Thursday, August 24, 2023

What Is Digital Marketing? Types, Skills, and Careers

 Digital marketing, or online marketing, is a form of advertising that uses the internet and digital technologies to connect with customers. Rather than traditional media, such as print, radio, or television, digital marketing uses computers, mobile, social media, search engines, and other digital channels to reach consumers wherever they spend the most time.
Learn all you need to know about digital marketing, its methodologies, and how to get started in this career.

What is Digital Marketing?




Digital marketing is a form of marketing that uses the internet and other digital technologies to promote brands, products, or services to potential customers. Digital marketing can take many forms, such as online video, display ads, search engine marketing, paid social ads, social media posts, email, and text messages. Digital marketing aims to reach customers where they spend most of their time online and provide them with relevant and engaging content. Some of the benefits of digital marketing are:

  • It can help you reach a large and global audience with low cost and high efficiency.
  • It can help you measure and analyse the performance and impact of your campaigns using data and analytics.
  • It can help you personalize and tailor your messages to different segments and audiences based on their preferences and behaviours.
  • It can help you build trust and loyalty with your customers by providing them with valuable information and solutions.

5 types of digital marketing (with examples)

Digital marketers connect with potential customers through different channels. The following digital marketing tactics, used by small companies and big businesses alike, remain among the most popular and impactful used today. 

1. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility and relevance of a website or a web page in the organic (unpaid) results of a search engine, such as Google or Bing. SEO helps to attract more traffic, leads, and customers to a website by matching the user’s search intent and providing them with the best possible answer to their query.



SEO involves two main aspects: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO refers to the optimization of the content and technical elements of a website, such as keywords, titles, headings, meta tags, images, links, speed, and mobile-friendliness. Off-page SEO refers to the optimization of the external factors that affect the authority and popularity of a website, such as backlinks, social media, reviews, and online reputation.

To do SEO effectively, one needs to follow some best practices and strategies, such as:

  • Conducting keyword research to find out what words and phrases users are searching for and how competitive they are.
  • Creating high-quality and relevant content that answers the user’s questions and provides value to them.
  • Optimizing the content for the target keywords and using them naturally and strategically throughout the text.
  • Using descriptive and catchy titles, headings, and meta tags that capture the user’s attention and entice them to click.
  • Adding relevant and optimized images, videos, and other multimedia elements that enhance the user experience and increase engagement.
  • Ensuring that the website is fast, secure, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly.
  • Building links from other reputable and authoritative websites that point to your website and boost its credibility and ranking.
  • Promoting your website on social media platforms and encouraging users to share, like, comment, and follow your content.
  • Measuring and analyzing your SEO performance using tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, etc.

SEO is a dynamic and evolving field that requires constant learning and updating. SEO can help you achieve your online marketing goals by increasing your online visibility, traffic, conversions, and revenue. To learn more about SEO, you can check out some of the web search results I found for you:

  • [What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization]: This article provides a comprehensive overview of SEO, its history, its benefits, its types, its components, its process, its tools, its resources, and its future trends.
  • This article provides a simple and easy-to-follow guide on how to do SEO step by step, from keyword research to content creation to link building to analytics.
  • This article provides a basic introduction to SEO for beginners, covering the fundamentals of SEO, such as what it is, why it matters, how it works, how to do it right, how to avoid common mistakes, and how to measure success.

2. Content marketing 

Content marketing connects with target audiences through original content, such as blogs, articles, and newsletters. It is often used to raise brand awareness through material that appeals to a particular audience.


Content marketing can take many forms across a range of digital media channels, including: 

  • Informative articles and blogs 

  • Original videos

  • Podcasts 

  • Newsletters (like Substack, Medium, or LinkedIn)

3. Email marketing 

Marketers send out timely emails to large groups of people who have signed up for their contact list to inform potential customers of sales, discounts, and product launches. The impact of email marketing is clear: When used strategically, it can have an average return on investment (ROI) of 4,200 percent for every dollar invested.

Some common examples of emailing marketing include: 

  • Timed emails that raise brand awareness during holiday seasons 

  • Blast emails that inform recipients about upcoming sales events 

  • Targeted emails that send personalized offers and messages to specific groups on an email list 

4. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a digital marketing model that involves an advertiser paying a publisher each time their ads are clicked. Typically, the publisher is a website owner, search engine operator, or social network platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram.


Typical examples of PPC advertising include: 

  • Banner ads that flank web content on the sides or top of the page 

  • Social media ads that appear in the feeds of targeted audiences 

  • Ads that appear when a specific keyword is searched on a search engine, such as Google

5. Social media marketing 

Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing that uses social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, to reach customers. It leverages the reach of social network platforms with data-driven efforts to reach targeted consumers. 


Whether through computers, mobile devices, or mobile apps, social media offers the opportunity to reach a wide—and targeted—audience of possible consumers. 

Examples of social media marketing include:  

  • Videos posted onto social media as a part of a larger campaign, such as this 80s-themed music video produced by peanut company Planters for the holidays 

  • Pictures posted on Instagram that reflect a brand’s identity, such as Patagonia’s nature-filled Instagram account 

Digital marketing salary and job outlook


The salary for digital marketing roles can vary considerably depending on seniority, company size, industry, geographic location, and other factors. However, if you look at average digital marketing salaries that take all these factors into account, you can still expect to earn a decent paycheck, no matter what level you’re at. Here’s what you can expect to earn on average:

  • According to Talent.com, the base salary for mid-level digital marketers is $65,979 USD.
  • According to Salary.com, the base salary for a digital marketing manager is $121,701 USD.

How to become a digital marketer


To become a digital marketer, you need to have a strong foundation in marketing principles and a good understanding of digital technologies. You can start by learning the basics of marketing and then specialize in digital marketing. There are many online courses and certifications available that can help you learn digital marketing skills.



Skills needed in a digital marketing career:

   

  • Communication 

  • Collaboration with designers, strategists, and product developers

  • Creative thinking

  • Data analysis and familiarity with data analytics

  • Social media marketing

  • Content creation

  • SEM/SEO and CRM tools

Digital marketing with Google


A career in digital marketing is possible with the proper preparation, training, and approach. Start building the skills that companies are looking for with the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate on Coursera. Go from beginner to job-ready in months as you learn at your own pace. 

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