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What is Digital Marketing? (and why it’s vital to your business growth)
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is the process of using various marketing platforms and techniques to generate more leads, traffic, and sales online. Digital marketing encompasses the most popular websites and technologies out there including Google, Facebook, Bing, Twitter, Instagram, and much more!
Why You Need Digital Marketing
Here are a few digital marketing fun fact: ​Google alone receives over 63,000 per second on ​any given ​day. That's the average figure of how many people use Google per day which translates into at least 2 trillion searches per year, 3.8 million searches per minute, 228 million searches per hour, and 5.6 billion searches per day.
Fact number two: out of the 7.7 billion people on Earth, over 3.48 billion of them are now using social media. That's an increase of 9% from last year. Put another way: 45% of the total world population are using social networks. Fact number three: approximately 4.48 billion people were active internet users as of October 2019, encompassing 58 percent of the global population.
The above statistics should more than convince you of the insane potential there is out there to grow your business online. If you're interested in tapping into the digital marketing realm below I'll break down the three biggest areas of digital marketing, how to capitalize on them, and which is best for your business goals.
The Big Three Digital Marketing Types
PPC
PPC stands for pay per click and it operates exactly as it sounds. Platforms such as Google Ads and Bing Ads allow businesses to advertise on their related browser to show up for keywords chosen by the business owner and you only pay when someone clicks on their ad. The most appealing part of ppc marketing is you have complete control over your daily budget and how much you'd like to spend on a click for any given keyword. PPC marketing is usually used in unison with other marketing techniques/technologies but it's usually the fastest way out of any platform to generate qualified leads.
who's it best for:
Due to the highly refined targeting options available in Google Ads search campaigns (the most popular ppc platform) I feel ppc marketing is best suited for lead generation. This could be anyone looking to generate new or reoccurring customers looking for the service they provide. Google ads does have different campaign options which utilizes different networks such as display or shopping but those are suited for different campaign goals such as brand awareness and eCommerce. The truth is ppc marketing is good for anyone, but we'd suggest to only partake if you have a minimum of $500/month to spend. You can have success with any budget but some industries are more expensive than others so it's best to research before just throwing money into Google and hoping to get some leads.
SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It's a long arduous process of getting your website to rank in the top position organically in the search engine results. Organic traffic is the major perk of great SEO because where PPC marketing is fast and expensive, SEO is typically slow and even more expensive, but definitely worth the effort when done correctly because organic traffic is essentially free traffic. Through ongoing SEO, many different aspects of your website are improved such as site peed, mobile responsiveness, improving html but most SEO efforts are based around adding content to a website tailored around a specific keyword theme to rank for keywords applicable to your business and building links with other
Who's it best for:
SEO is best for anyone serious about running a business and expanding their online efforts. A website is your storefront to the digital world and with the direction the world is going, it's less and less optional to run a successful business without a good website. And with SEO, it's not only about have a good website, it's about have a good website that people can find when looking for your product or service. Good SEO tends to be a minimum of $1000/month and tends to start working well around 6 months, so while it's not the cheapest option by any means if done correctly it's an amazing investment for your business.
Social Media
Everyone knows what social media is but very few are using it to market their products or services. Think of all the major platforms and take your pick. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, even Snap chat all have marketing services integrated into their platforms making it easier and more lucrative than ever to get your brand in front of people looking for your business. While it's easy to lump all social media platforms into one label, some platforms typically yield better results than others. Facebook would likely be the best paid option for someone just starting their business but it doesn't having dedicated pages on any and all social platforms . Each platform operates in a unique way and has a different audience so choose you paid social media marketing strategy wisely.
Who's it best for:
I believe social media is the perfect digital marketing method for someone unsure if they're focused on leads or brand awareness because social media marketing offers the best of both worlds. You can target specific users with keywords and audiences but also use hashtags and interactive posts to build your brand and get your name out there. Overall no method is better or worse than another, it's all depending on individual preferences and marketing goals.
Need some extra help?
Inbound revenue is a top rated marketing agency based out of Baltimore MD serving clients worldwide! If you're serious about taking your business and marketing to the next level be sure to reach out for a FREE consultation.
