Digital Marketing for Dummies
What is Digital Marketing?
In this day and age of the internet, having an online presence extends more than just having a website – it is all about the digital marketing. To help anybody learn the ins and outs of it, understanding how to do Digital Marketing for Dummies is the best way to be able to improve your website.
What exactly is digital marketing? This term can come off as a broad, vague term for something you may or may not need for your company. But in fact, you do need it. Using digital marketing for your company means that you are using all your marketing efforts into getting your name out into the internet and mobile devices. Think about it, so many people use their phones and computers for literally everything, why would you not put your company out there for others to see?
Think of digital marketing as the advertisement of the 21st century, but on a wider scale than print advertising could ever reach. You can use digital channels to bring your company’s name to search engines, social media, email, and other websites to bring you current and future customers. As long as you are meeting your audience on the internet, you are already starting to do digital marketing.
Why Do You Need Digital Marketing?
Digital Marketing can really change your presence from just a website, to a brand online that people know, recognize, love, and turn to. If used correctly, digital marketing can accomplish your business’s goals. For example, say you run a cake company and for Mother’s Day, you really want to sell the strawberry flavored cake because it is not only pink (targeted at mothers), but it is also the new flavor. Instead of just putting up a sign online that says “new flavor, come buy our strawberry cake,” digital marketing can take that a step above with online advertisements, media presence, influencer campaign, email blasts, social media posts, social media boosts, etc. The list can go on and on, but the point is to make sure that people do not only know about your new strawberry flavor because it is posted on your website. They know because you made them know.
Making sure your customers know your products, branding, and business, is the key to digital marketing. Think of a commercial jingle you heard on a television commercial and how you now know the number to Stanley Steamers Carpet Cleaners because of it. Digital Marketing works the same way, but online. That commercial video would be playing on the television, in an Instagram ad, on Facebook, engaging with customers and answering questions, posting it all over social media, having other people represent your brand and encourage others to purchase too. Again, digital marketing is about layers to making sure your name is out there and that customers know who you are. Makes sense?
How Do I Even Start?
With so many puzzle pieces to making sure your digital marketing is executed effectively, it can be overwhelming to think of what exactly you need to even start. Here are a few roles to take on that make sure your digital marketing plan can be fulfilled.
Strategist: Consider this the mastermind of your whole plan for digital marketing. When you start being creative and get ideas flowing, it is all fine and dandy until you realize you have a mess in front of you with no idea how to even navigate it. A strategist on your digital marketing team can put this all together in a cohesive form and break it down in a way that makes more sense. There will be deadlines, who to contact, how to execute what could begin to be a crazy idea. Consider this person as the ring leader and the back bone of the whole plan.
Content marketer: In the digital age, content is king. If you have heard this phrase, it just means that your product needs to be just as good, if not better, than your efforts to push it out. Imagine owning the cake business and pushing out how great your cakes are, only to realize they actually really aren’t. A content marketer can create blog posts and ways to create content that will back up the efforts you are making to bring your brand out into the public.
Social Media Marketer: With the changing scenery of social media and their algorithms, you need someone to be on top of all of it. Besides the ever changing nature of social media, a social media marketer must also be someone who is creative, understands your business goals, and is organized. They will also make sure your brand is engaging with customers and answering any questions that may come your way.
Data Analyst: There is no way to move forward in your business without knowing what works and what doesn’t. For example, if you continue to push out your strawberry cake but no one is positively interacting online or buying your cakes from the online advertisements, it might be an indicator that the flavor will not be successful. Having someone dedicated to the analytics of social media, Google advertisements, and email blasts could, and usually does, determine the future of the business. Once you have a team that knows your audience and what they do and don’t like, your business can really be impacted by knowing what the future steps could be.
Email marketer: Besides pushing your brand through all the channels online, sending targeted emails could be one of the most successful ways to utilize the e-commerce side of the internet. If your email blast says “New Strawberry Flavor Out – 25% off Your First Purchase,” an email marketer can not only target where the email goes, but also track how many people are using the coupon. Gathering this data can help in the future – did the 25% off work? Which flavor sells the most? Which one sells the least? What new ideas could we incorporate for the next email blast? What kind of audience do we have and how can we best mold our content to them?
How to Bring it All Together?
If all of this sounds too overwhelming, do not feel alone – it is! Not only is working to build your business difficult, but imagine trying to do all the work yourself? Digital marketing is usually accomplished by a team of people. No need to bring all that pressure onto yourself, there are only 24 hours in one day!
Perfectly Optimized is a service that can do all of this for you and then some. They excel at digital marketing, creating and maintaining your website, and ensuring that your business’s goal is met. As long as you communicate your goal and trust Perfectly Optimized with your brand, a positive outcome will occur. Unlike other digital marketing services, Perfectly Optimized specializes in search engine optimization (SEO) writing which can really make sure your content is also number one on Google.
Having a group like Perfectly Optimized on your side can only mean that your brand will be successful!