Digital Marketing for Beginners

Digital marketing, in comparison to traditional marketing, is one of your most important tools when trying to establish your business and/or brand. Whereas traditional marketing (such as billboards, print ads, or direct mail) are extremely costly and typically ineffective, digital marketing has a wide range of options that won’t break your budget.

Who still receives paper flyers in the mail? Do you maybe take one glance at it and throw it in the trash? I’d bet most of us do. On the other hand, digital marketing enables you to not only get in front of more eyeballs, but also to re-target the same users multiple times to improve your influence.

Lucky for you, there are tons of different options when it comes to marketing yourself or your product digitally — you can leverage social media, email, or even search engine optimization. But what’s the difference between each and how can you maximize your effectiveness? Let me break it down.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is any type of marketing that is conducted through a social media channel — Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram to name a few.

No matter your target audience, they are using some type of social media, so if you want to get people to see your content, social media is probably one of your most effective options. It allows you to meet your potential customers where they are at and can be a great tool for telling stories, showcasing your brand, and striking a cord with people so they want to ultimately engage with your content.

For example, YouTube has over 2 billion monthly logged-in users, which generates billions of views each day.

Let’s Talk Digital Marketing 101

In order to start marketing on social media, you need a strategy. Ask yourself key questions like who your demographic is, the type of message you want to deliver, what channels you want to deliver on, and what type of content you want to create.

Email Marketing

Lots of people have touted email as “dead” yet what is the first thing you check when you wake up in the morning? Likely your email is up there!

Email marketing is great for many reasons — most importantly, you can really create a unique and personalized message that is just not possible with other forms of marketing, such as social media. When creating a social media campaign, you can’t use things like first name or specific interests the way you can with email. More personalized messaging will not only increase your engagement, but it can really help you cater to the specific needs of your audience.

Email marketing is also great for converting customers as well as keeping in touch on a consistent basis. Sending out relevant, personalized, and valuable email content can really help nurture your customers so that they are more likely to stay loyal to you and your brand.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is another important method when it comes to the digital marketing landscape. It enables you to develop a distinct voice and tone when it comes to your brand, and also helps to establish your credibility and reputation.

Creating good content helps you to be regarded as authority in your industry. Plus, the more views and traction your pieces get, the higher you’ll be ranked in search engines such as Google. Once you build this following, you’ll cultivate a loyal audience that follows and engages with all of your content.

When creating a content marketing strategy, try to think of things that your audience would want to know. If your company is in the beauty industry, are there tips/secrets you could share from your expertise? Or if your business is all about wellness, sharing ideas about ways to relax or de-stress can be valuable to your consumers.

Search Engine Marketing

With search engine marketing, the goal is to get users to your site. You can produce great content and have a strong marketing strategy, but if no one sees it, your hard work will go unnoticed.

However, search marketing is so important because of how widely it’s used. When people are looking for something — whether that’s an answer to a question, where to eat for dinner, or how to solve something — they are likely typing it in to a search bar. Your audience is using search to find what they’re looking for, which is why you want them to find you!

While you can use paid advertising to help increase your odds, one of the best ways to maximize your reach is by using key words. Create content with the idea of answering a question that your customer would type into their search bar.

Ultimately, there are lots of options when it comes to your digital marketing strategy! What have you found to work best?

Note: any of the tools I use to make the digital marketing thing a little less headachy … be sure to visit my Resources Page here!