Digital Marketing strategies: a Beginner's guide.

Overview

This digital marketing training session offers a thorough introduction to essential concepts and strategies in digital marketing. It outlines the key differences between digital and traditional marketing, showcasing benefits like broader audience reach, improved targeting, cost efficiency, quicker feedback, and simpler performance measurement. It introduces the "core four" marketing principles—model, market, message, and media—emphasizing the need to establish a strong foundation before selecting marketing channels. The session also explores the distinctions between strategy and tactics, organic versus paid marketing, direct response versus brand awareness, and search versus discovery marketing. Additionally, it highlights the differences in marketing products versus services and contrasts B2B with B2C marketing methods. Finally, the book encourages readers to explore follow-up resources focusing on B2B and B2C marketing approaches.

Concepts of Digital Marketing

The key concept to understand is the difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing. While it might sound significant, the distinction is actually quite simple. Digital marketing is essentially about promoting products or services through digital platforms. That’s it. When we talk about digital marketing, we’re referring to strategies like advertising on social media, pay-per-click campaigns, Facebook and Instagram ads, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and anything else conducted online or via digital channels.

On the other hand, traditional marketing uses more conventional mediums like billboards, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television—essentially, anything that isn’t digital. That’s the main difference.

Advantages of Online Advertising 

Traditional advertising and marketing, along with all their components, remain effective. However, leveraging digital marketing and the wide variety of online platforms available today offers significant advantages. 

1. Firstly, digital marketing allows you to reach a much larger audience. With billions of people on the internet, you have the potential to connect with virtually anyone online. 
2. Next is audience targeting. While you can reach billions of people, you don’t need to reach everyone, as not all of them would be the right fit for your business. Instead, you can focus precisely and selectively on the ideal individuals or groups that align perfectly with your goals. 
3. Additionally, digital marketing is often much more cost-effective compared to traditional advertising methods, such as running an ad in the New York Times or, even more costly, a commercial during the Super Bowl. It may be your goal or objective but not the target market. These ads are designed to be mass-attractive and thus to touch everyone. To approach the specific people who are likely to buy, it is best to be very selective and aim very precisely.
4. A very effective factor of digital marketing is that it enables you to obtain immediate feedback. The physical sequence is as follows: you enumerate all the items you intend to promote, propose to the magazines some creative ways for displaying your products, write them up, send them to the magazines, and finally publishing, then distributing them. You may have to wait long before you figure whether it was successful or not, it can be weeks or even months. On the other hand, digital marketing is a method of advertising where you can write an advertisement, have it live, and obtain feedback and results instantly. People have been using digital means in order to communicate with all kinds of activities that the digital world has to offer. This allows for nearly immediate real-time updates and adjustments as well as the provision of useful performance metrics for revenue forecasting, customer journey ads, etc.
5. With digital marketing, measuring and managing the campaign is simple and easy. Furthermore, analogize that waiting three months for your magazine to be out and then discovering that it didn't work is less impressed. Hence, due to the non-traceable click on the magazine, you could have the choice of asking them to either open a digital channel or return the form in the magazine. This brings digital marketing back on the scene.

Then again, without doubt, there are definitely some great aspects to be found in digital marketing and using the digital channels, but the traditional one is still very effective. Yes, it does the work. The reason should be to see if there could be a chance of involving one of these two types of advertisement and then the ancient principles rests.

The former concerns the techniques, the principles, the BUYER behaviour, the consumer psychology, and the reasons which come as the prelude to people's actions, after that, it is all about comprehension of the associated skills and then a skilful performance of those. You may use it in the future in any new channel, be it digital, traditional, or whatever else.

 

Tactics against Strategy in Digital Marketing

Well, then, getting to the point of knowing the distinctions between strategy and tactics as well as when to use them will be the next step to make your digital marketing career really successful.

Strategic marketing is the most important corner of the big picture where your new marketing strategy, tactics, tools, software, and more will be built around, so as to begin with it properly is exactly what you should do. If you are not able to effectively address this aspect, then the rest of your business will not matter and everything else will be a waste of time.

 

The Four Fundamentals of Marketing

Before we look at the following four marketing principles, it is necessary to remind ourselves of the very basic basis of marketing;

Model, Market, Message, and Media.

