The internet changed the face of advertising. In prior years, businesses might invest in billboards or advertising in local magazines, newspapers, and local directories. We now live in a age where people sitting in the doctor’s office are more likely to be looking at their phones than the newspaper. After the advertising industry got over their shock that they had to learn how to find customers on the internet, digital marketing practices began to emerge.
The basic idea in ALL advertising is to find where your customers are, where they might be looking for you, and put advertising messages in front of them in those places. Today people are looking at Youtube and Facebook while their car is in the shop. When they need a plumber or an accountant, they use Google to find people in their area.
Where will my customers find my business?
There are four primary channels for digital marketing: Social Media, Search Engines, Email, and Advertising on other websites. Where your customers find you depends on their preferences. Take for instance a person looking for a plumber might search on Google or they might ask their friends for a recommendation on Facebook. If the person has used a plumber in the past, they might search their email box for an old email from that plumber. They might also run across an ad for a plumber on a website and remember that they have been meaning to fix that leaky spigot.
Which is the BEST online marketing channel?
That depends. A digital marketing strategy will be different for different industries and for different customers within that industry. If you found an article that says, “The best way to spend your advertising dollars, ” that article may be simply selling you something and not really trying to discover the best for you.
I used the example of the plumber to illustrate that all of those channels can be viable avenues in different situations for different users. The best strategy is find ALL of the ways a customer might find you and spend a little bit of time on each channel. Once you find the channel that is best performing, you can move more of your marketing dollars to that avenue.
Can’t I just make a page on social media myself?
Social Media Marketing is a more commonly know form of digital marketing. It is more than just creating a page on a social media site. In fact, it can negatively impact your social media reach to create a page and then do nothing with it. That shows that you are not truly trying to engage with your current and potential customers. Social media marketing involves regularly posting about your business, sharing content relevant to your business, and asking your followers to become customers. In the beginning, your marketing efforts should include some type of paid advertising on the social media website to begin getting some interest from people who have no idea you exist.
How do people find my business on Google?
Find out more about search engine marketing.someone is looking for a business, often they do a simple search online. My job, as a digital marketer, is to make sure your business is visible when someone searches for the type of business you are in. This is a very powerful channel, because the potential customer is actively looking for your business. As opposed to a magazine ad or billboard which MIGHT be relevant to the person viewing the ad, the search engine result IS relevant to what the user is searching for. Find out more about search engine marketing
Search Engine Advertising VS Display Advertising
Unlike search engine ads, display ads are passive ads viewed on website that users are frequenting. Popular websites for display ads are news outlets, popular blogs, and social media websites. This ads are displayed as a user scrolls by. While not as powerful as search engine ads, these ads are good for brand awareness and tend to be less costly than search.
Does display advertising work? Don’t people just scroll past ads?
People do click on the ads. We have statistics to prove it. 40% of all clicks made on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) go to each page’s top three advertisements. The great thing about digital ads is that we can track how many times it was viewed, clicked on, and what the user did once they clicked on it. If you were running an ad in a newspaper or magazine, you may know how many issues were distributed, but never know how many people actually viewed or read your ad.
How can I use email in this day-and-age?
At the bottom of the marketing funnel, email is best used as a channel to reengage customers who are already interested in your product or service. Statistically, existing customers is proven to be the most profitable audience to engage. They already know you. They already love you. Let’s keep them buying from you. Since this is the most profitable audience, email is a very powerful channel to follow-up, stay in touch, and engage your customers.
Still unsure which digital marketing channel to put your money into?
Let a professional help you decide. You can spend your time researching. I will continue to provide valuable information to help. Ultimately, the best way to get your feet wet is to sit down with a professional, explain your needs and goals, look at the options, let the expert make a recommendation, and try one of the channels for a trial period.
