What is digital marketing - All you need to know
Monish Gadiya 2018
Certain terms become vogue overnight, either due to social media or their increased prominence. Digital Marketing is one such term that has come into prominence due to its popularity as one of the most versatile marketing routes for both MNCs and startups alike. Almost everybody wants to jump on this bandwagon and promote their products/service innovatively through best digital marketing agency.
What exactly does Digital Marketing mean?
Marketing, according to Oxford dictionary, is “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services”. Any form of marketing and promotion that uses electronic devices may be termed as Digital Marketing. Thus, the term digital marketing encapsulates many things. It not only includes different forms of online promotion but also includes digital channels such as e-mail, Google search, websites, social media, etc., to connect with existing and prospective consumers.
But why does it matter?
Three decades ago, most of the marketing and promotion used to happen through forms of media that consumers were prominently exposed to. Thus, advertisement through magazines, radio, big billboards, newspaper, books, television, etc., was popular in those days. But the advent of smartphones and affordable internet services entirely changed the rules of the game. All the forms of media mentioned above, with the obvious exception of billboards, are now available on phones. This effectively means that to grab the attention of consumers, one no longer has to use different media. This is the exact reason why, today, digital marketing has become one of the most important marketing tools for any firm aspiring to reach to its consumer base.
The Rise of Digital Marketing in India
Although Digital Marketing has been around since the time advertisements were broadcasted through radio, it has gathered real steam in recent times, mostly due to an exponential rise in smartphone content usage.
Thanks to the data revolution brought about by Jio, Mobile data usage in India jumped 144 percent to 2,360 petabytes, with average consumption per user in 4G broadband reaching 11 gigabytes per month in December 2017, according to a Nokia MbIT 2018 report. Today, India has almost 400 million internet users. The way people shop, book tickets, pay bills, etc., has changed dramatically. Marketing has always been about
connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, it means that you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the internet.
What does digital marketing include?
Honestly, that depends on the tactics you use to reach your consumer. Digital marketing is a broad spectrum of tactics that may include digital advertising, email marketing, online brochures, and beyond.
Most common tactics and assets include Content Marketing
Inbound Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Native Advertising
Pay-Per-Click Online PR
Email Marketing Google AdWords
Assets include
eBooks and whitepapers Interactive tools
Earned online coverage
Blog posts Infographics
Social media channels Online brochures
What are the advantages of Digital Marketing?
1. Accurate data of consumers viewing the marketing material
With digital marketing, it is possible to collect accurate data of the amount and type of persons viewing the marketing material, thus helping the organization to analyze their current strategies and better plan their future strategies. This is a huge advantage over the traditional marketing methods, wherein the user traffic is based on an estimation concept.
2. Content performance
With the help of various methods such as surveys, ratings, etc., it is possible to know how your marketing strategy actually performed.
3. Fairly accurate estimation of rate of return
With digital marketing, it is very much possible to trace back the effectiveness of your promotions to, say, sales of your products. This is immensely helpful in calculating rate of return on your investment and thus helps in effective allotments of funds in future.
In the End...
Digital marketing is not a new fad, that would become obsolete with time. It’s a marketing strategy that is here to stay and dominate. The kind of flexibility and features that it offers is unmatched of. With the right resources and tactics, it is possible to reach your desired set of audience in a very cost-effective way through digital marketing. No doubt, by 2020, the Indian Digital Marketing industry is touted to grow 32% to Rs.189 billion!
