In the world of business development and branding, going digital is all the buzz. So precisely what is digital marketing and how can we use it to cultivate our businesses?

Digital Marketing Defined

Digital marketing is the advertising and promotion of businesses and their brands through digital media channels. Digital media, at the moment, includes websites, social media marketing, radio, television, mobile and also types of traditionally non-digital media such as for example billboards and transit signs. Essentially any marketing media that is delivered electronically is known as digital marketing.

This leaves only various types of person-to-person (P2P) marketing, print advertising and direct marketing outside of the digital marketing umbrella. Even then, print ads, direct mail, print directories, billboards and posters are all starting to hook up to their digital counterparts. With items like URL landing pages, QR codes, web banner advertising, online directories and text codes, traditional marketing and advertising more often than not includes a digital marketing connection.

Why the Focus on Digital Media?

The shift to digital media has been driven by marketing agencies, business owners and consumers alike. The ever-increasing demand to show quantifiable results makes going digital a dream for the digital marketing agency. Most digital media, including websites, social media and mobile advertising is a lot simpler to track than traditional marketing media such as for example print advertising.

For Best SEO , many types of digital advertising are very low priced. Having a web presence, engaging customers in conversations through social media marketing and e-mail marketing are low cost alternatives to print advertising and direct mail. These digital channels can be found to businesses of any size, and help even the playing field for start-ups, smaller businesses and independent consultants seeking new business.

For consumers, the fast pace of life makes digital advertising essential. When consumers are looking for goods and services, gone are the days of thumbing through a phonebook to get them. Now, we whip out our cellular devices or check out our computers for answers - and we find them fast.

Using SEO to Build Your Business and Brand

No matter what size your organization is - large or small to medium sized business / enterprise (SMB or SME) - you can effectively market your organization through low-cost digital channels. The foundation of your marketing efforts will undoubtedly be your website. Invest wisely in your website, and be sure that it does the following:Adequately represents your business and brand (appear and feel, messaging)Adequately speaks to your target audienceCan be found by searchers at the top search enginesIs up-to-date and easily navigableProvides multiple channels for customer communicationConnects to other marketing efforts

It is strongly recommended that you work with a professional web design firm that's skilled in web development and search engine optimization. Because your site is the foundation to and that all other digital channels will lead, it ought to be considered one of your top business investments.

Once you have your website complete, the next steps would be to launch regular monthly or bi-monthly e-mail campaigns, and connect to customers via social media. If you are truly on a shoestring budget, they are efforts that can be done in-house (by someone with the proper knowledge) or for a low cost by an outside digital marketing agency. Make sure that all your efforts lead customers back to your website where they are able to fully engage with your organization, products and services, and choose the channels through which they contact you.

If you're thinking about getting aggressive with search marketing, you can set aside some digital marketing dollars for search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. Many businesses today rely heavily on being aquired online to gain new customers. A standard misconception among business owners is that simply having a website means that customers will see it. Not so. Your site must be built with specific key words and phrases, meta data, page content and linking strategies that will assist it reach top search rankings.

Because many key words and phrases have stiff competition for top level search rankings, you need to supplement your organic search engine optimization efforts with pay-per-click advertising. Getting established with pay-per-click advertising campaigns could be a little daunting, but with a while, effort and instruction, that too could be accomplished in-house, or for a reasonable cost through an outside digital marketing agency.

Beyond e-mail, social media marketing and search engine marketing, you can venture into a host of other digital marketing efforts. Mobile advertising, radio, television, electronic billboards plus much more are available as marketing outlets. Whatever digital efforts you choose, they ought to all connect and tie into your foundation - your organization website.

When you have the means, a wise investment would be to engage the services of a digital marketing agency to aid in your marketing efforts. Today, many digital agencies offer multiple levels of service to accommodate businesses large and small.