What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is a way to reach potential customers in an effective, efficient, and affordable manner. It uses any number of digital channels such as search engines, websites, social media, mobile apps, and electronic devices.

In the early days of digital marketing, email was a popular way to communicate with customers. As technology changed, companies started leveraging other digital channels to reach their target audiences. Today, most companies have a presence on at least one digital platform.

The goal of digital marketing is to increase brand awareness and to create more opportunities to connect with audiences. To be successful, you need to know how to use each digital channel effectively.

Some of the most common ways to reach a targeted audience include paid ads on search engines, social media, and video platforms. Search engine marketing (SEM), for example, enables businesses to bid on keywords. These ads appear when someone types a relevant keyword.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, involves engaging people in online discussion about the brand. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are just a few of the many social media sites. Companies can then use these sites to promote their products.

Text-to-give campaigns allow customers to pay for a product or service through text messages. Many nonprofit organizations also use SMS to send information about their work.

Often, marketers will say that inbound marketing and digital marketing are practically the same. However, there are slight differences. For instance, while digital marketing can be used to improve a company’s conversion rate, inbound marketing does not necessarily have to do so.