• The model actually consists of your business, your packaging, your services, the prices of items, and how you market your product. If you can see your business's future in what the market wants, has fun with, is profitable, and is in demand, then it is better for you to choose to do that instead of something you might not even like.
• The market is the individuals that are served by you, and you should specify exactly the person who gets most benefit from your product or service and also to the market that you would love to serve. the target audience does not include all the people with money, first understand the following about your market; Demographic data like age, gender, income, and occupation is what we call the ideal customer avatar. The other two are: geographic information which provides the country, state, or town where they live. psychographic information which tells about their attitudes, habits, and values.
• Message is then the next thing to work on stating their problems, real issues, and offering your help which is a valid reason to be with them and connect with them can be the right approach when doing a great job of loyally.  A great strategy to bring about a change of this kind is by providing true stories of past clients and their outcomes and testimonials from other consumers. As well you might just ask for the reviews of the direct source and possibly do case studies to show that you do have the experience and can keep your word. The major thing is to be effective in choosing your target audience and to have impeccable messages that will surely make people act in a certain way. It will be important to your market studies and your conversation with clients.
• The media comes as the last of the four fundamental marketing modes. You know, this is the main area where you're going to shift forward with your marketing campaign and select which digital platforms you are going to engage. Most businesses are eagerly looking forward to the media and thereby neglecting the model, the message, the market and the media when they are being introduced to the Facebook ads, YouTube marketing, and possibly starting the podcast. Amazingly, they are constructing their business and their base on a shaky foundation. Hence, you can easily make up your mind if you do the job right—start with the model, then the market, pick your message, and lastly choose the media.

Being conscious of where and when your ideal market is active on the net will allow you to concentrate on them and ignore all the rest. The idea in this case is that you have no need to be everywhere or do everything; you only need to be at the place where your ideal target market is, where they are active.

You will be fine with it, apart from saving a great deal of time and money, rather than wasting your energy on channels that don't bring results.

Well, that was the plan, alright. The Core four are high-level elements that drive decision-making.

But on the other hand, tactics are the way by which you will practically implement all these strategies that were just discussed above. Tactics are the particulars and the executable actions or activities that you will bring into effect, thus the plan comprises the business model you will use, the target market you will target, the messaging you will use and options of the media you can use to implement your marketing. This will come to how often you will publish, what type of material you want to post, and how constant you want to be in addition to how many memes you will include in the strategies part.

"When is the best time to post on social media?" is a tactical question.

Choosing which social media network to use is a strategic matter. That's the distinction.

 

Paid vs. Organic Marketing

Next, you have to keep in mind that in the digital marketing the tactics to the following end can be only prioritized or paid ones with that, you have to think about the paid and the natural levels. 

Marketing experts are of the opinion that organic marketing is an umbrella category in which, therefore, there are a number of different types. For example, if you are the one writing the original posts, it can happen a lot of times that people enjoy or find nice the content you propose. Subsequently, these people are gathering who it is that makes the content that he/she wants to see. In essence, whatever you offer for which no one else but yourself is getting paid can be considered as an organic promotion that is created by you. Consequently, organic content on Facebook, Instagram Stories, YouTube videos, etc. is that which you produce without using anything to promote it. However, even if the information is free of charge, you are using a lot of patience, efforts, and sometimes your savings to create the content. But it is still organic content even if it is not paid for.
If organic marketing is creating content without paying for its promotion, then sponsored marketing is the exact reverse, creating material and then paying the networks to spread it to a wider audience. In brief, you are effectively talking about what you want to say by depending on paid media, paid marketing, or paid the advertisements through Facebook Ads to salute all residents of the corporate world with your lesson. The kingpins in this market segment, the examples are advertisements of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. Essentially, the main networks that facilitate advertising at the end of their names are Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google. Unlike sponsored marketing and media, which appear only on the phones and devices of the people based on their preference, organic content finds its place in the news feeds of those who follow you. These two options most definitely have their pros and cons just like any other marketing strategy.

Basically, organic is for free, and although its area is a little bit restricted due to the way the algorithms work (they are more likely to give preference to paid media which help them make money), the clear deficiency is that it is expensive. The light side of the coin is that it helps you to spread the word among many people in a very short time.

In other words, the choice between organic and paid just comes down to either time or money as well as the speed at which you want the change.

 

Brand Identity vs. Direct Sale

Let's now talk about direct response and branding, which is one of my favorite topics in marketing. It's not a secret that the main and foremost reason for direct response marketing is to get a reaction from the customer. It's not always but sometimes marketing is not very creative. The heart of direct response marketing is the production of an ad or other content with the aim of obtaining a quick and specific reaction, such as a lead, sale, phone call, visit, signup, or others, in a short period of time.

