We consume digital media and marketing campaigns every single day. Digital media is composed of advertisements, videos, music, podcasts, articles, audiobooks, digital radio services, social media, digital art and virtual reality. Media by itself is something that provides information or entertainment, and in digital media, this information or entertainment is provided digitally. It differs from traditional media, which is composed of radio shows, magazines, billboards, and newspapers. Some of the information or entertainment is present in both traditional and digital media, as some newspapers are printed on paper and published online. Some traditional radio shows are also published as podcasts that can be downloaded.
More and more media in our current world is digital media, though traditional media is still present. As this media continues to grow, new careers have emerged. These careers include graphic designers, web developers, and digital marketers, as well as bloggers, social media influencers and video game streamers. If you are working as a digital marketer, or are interested in this field, there are different strategies, tips, and new innovations to keep in mind as you continue to develop your digital marketing skills.
Digital marketing involves the promotion and sales of products and services via digital media. Digital marketers may work in one or all of the following areas: social media marketing, search marketing and email marketing. Traditional marketing centers on price, product, promotion, and place, and these tactics are still applicable for digital marketing; however, digital marketers looking to focus marketing in a new way often look at processes, people, platforms, and performance information. Digital marketing is able to be more personalized than traditional marketing, which means using specific social media, email, and search campaigns to promote and sell goods and services.
Before diving deep into specifics of marketing campaigns, digital marketers should have platforms they use to brainstorm, strategize, plan, and collaborate with others. There are a number of online websites and software that digital marketers can use to manage their work and communicate with clients, colleagues, and supervisors. These include messaging services. There are many available, but two of the most popular include Microsoft Teams and Slack. If you are trying to decide between Microsoft Teams vs Slack, consider the services you are already using, the price you are willing to pay, and features that are most important to you. They have websites you can explore on your own as well. Task, team, and project management websites and software that are popular to use include monday, Asana, ProofHub, TeamWork and Trello, among others. As with messaging services, consider the most important features you need for your work, your budget, and what you already use. Many of these platforms offer free trials so you can test them out and make a well-informed decision before purchasing.
Once you have messaging and software set up and ready to help you complete your work behind the scenes, you can focus on the websites and digital media that will feature the products or services you are marketing. You will likely have a presence on one or many social media sites. These sites may include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tik Tok, and Tumblr. These sites are free to use, but also offer paid promotions and advertising. Although all individuals are able to access and use these sites, there are definite population trends that may influence how and what you market. For example, Facebook tends to have more users that are older, and Tik Tok tends to have more users that are younger.
Other digital media where you may market include podcasts and music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Pandora. Many of these services are free to use with advertisements, so you may market your products or services via advertisements on these sites as well. If you are engaging in search marketing, you want your products to show up on search engines, like Google, Bing or Duck Duck Go. This requires knowledge of keyword use and search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. There are many sites you can use to find information on keyword search, backlinks, campaign management, competitive research, PR, marketing insights and more. Many of these sites offer resources and training related to this as well, which may be helpful if you are not familiar with these topics. Websites you can use to build your search marketing success include Semrush, Ahrefs and Google Search Console. These services have different subscription options, but often allow for free trials so you can try them out before purchasing a plan.
Email marketing involves sending out emails to customers, or potential customers, about current goods and services, promotions, sales and new products. Websites that allow you to collect emails, create emails, and automate campaigns include Mailchimp, Constant Contact, AWeber, GetResponse, SendinBlue, Drip and ConvertKit. Some of these email marketing services are catered and favorable to different businesses, such as ones that have online stores and ecommerce websites, or services for new bloggers. As with many online platforms, some of these sites come with different pricing and subscription options, so deciding what features are most important for your campaigns, as well as the budget you have to use, should be considered.
Having success as a digital marketer likely involves two or more of the marketing types: search marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing. There are numerous websites you can utilize to market your products and services, as well as analyze how well your campaigns are performing. Technology allows you to analyze them at a more finite level as well: if you run an ad in a newspaper, you can count how many newspapers were sold with your ad, but you cannot guarantee how many people actually read the newspaper. In an email campaign, you can see how many people received your email, as well as how many people opened it and clicked on a link within it. Knowing what websites fit your business best and can help it grow will be key for success in the present and the future.