You’ve all heard the phrase. You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t! But what does digital marketing actually mean, and how does it differ from “marketing”?
In the marketing world there are two main forms – “Marketing” and “Digital Marketing”. The first we like to call “offline” (or “traditional”), the latter can also be known as “online”. Making that clear distinction between the two will help you get your head around which of the two does what.
Offline marketing uses print based and radio based media. Everything you see in your magazine, in your newspaper, on the large banners at the train station, or in your post box is offline. That’s not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea (you probably knew all that anyway). Think of offline as anything you need a tree to make, and online as anything you need electricity to make.
Source: newspaperconsultants.com
We don’t do offline marketing. We won’t claim to be experts in it or that we do “some” offline marketing. It’s a completely different ball game to digital marketing and it’s digital marketing that we know. We do, however, work with some of the best traditional marketing agencies in Cheltenham. Why is that important? Because having a joined up approach in your online and offline marketing can be the key between success and incredible success.
On to the main question then: What is digital marketing?
Digital Marketing is the promotion and advertising of a business using online or computer based techniques. Of course it’s not just computer based; it’s also mobile, app and tablet based too.
Specifically, digital marketing encompasses the promotion of a business on these platforms or mediums:
- Your own website
- SEO
- PPC
- Social Media
- Affiliates
- Apps
The Digital Marketing process
Digital marketing is a process of:
- Putting your company in front of an audience;
- Making them interested enough in your company to visit your site;
- Making them convert (buy or make an enquiry) on your site, then;
- Maintaining your relationship with those people.
A great digital marketer will therefore know how to get the people to your site and make them a customer for life.
The biggest challenge is getting good quality people (traffic) to visit you. Anyone can throw £’000s at PPC and get your traffic numbers up, but that’s money wasted if they’re after apples and you sell pears. The skill is using the variety of mediums available in a cost effective manner, to deliver the best possible ROI.
Want to know a bit more? Check out our services page in the menu above, or read up on our journal to keep learning.