Digital marketing has been around for a long time and in the last several years social media marketing has risen to become a formidable niche for all manner of businesses to benefit from. Digital marketing is quite simply the use of digital tools such as pop-up website ads and email marketing to sell products and services or to create awareness about a brand, company, or cause. 

Digital marketing seeks to utilize the ways communication between customers and businesses has changed in the digital era (for example most people regardless of age usually have their smartphone near to them so can be reached through strategic marketing campaigns). 

The Types Of Digital Marketing Tactics 

Here are a few of the commonly used digital marketing tactics by businesses and individuals alike:- 

• Content Marketing– Content marketing as the name suggests is the sharing of information, research, and written materials across various formats and mediums. A post on Instagram or Facebook is content marketing the same as a website or a popular blog. The purpose is generally to create awareness and interest in the consumer by better educating them about the benefits of a certain product or service. Catchy marketing language is usually used and tailored to the target audience or demographic. When done well, content marketing has uses in itself as a value-added offering (such as a company giving away a free e-book or letting customers read research articles for free from a database). 
• Influencer Marketing– Social media influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook with parallel followings on Twitter and other platforms are a great asset to any brand’s digital marketing strategy. Since the influencers use organic means to grow their followers and subscribers (as is the case with podcast influencers for example), they are able to practice powerful persuasive means and that benefits brands in return. 
• Affiliate Marketing– Affiliate marketing is when a third person or middleman (usually a website where affiliate links may be placed) is used to sell products, services, or subscriptions instead of the seller or business owner directly reaching out to the customer. That being said, a business owner may use multiple digital marketing techniques at the same time to maximize market penetration. Affiliate marketing is employed by advertisers to generate leads and the website, blog, or channel used is compensated monetarily for the number of clicks the affiliate link gets. 
• Email Marketing– Email marketing is more straightforward than the other types and involves companies using a curated mailing list and updating existing and potential customers about new products and services as well as promotional offers and discounts. Since most people disregard generic emails of this kind as spam, the effectiveness of email marketing is limited. 
• Mobile Marketing– Research has consistently shown the proclivity of most people to keep their smartphones at hand so SMS-based marketing is quite effective especially if it is consistent. It is also a great way for brands to keep customers informed of new service packages, promotional offers, and changes on a regular basis for a minimal charge. 
• Search Engine Marketing– SEO or search engine marketing using techniques to make a brand’s website or blog rank higher in search engines and therefore generate a greater number of leads, web traffic, customer conversion, and brand recognition. 
• Social Media Marketing– Social media marketing makes use of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and so on to target customers with sponsored posts and videos, ads, and so forth. With 4.2 billion people globally using social media for hours a day, it is a perfect marketing platform for brands whether new or established. Social media marketing allows for effective customer profiling allowing brands to direct their marketing material on a target customer base that has been chosen according to their age, preferences, income, location, and so on. 

How Digital Marketing Benefits Businesses

Digital marketing and maintaining a strong digital presence are of utmost importance to businesses regardless of their size or services. A few ways in which digital marketing can substantially increase the success and growth rate of a business are firstly by creating a brand image and increasing brand recognition and trustworthiness. The more effectively digital marketing tools like online ads or video marketing are utilized, the more customer engagement can take place leading to greater profit. 

Digital marketing can have a domino effect with your content and marketing material being shared on multiple platforms and with an endless stream of new potential customers. Word-of-mouth recommendations and client testimonials are easy to collect and display on your online or social media platforms. This type of social sharing means you can convert new customers more easily because they feel part of a group of like-minded buyers. 

Digital marketing tools also make customer choices easier and quicker because the seller can present ready-made service packages, product deals as well as organized product catalogs to choose from. For this reason, a great number of people nowadays prefer to do most of their shopping online as everything from payment to getting the best deals through product comparison websites is very convenient. 

Digital marketing is a skill that business owners and employees can learn through comprehensive online courses and webinars, as with any other purchase or subscription, check client testimonials first such as the Seth Jared course review so you know you’re getting the best value for your money. 

Lastly, digital marketing helps a business, website, individual or cause stand out in a saturated industry or marketplace. Since effective digital and social media marketing thrives on specificity in the customer base, it can drastically help with customer targeting and conversion. In today’s world, individuals are bombarded with a steady stream of a vast quantity of information and it can be hard to narrow it down and that is where digital marketing is the most helpful. Through using specific tools (such as those in Instagram or Facebook ad manager) businesses can target niche audiences and groups of people (even in a geographical sense) that would appreciate their products or services instead of wasting revenue on generalized advertisements.