Digital marketing or internet marketing as you wish to call it, has come to stay in the 21st century and it is moving at the speed of light.
This detailed stepbystep beginners guide will give you everything you need to know about digital marketing and most importantly the key categories of digital marketings to boost your online business.
In this article, you’ll understand:
- What exactly is digital marketing?
- 4 key reasons why digital marketing is so effective
- 6 online marketing strategies for your online business (Each digital marketing strategy will be updated with detailed practical information every week).
What is Digital Marketing?
According to Wikipedia digital marketing is any effort to spread the word about your business that uses the internet to reach people.
Digital marketing activity is a set of methodologies put in place to promote products and services through the internet.
For example, the adoption of Black Fridays to drive sales is one good example of marketing that has made it’s way to the online world of business.
In short, digital marketing is anything you do on the internet (marketing efforts), through different marketing channels to put yourself or your business right in front of people to see, or anything you do to grab their attention and hopefully, at some point, get them to buy from you.
Digital marketing can also be referred to as web marketing, and also it can be seen as digital ads or digital advertising.
But, Why Is Online Marketing So Effective?
Digital marketing is multi-dimensional as it includes a wider range of marketing opportunities than local or traditional marketing, due to the extra marketing channels and various form of marketing mechanisms available on the internet.
I need to show you some stats. As of January 2017, here’s the data of the online world:
Reach your target audience
The internet has come to stay and to me, you can reach anyone (your target audience) and present your products and services.
Online marketing enables any online business owner to get close to the target consumers of your products and services, overcoming barriers to distance.
The stats above show that internet consumers are on the go (on mobile devices) and people are even staying online for longer periods, and this proves that mobile marketing for your online business is so effective.
Convenience for your business
It is so rare for a traditional offline business to be open 24/7. Most times here in Nigeria, 10:00 pm is the maximum closing time for business (except in the case of some fueling stations).
Internet marketing for your business enables you to be open around the clock without worrying about store opening hours or overtime payments for staff.
Not just for you, your customers find it so convenient when they can get access to your products or service right from the comfort of their home.
Digital marketing is very cost-effective
Have you once tried to market or advertise your products or service for just 3 minutes on radio or TV stations? The fees are high.
Marketing online is more cost-effective when compared to other mediums. For example, using Facebook advertising for your business is cheap, you get started for around $3 to $5 and you’ll start seeing results if you’ve optimized your products for conversion.
As an online business owner, you are able to design marketing tactics, deliver and execute digital marketing campaigns, spending only what’s necessary, with reasonable value proposition in order to reap maximum rewards later on.
Relationship building
Customer stories have shown that people tend to buy online from someone they trust. This trust comes from establishing a unique relationship with potential customers as you present your expertise.
The Internet itself provides an important platform for building relationships with customers in real-time and increasing customer retention levels.
Digital marketing now makes it possible to build a strong relationship with your customers when they have purchased a product from you.
For example, sending them to follow up emails with personalized offers, inviting them to review your products or services will help you build this strong relationship.
Digital Marketing Training In Nigeria
Digital marketing training is all about starting your business online, growing that business faster, improving customer digital experience, beating your competition, increasing sales and conversion rate optimization.
To help you grasp the above digital marketing activities much better, I have categorized online marketing into 6 marketing strategies.
6 Key Online Marketing Strategies You Should Learn
Offline marketing can be good but if you want digital transformation in your online business, you’ll need to employ marketing automation a sound digital strategy as well.
In my previous blog post on the real truth behind making money online, I promised to give a detailed explanation of the big areas of internet marketing.
First, I’ve give you a description of what each entails, and in series, I’ll give a detailed explanation of each digital marketing strategy, plus practical step by step guide to follow.
PLEASE NOTE: This article on digital marketing will be updated almost every week, with links to each online marketing strategy. For Now, we’ve done justice to content marketing strategy, affiliate marketing, social media marketing.
Content Marketing
This will be the first detailed digital marketing strategy you’ll learn about, but first, let me give you an overview.
Content marketers use content marketing to give timely, valuable, problem-solving and relevant content to their potential online customers (audience).
It’s the process of using effective content creation tips to engage and grow your customer base. The first step to doing that is knowing your stuff and then you can get rewarded in profit.
