What is Digital Marketing ?

What is Digital Marketing?

If marketing creates and satisfies demand, digital marketing drives the creation of demand using the power of the Internet, and satisfies this demand in new and innovative ways. With the world, become more web- centric, digital marketing is now pivotal to business’s success in today’s technological era. Promoting brands, product, services has now become easy or table stakes.

However to understand digital marketing you must first know what marketing is. A simple definition for marketing is that it is the creation and satisfaction of demand for your product or service. If all goes well, this demand should convert into sales and, ultimately, profits. Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time.

Dr Philip Kotler defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit,” he says. He further says, “Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential” (Kotler, 2012).

In order to motivate and persuade people to buy your products or services, or to consider your organisation superior / better to your competitors, you need first create meaningful value and benefits for the consumer. The value that any marketer should seek and thrive is to create, foster equal to or even greater than the costs of the product to the consumer. Doing this consistently and often, enough will grow trust in and loyalty towards the brand.

However, enough with marketing this topic seeks to address about digital marketing. Digital marketing is sometimes referred to inbound marketing but digital marketing is an umbrella term for all of your online /internet marketing efforts. Nowadays organizations are taking advantage of digital channels such as Google, Yahoo search engines, email, social media and their websites to connect with their current and prospective customers.

If marketing satisfies and creates demand, digital marketing drives the creation of the demand using the power of the internet and satisfies this demand in new and inventive ways. The internet is a very interactive medium, it allows exchange of information and currency but more than it allows for the exchange of value.

A company on the Internet can increase value in the form of attention, advocacy and time from the consumer.  For the user, value can be added in the form of enlightenment, entertainment, utility; content marketing is one powerful and influential ways to create value.

The reciprocity of the transaction is what is crucial here – in other words, the exchange is a two-way system that provides benefits to both parties at the same time. The internet has changed the world in which we market, sell and advertise. Though it is not a new marketing channel or platform, instead it has created a new paradigm for the way in which consumers have the ability to connect and have a relationship with the brand or product. The complete scale of marketing is practiced on the Internet – services and products are promoted, positioned, purchased serviced and distributed. The web provides consumers with the power of choice and influence.

Brands have new ways of selling products, services and new markets to which they can sell. The roles played by marketing agencies are changing and shifting too. Most traditional agencies are now even using digital marketing, while agencies that started out as digital shops are starting to play in the traditional advertising space.

More than ever, integrated and incorporated strategies that speak to an overall brand identity are important in achieving an organisation’s goals.

Consumers are becoming increasingly more fluent in their movement across varies channels and in their use of numerous of channels at once. Consumers expect the same brands or companies, which they connect.  So anyone still thinking in the old ‘traditional versus digital’ dichotomy is sorely out of date.

However, marketing or advertising on the Internet does not mean totally dismiss the rulebook on marketing and business principles. Instead, the internet provides a new situation in which to build on these. Profit will always be revenue less cost. The Internet does not change that.

Brands build loyalty among customers who love their services or products. Consumers fall in love with services and products when their experience and understanding is tailored to their needs and not the needs of the brand. More than any other type of digital marketing and marketing is measurable. This gives brands the opportunity to build optimized brand, tailored experiences for consumers.

In our next segment, we will be discussing about the facets of digital marketing and these consist of search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), conversion rate optimization and social media marketing. All these facets are aimed at capturing customer’s attention and turn potential leads into loyal buyers.