A Facebook ad, sending an email, tracking the number of conversions, promoting a video, and anticipating a lead are some of the most effective direct response marketing activities.

These are the things people would quickly respond to and you would be able to both monitor and measure to do more of what works and less of what doesn't. You make a contrast by mentioning brand awareness marketing, which is more about establishing your brand's authority, credibility, and reputation in the marketplace and is mainly long-term.

We basically count the responses, i.e., okay leads, sales, and conversions. Definitely, the fact that we are discussing trust, authority, and possibly mentions with brand awareness, but it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate and quantify since many other factors come into play is the deal.

Of course, having the right mixture of direct response and brand recognition marketing is necessary if your goal is to have the best chances of developing a sustainable, profitable, and scalable company. However, there must be one thing, the cardinal sin of marketing, that is always on the lookout.

Clearly, trying to build up a brand while at the same time wittingly expecting immediate positive jerks is one of the very fundamental marketing mistakes. This is one of the major causes of people's marketing being the main holder of this mess, according to them.

The reason is that they have chosen the wrong tool for the job, such as following a cake recipe which they get very annoyed about when instead a cake turns out to be muffins, bread, or something else entirely. In this instance, incorporating the right recipe or method for the task is of utmost importance.

Discovery Marketing versus Search Marketing

Another pivotal point in the digital marketing area is the benefit of recognizing the difference between searching and discovering marketing techniques. Intention is, of course, the most important and the key factor, or you could say that it is a keyword, that makes all the difference between the search and discovery marketing.

To put it differently, what is the use? or the design idea of the platform for a certain individual staying online at noon, evening, or the AM hours. First off, let's start with the search. We are talking about sites like YouTube and Google in this category.

Marketing Services versus Products

The contrast between marketing products and marketing services that never gets talked about in marketing advice is now up for discussion. This is the call to action. Textbooks, courses, or even trainings emphasize mainly the promotion of products, which are tangible items one can touch, taste, see, and hold in their hands that you can make with the help of a certified software development company.

. In other words, a service is abstract. You are unable to touch, hold, see, or taste it. Moreover, this process usually requires a prepayment which implies a higher level of trust. If you do so, you will surely fail to attract buyers as you would with a product-related company. Now it is your turn and your turn is to explain to the buyer when it comes to the promotion of the product and to demonstrate the product's form and the way it works. Increase the users' enjoyment of your product by showing it in action, highlighting its features, mentioning the advantages it will provide, telling the story of it, etc. Here's an illustration.
Let's imagine I am doing the marketing of the pen. The most important part of this pen is that the pen has a lid. A particular benefit for me is that I will not get ink on my hands. However, the pen lid in this case may and probably should also be used in a different way. This pen cap features, for example, a clip with which I can attach it to any paper, notebook, or even my clothes so I can look like a geek. The cap cover lid also has perforations on the top, a feature that allows it to breathe easier. Pens lids have holes at the top to breathe in case of accidental or aggressive swallowing. It may be news to you. It can be seen that biting the end of a pen is an old, reckless, and unsanitary habit in the end. You just get hungry then. That is not the case with services. Hence, the purpose of marketing and promoting services is to increase the sales e.g. the conclusion. In other words, it is the final stage, the advantages, the result, or the outcome.

final state, advantages, and consequences that people can expect after they have dealt with you.

I'd dare to say that marketing services are more than just about the final product they are mainly concerned with, the advantages, the results, and the experiences that people will have. Pointing out their present pain, discontent, or discomfort is the most important part in this context. Then, it is only natural to depict a picture of how much better they will be when teaming up with you afterwards.

B2B versus B2C advertising

First off, it is a very crucial thing to know the differences between B2B and B2C marketing if you really want to be an efficient digital marketing expert. Business-to-business, or (B2B), stands for a case when your main clients are other businesses instead of regular folks. However, business-to-consumer (B2C) defines a company that is selling goods or services to consumers who are just normal individuals, not businesses.

B2B business to business on the opposite, and B2C business to consumer is two distinct approaches which greatly influence the ways how you will market your business, service, product, or anything else, especially whether you sell to businesses or individuals. The idea of everything I've said is actually valid. So, the next thing you should do is to check out the video on B2B versus B2C marketing that I have enclosed here. I'll be meeting you in the following episode. Overall, B2C marketing-hit much but very small (few) customers while B2B marketing-hit very few but very big customers.

This indicates that in the case of you having a smaller number of clients because of which you will be delivering the service to a bit more people, you will have more determination to bring forth the point in the B2B type of marketing.