Learn Everything About Content Marketing In This Guide
Affiliate Marketing
Ever thought about selling a product you don’t own over and over again and making passive income non-stop? That’s affiliate marketing for you.
If you’ve read my blog post on the proven ways to make money online, you’ll be fully aware that selling products (digital or physical) is one of the big categories.
So, who says you can’t sell other people’s products?
Here’s a real example: You have a friend who runs a canteen business – forks and fingers, you visited him just once and found his meal to be superb.
You couldn’t help but tell other people about the wonderful meal and restaurant service your friend provides.
In just a week, about 10 people went to your friend’s canteen and mentioned to you, each of them talked about how you recommend the meals at forks and fingers.
You visited your friend a week later and he told you he was amazed, that 10 people came around and told him how you recommended his canteen. He gave you a certain commission per each of the 10 new customers.
That is affiliate marketing. Just by talking about what you’ve tried out, you earn.
Offline, there could be limitations but online, there are no limitations. You keep earning and earning and earning.
If you have a blog, it gets more interesting because years and years to come you keep making money based on what you’ve tried and recommended.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is also a hot digital strategy. You won’t believe how many people use Facebook and other social media platforms. Social media marketing is another big industry.
Social media or social networking is a a tool for conversation and market communication – it requires active participation of your business on digital media platforms to present your products and services online.
For more on how to market successfully on social media see:
6 Social media marketing trends you should keep your eyes on
7 ways to grow any business online with Facebook
5 Facebook marketing do’s and don’ts
How to create a Facebook fan page for your business
Quickstep by step guide to Facebook Ads for your business
9 effective ways to advertise on Snap Chat
Le’ts move to the next.
Search Engine Optimization Marketing (SEO)
Either you call it Search marketing, search engine marketing or search engine optimization (SEO), it is the process of optimizing your contents online for search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.)
This marketing strategy will help search engines to show your content in the top search results when people search for information related to your keyword.
For example, when you type a set of the keyword(s) like “loans for corps members” or “Current Ponzi schemes” or “most translated website” into Google search engine, you’ll find oasdom.com’s content in the top results.
And..
Why is being on the first search results of search engines so important?
When potential customers enter search terms that match your product or services offering offerings, you rank higher than other blogs or platforms.
Online searchers tend to click the first search results compared to the 4th, 5th, or 6th results. Being on the first page of Google search results is good but being the first result is great!
It means you’ll get tons of free traffic to your blog without investing a dime in ads. So, how do you get started with search engine optimization and marketing?
Also Read: Everything you need to know about search engine optimization
Email Marketing
Email marketing is about directly communicating with your target audience and customers.
Emails have come to stay and almost every active internet user has at least 1 email.
According to the Radicati Group, there will be over 3.7 billion email users online. That means that nearly 54% of the entire planet is currently using email.
Using emails in your online business is one big marketing strategy. And the best part is, it’s not difficult to setup.
With emails, you can reach your potential customers online, present your products and services, and make huge sales.
This is just an overview of email marketing, comprehensive details coming soon.
Blogging
You actually can’t skip blogging when talking about online marketing. You just can’t! Blogging is one of the biggest internet marketing strategies to make money online.
On their own, blogs alone can help you make huge passive income online. Blogs have proven to be a hub that helps you apply all other online marketing strategies.
If you don’t have a blog for your online business, it’s like you’re missing on a big pie of online real estate earnings.
Blogs help you establish authority in your niche as your contents (videos, articles, magazines, etc.) set’s a tone for your expertise in what you do.
I’ve dedicated many resources here on Oasdom.com to help you succeed in blogging. Some are listed below:
- 6 insightful reasons to consider starting a blog today
- How to start a blog in Nigeria and create a blog all by yourself
- 4 quick ways to get traffic to your blog
Learn Everything About Blogging In our Free Blogging Course
PLEASE NOTE: This article on online marketing will be updated in series, with links to each digital marketing strategy. Now, we’ve done justice to content marketing.
Digital Marketing In Nigeria (Conclusion)
Lead generation and marketing planning is key to succeeding in your online business. You may be wondering, why did I let you know about all these?
It’s because I want to be honest with my visitors. In my opinion, the best way to gain trust from your blog visitors is to be 100% transparent and this is exactly what I’m doing. And also, I’m a pretty friendly folk.
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