What is digital marketing? A Guide for Newbies

 Everything from shopping and learning to entertainment and business is connected to the internet these days.  People spend hours on social media, watching videos, reading blogs, or looking up information online.

 Because of this, businesses can now advertise their goods and services on the internet.

 That's when digital marketing comes in.

 Using the internet and digital tools like websites, social media, search engines, and email to promote your business or brand is called digital marketing.  It helps businesses reach the right people, gain their trust, and grow their business online.

 Why is digital marketing so important?

 Businesses used to use TV commercials, newspaper ads, and billboards to reach people before the internet.  These methods were costly and difficult to quantify.

 Things are different when it comes to digital marketing.  It lets you:

 Reach a global audience: You can tell people about your product all over the world.

 Target the right people: You can only show your ads to people who are interested in what you have to offer.

 Save money: Digital ads cost less than regular ads.

 Keep track of results: It's easy to see how many people saw your ad, clicked on it, or bought something.

 Talk to your customers directly—You can do this through email or social media.

 To sum up, digital marketing helps businesses grow faster and more wisely.

 The main kinds of digital marketing

 Digital marketing comes in many forms.  Let's go over the most common ones that everyone who is just starting out should know.

 1.  SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

 SEO is the process of making your website better so that it shows up higher in Google search results.

 SEO helps your company's website show up at the top of the search results when someone types in "best event management company in Guruvayur."

 Search engines should send you free (organic) traffic, which is what SEO is all about.

 Important parts of SEO:

 On-page SEO means making the content, titles, keywords, and meta descriptions of a website better.

 Off-page SEO: Getting other websites to link to yours to make it look more trustworthy.

 Technical SEO: Making the website faster, easier to use on mobile devices, and better for users.

 Local SEO helps businesses in your area show up in searches for "near me" or specific city names.

 If you do SEO right, you can get a lot of good traffic to your website for a long time without having to pay for ads.

 2.  Social Media Marketing (SMM)

 One of the best ways to market online is through social media.

 Businesses can share content, connect with customers, and promote their brand on sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok.

 You can get people's attention by posting pictures, videos, stories, or reels.

 For instance, a clothing brand can show off its new styles on Instagram or run ads aimed at people who are interested in fashion.

 Paid advertising (sponsored ads) and organic marketing (free posts) are both parts of social media marketing.

 Advantages of marketing on social media:

 Increases brand recognition

 Talks to your audience

 Brings more people to your website

 Brings in leads and sales

 3.  Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

 Paid search advertising is another name for SEM.

 It means using Google Ads to make sure that your website shows up at the top of search results right away.

 SEO takes time to work, but SEM shows results right away. You pay for each click, which is called Pay Per Click (PPC).

 Paid ads are often the first few results that come up when you search for "buy shoes online."

 Popular platforms:

 Ads on Google

 Ads on Bing

 Benefits of SEM:

 Traffic right away

 Ads that are very specific

 Easy to keep track of how well it's doing

 4.  Marketing with Content

 In the digital world, the saying "Content is king" is well-known.

 Content marketing is making content that is useful and valuable to draw in and teach your audience.

 It could include:

 Posts on a blog

 Articles

 Infographics

 Movies

 E-books

 Podcasts

 The goal is not only to make money, but also to help people.  People are more likely to buy from you later if you give them useful information.

 For instance, a digital marketing agency could write blogs about "how to improve website ranking" to get business owners who need SEO services to read them.

 5.  Email Marketing

 Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, but it still works very well.

 It means sending emails to customers or subscribers to tell them about deals, share news, or get to know them better.

 You can send:

 Newsletters

 Offers of discounts

 Changes to the product

 How to or tips

 Email marketing lets you talk to your audience directly and personally.

 For example:

 An online course provider can send out weekly newsletters with tips for learning and news about new courses.

 6.  Marketing with Influencers

 Influencer marketing is when you work with people who have a lot of followers on social media.

 These influencers can help get the word out about your product by posting videos, reviews, or posts.

 A food company could, for instance, ask a well-known food blogger to write about their product on Instagram.

