There are many, many, many strands of digital marketing. It can be very overwhelming to even know where to start. I have found many a business owner, hiding under a desk and sobbing over their digital marketing strategy. It is time to climb out from under that desk, wipe your eyes and get cracking. To make this mountain slightly easier to climb, I have broken down digital marketing into 4 elements. To make it even easier for you to understand, I am using the analogy of THE 4 elements (Earth, Wind, Water & Fire). How relevant each strand is to the element will be up for debate but lets suspend disbelief for a small period of time.
EARTH: Content Marketing (Blogs, Podcasts, Videos)
The basis of any digital marketing strategy. The launching point. The backbone. The earth we stand on. Content Marketing, a broader term than Social Media Marketing, is the marketing of any form of content online that is being used to attract and retain customers. The type of content varies, depending on the client/brand. It can be anything from blogs (useful for SEO), videos and podcasts. Blogs allow you to showcase your level of expertise and flaunt your business model. Videos are a fun way to present information to your target market, easily and conveniently & Podcasts allow you to show that you’re a thought leader and enable you to broadcast your personal views, company news & reviews to your audience. All of these, coupled with a good social media marketing strategy (to generate traffic to the content being marketed) can generate a huge amount of success for your business. Without a solid content marketing plan, you will not be able to fully maximise the other elements. Treat the earth well and your digital marketing strategy will have the potential to grow and grow!
WIND: Email Marketing
Many marketeers believe email marketing is still the most effective marketing technique. It is hard to argue against it. Like a huge gust of wind, your message flies off into the distance and directly into your audiences email. Email Marketing is a direct form of marketing to a large audience, using email. Anything sent to a potential customer/client can be considered email marketing but the form of marketing that is most commonly considered ‘Email Marketing’ is mass emails sent to a large email list about the latest you have to offer. For more information, see here
WATER: SEO Marketing
I have absolutely no idea how to compare SEO Marketing and water. What do they even have in common? My earlier attempts were pushing it at best but I fear I cannot make the connection with this one. Water and SEO are both………wet? It will have to do. SEO Marketing is all about your ranking on search engines (Google, Yahoo etc). The general aim is to be on the first page, anything below isn’t usually regarded as a successful ‘SEO Marketing’ campaign. The idea of SEO is to make your company website or related links to be pushed up the search rankings for various key word searches. For example, a flooring company would want their company to be on the first page when people search ‘flooring’.
FIRE: Social Media Marketing
The most dangerous & potentially lethal element. Social media platforms offers you the opportunity to reach thousands of potential customers. Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a handy service that entails using various Social Media sites to generate traffic to the clients website/their brand as a whole. SMM campaigns are usually based around producing high quality, interesting content that arouses interest in the brand and encourages viewers to share. SMM is a very powerful marketing tool that can be adapted to suit anyone or anything you desire. Social Media, unlike any other marketing technique, enables you to accurately focus on your target market and bring your brand to them. Your message has the possibility to spread like wild fire but be careful, social media platforms are also you voice so a silly mistake could leave you badly burnt.
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