Most businesses do marketing at some point. There is a good chance you're familiar with traditional models for media like print, radio, and even television. Digital marketing can seem a bit intimidating even to those who are fairly tech-savvy. It may help you to understand how digital marketing differs from traditional models.
Digital Channels
A digital marketing firm thinks of the different outlets online as distinct channels. Social media is one channel. Your website is another. There are numerous others, including video sites, forums, email lists, and web apps.
Analytics
One notable difference between digital and traditional marketing is that digital offers detailed analytics. Servers that host social conversations, videos, web pages, and other content all collect data about the participants. In many cases, this data is available almost instantaneously.
Analytics platforms allow you to see commonalities in what does or doesn't work. You might see that your product's ads are especially appealing to a specific age group. Using that information, you could target platforms where that age cohort is more present. Over time, you can dial in your marketing to target the most receptive audiences.
Content
Most traditional marketing models are ad-centric. There isn't anything wrong with ads, but the digital domain opens up worlds. A digital marketing agency will frequently encourage its clients to create content.
Your products, services, and brands offer value to end users. That value can drive content and user engagement. Suppose an attorney runs a tax law firm. They might develop website content that targets a specific issue, such as how to respond to an IRS notice. Likewise, they could share reminders about big dates on their social media channels.
Budget
A major argument for digital marketing is the ability to microtarget your budget. Traditional channels blast messages across audiences. Not everyone who watches a TV show needs a car right now, for example. A car dealership might elect to microtarget its budget toward specific channels or even groups of users. For example, a used car dealer could use a small ad buy on social media to reach parents right before college starts.
Availability
Finally, digital marketing channels are always on. While some outages occur, the time that your website and social media are down pales in comparison to traditional media's limitations. Someone might be bored at 2 a.m. and start looking for gift ideas, for example. They stumble upon your website at a time when traditional marketing is sleeping.
Contact a local digital marketing agency to learn more.