 Influencer marketing works well because people are more likely to believe what real people say than what ads say.

 7.  Marketing through affiliates

 Affiliate marketing is when someone promotes your product and gets paid a commission for each sale that comes through their unique link.

 It's like having a team of people who sell things for you online.

 A YouTuber, for instance, can post an affiliate link to an online item.  The YouTuber gets a small cut of the money if people buy through that link.

 Some of the most popular affiliate programs are:

 Associates of Amazon

 Affiliate for Flipkart

 ClickBank

 8.  Marketing with videos

 One of the most interesting types of content is video.

 Every business needs to do video marketing now that sites like YouTube, Instagram Reels, and TikTok are so popular.

 You can do the following with videos:

 Show how to use the product

 Share reviews from customers

 Tell us what you do

 Make short videos that are useful

 Video makes people more likely to trust your brand and understand it better.

 The Steps in Digital Marketing

 Posting ads is only one part of digital marketing.  It's a whole process that starts with planning, making, analyzing, and making things better.

 This is how the process usually goes:

 Step 1: Planning and Research

 Know who your target audience is, including their age, interests, problems, and how they act online.

 Make goals like getting more people to visit your website, getting leads, or making more sales.

 Step 2: Make a Plan

 Choose which digital channels to use, like SEO, social media, email, and so on.

 Make a plan for your content calendar and marketing budget.

 Step 3: Putting it into action

 Start running ads, posting content, and talking to people.

 Use things like Facebook Business Manager, Google Ads, or Mailchimp.

 Step 4: Keeping an eye on things and analyzing them

 Use tools for analytics to keep an eye on performance.

 Google Analytics, for instance, tells you how many people went to your site, where they came from, and what they did.

 Step 5: Make it better

 Use the information to make changes, such as changing keywords, updating ads, or posting at better times.

 This process of making things better all the time helps businesses grow steadily online.

 Digital Marketing Tools

 There are a lot of free and paid tools that can help you with digital marketing:

 Google Analytics is a tool that lets you see how many people visit your website.

 Google Ads: For ads on search engines

 Meta Business Suite is for running ads on Facebook and Instagram.

 Canva is a tool for making social media posts and other creative work.

 Mailchimp is for sending out email campaigns.

 Ahrefs and SEMrush are tools for SEO and keyword research.

 Hootsuite and Buffer are both tools for planning social media posts.

 These tools help you save time and learn a lot about your campaigns.

 Jobs in Digital Marketing

 Digital marketing is a good career choice as well as a good way for businesses to make money.

 Digital marketers are in high demand because every business wants to be seen online.

 Here are some common jobs in this field:

 Digital Marketing Executive

 Expert in SEO

 Manager of Social Media

 Expert in Google Ads

 Writer of content

 Specialist in Email Marketing

 Manager of Analytics

 Strategist for Marketing

 You can also work as a freelancer, consultant, or start your own digital marketing agency if you have some experience.

 The Future of Digital Marketing

 Digital marketing has a bright future.

 AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning are two examples of technologies that are making marketing smarter and more tailored to each person.

 Here are some trends to keep an eye on in the future:

 Optimizing voice search for Google Assistant and Alexa

 Marketing that starts with video

 Collaborations with influencers

 Chatbots and messages that are sent automatically

 Making content with generative AI

 GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization.

 In the years to come, businesses that can adapt to these trends will have a big edge.

 Last Thoughts

 It's not just about technology when it comes to digital marketing; it's also about getting to know people and making connections.

 If you are a student, business owner, or professional, learning digital marketing can help you in many ways.

 Make a website, post on social media, or run a simple ad to get started.  Learn from what happened, make your plan better, and keep going.

 There are many chances in the digital world, and digital marketing is the key to getting to them.

 To sum up:

 Digital marketing helps companies find the right customers, grow their businesses online, and earn their trust.  It includes things like SEO, social media, paid ads, content, email, and more.  Anyone can learn how to do digital marketing well and make a big difference online if they have the right tools and plan.