What is Digital Marketing and How Can it Benefit My Business?

What is digital marketing in 2021? How can we define it, utilise it, and monetise it?

In today’s digital economy, every business owner must have a clear understanding of what digital marketing is and how it can benefit their organisation.

So, let’s explore the current state of digital marketing and the real benefits it can offer your business.

Digital Marketing – Understanding the Basics

A cafe owner checks her website on an iPad

What is digital marketing? It might not be a question you regularly ask yourself, but it’s one that’s important to the success of any modern business.

Digital marketing can drive traffic to your website, develop your brand, expand your customer base, enquiries and sales – and ultimately increase your revenue.

These objectives can be achieved using key digital tools which gather consumers, guide them to your site, then keep them there by captivating their attention.

Search Engine Optimisation

Today, smart and savvy digital marketing is built around Search Engine Optimisation. An SEO campaign will deploy a series of strategies to ensure your website is structured effectively.

A successful site will offer an easy experience to visitors, where they can easily navigate pages and find simple solutions to their questions. Sites that do so rank higher on the results pages of Google.

Search engine algorithms are constantly examining pages using an ever-changing array of techniques (or “ranking factors”), searching for the best content and posting these links higher.

In short – sites that offer the most effectively optimised and carefully crafted content are rewarded – and the benefits can be huge.

There’s a lot of data to reinforce the big advantages that SEO offers to businesses. A top-ranking site on a search return receives 33% of the traffic. Capturing the direct attention of a third of your consumers is an unrivalled opportunity for any business. 

51% of web traffic is generated via search engine results, meaning that the majority of your clients will be looking for you here. It’s a busy and booming marketplace, meaning your business faces stiff competition to stand out from the pack and gain prominence in the rankings.

Subsequently, SEO tools and techniques have grown exponentially in recent years. Today, a digital marker will employ a broad range of SEO strategies, including keyword research, metadata, link building, and an selection of quality content – such as premium copy, blogs, images, and video.

In considering the optimisation of a site, you need to think about how your consumers are using Google. What are they searching for and how is your site responding to these questions?

And guess what – it may well be that, via carefully crafted copy and a sensational sales pitch, your product becomes their perfect solution!

Remember, it’s still most important to optimise your page for a person, not a bot, and genuinely help a consumer with an inquiry. Authenticity and a genuine desire to assist your customers will, over time, build trust – a priceless asset to any business relationship.

It pays dividends to take search rankings seriously and structure your marketing strategy around a smart and sophisticated approach to SEO. But there are many more opportunities to attract attention, generate traffic, and drive it to your site than search engine rankings alone…

Social Media Marketing

A fashion designer checks her social media.

Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or more recent and alternative platforms like Tik Tok or Clubhouse, social media has changed marketing forever. These platforms offer opportunities to connect directly with your consumers.

With an array of ways to begin a conversation – it pays to be smart about how, when and where you choose to spend your budget.

Much of Social Media Marketing (SMM) follows a basic formula – tailoring the online experience of the user to positively interact with your advertising. The aim is to drive engagement and generate promotion with appealing posts and quality content. From stylish photography and captivating video – to quick-witted tweets and entertaining engagement – it’s all about bringing your brand to life with creativity and charisma.

71% of consumers who have a positive experience of a business on social media are likely to recommend it to family and friends.

It’s all about finding the platform where your consumers spend time and reaching them organically with great content. Increasingly, marketers are choosing to focus their attention on fewer, more carefully selected platforms, and utilising the nature of the site to most effectively communicate their brand.

For example, a bespoke fashion label will require the image-heavy opportunities of Instagram, whilst a data-driven financial advisor could communicate more effectively via Twitter.

Because social media is so simple and accessible, many platforms have become over-saturated with advertising. This means your brand must cut through the noise and produce something of value to audiences, rather than simply clogging their feed with annoying advertising.  

Email Marketing

It’s as simple as it sounds – promotional email marketing sent directly to customers. Keeping in regular contact with your consumer base ensures they stay up to date with the evolution of your brand and your growing list of products and services.

Establishing this direct communication means you stay top of mind and a trusted professional resource.

This strategy is dependent on building and maintaining a substantial list of contacts. The question becomes, can you spend the time and energy developing this resource plus creating quality content? Will your marketing cut through the noise, rather than being sent straight to the spam folder? Even worse, are your emails just irritating inbox clutter that is ultimately damaging your brand?

Pay Per Click

PPC ads are a sure-fire way to achieve success. This strategy can be deployed via an array of digital marketing agencies – essentially buying clicks instead of organically earning them via searches and on-page content. They’re a dependable way to build your consumer base, utilising an army of experts to increase traffic, leads and sales.

It’s an invaluable resource to have a team of savvy digital markets on hand for when your business needs them the most. However, be advised that PPC can be pricey – a product you purchase rather than a resource you create. It’s all about balance – finding a cost per click and return on investment that brings real benefit to you and your business.

A carpenter works on his digital marketing strategy.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is one of the most effective ways to advertise your business and share your message with clients. It’s all about finding the strategy that works for you and rolling it out in an efficient and economical way. Why not reach out to our experts and explore your options – including SEO, SMM, and content creation.