audience and interact with them regularly to retain brand recall among them. 

A carefully crafted strategy is the key to conquering the market in the digital world.  It is an understanding of the market that defines the brand’s perceptive. Therefore,  Digital marketing goes beyond the tactics alone to offer analysis, market research, technology, and business design through carefully drafted strategies to help the business realize its full potential. Every marketing strategy is designed to attract, convert and engage customers with the brand. It becomes imperative for brands to stand out effectively among the crowd in the online space and reach customers effectively in this brave new digital world.