DIGITAL
MARKETING

What is digital marketing?

If you’re a marketing newbie, it can sound like one of those trendy, here today, gone tomorrow buzz words – a separate entity with a short shelf life. Au contraire! It shares and grows from the same roots as good ‘ol marketing itself.

Thus, to define digital marketing, one must first understand the basics of marketing. The American Marketing Association defines marketing as:

“The activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

 

And to keep it real, who doesn’t love the play-it-straight verbiage that only Merriam-Webster can provide in defining marketing as “an aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer.”

Traditional marketing channels include media options such as TV, print, radio, cinema and outdoor, whereas digital marketing distributes communications via online or any digital platform, such as mobile phones, social media and display advertising. When you put the word “digital” in front of it, the vehicle changes, but the fundamentals stay the same – you’re telling a story with the goal of driving a specific action.

Why is digital marketing important?

How many different devices and platforms do you engage with on any given day? (Don’t you just love it when a question is answered with a question?) You start your day off by reaching for your phone to turn your alarm off. Then, you’re immediately distracted by the notifications that invaded your home screen overnight. At first glance, your brain registers updates from your work email, personal email, weather app, multiple social media platforms and news alerts. While you pour your cereal, you ask Alexa or Siri to read you the headlines for the day. While you gulp down that cereal, you might grab your iPad or tablet to read through your notifications. Then you get to work and fire up your laptop…that is three screens and a voice search all before your second cup of coffee.

Americans look at their smartphones an average of 52 times per day.

Bottom line, there are screens everywhere, with engagement opportunities abound. What does that lead to? To name a few…

1. Targeted messages to specific audiences. You don’t have to yell… you just have to be in the right place to be heard. Get more mileage from each word, by delivering it directly to the person it matters most to.
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3. Perpetuated instant gratification. In an era of getting what we want the moment we want it, if your business can’t be found quickly from multiple angles, you’ll never even be part of the consideration process (#InstantlyIrrelevant).
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5. Access to real-time data and analytics. Now more than ever, it’s possible to test, assess and shift strategy quickly for maximum impact.