#DigitalMarketing101

Chances are high that when it comes to digital marketing you have heard a lot of buzzwords. Have you heard any of these buzzwords recently?

• Inbound marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media marketing (SMM)
• Content marketing
• Google analytics
• Competitive analysis
• Customer persona
• Mobile Marketing
• Marketing automation
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Influencer Marketing
• Blogging

These buzzwords are all great, especially if you know what they are and why they might be beneficial in your online presence. But still...what exactly is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is any marketing effort that happens online.

HubSpot defines digital marketing as, “… an umbrella term for all of your online marketing efforts. Businesses leverage digital channels such as Google search, social media, email, and their websites to connect with their current and prospective customers.”

In 2017, we know where people are spending time. According to Nielsen, the average adult spends over 10 hours a day consuming media.

As a digital marketer, it is important to know where your prospective clients are spending time and the best way to engage with them.  (Click to Tweet)

Marketing is all about the technique on how to reach audiences at specific points in their buyer's journey and then converting them into buyers. Some of these tactics are traditional marketing tactics known as legacy methods and some of these tactics use digital marketing also known as inbound tactics.

What are traditional marketing tactics?

Traditional marketing tends to be things ads, promotions, fliers, and commercials that are not desired by the viewer. This form of marketing tends to be more “in your face.”

We have all experienced this before. There has to be a time in your life where you were watching television and all of the sudden you had an urge to eat a delicious chicken quesadilla after you watched a commercial of a cute Chihuahua speaking in Spanish about Mexican food. You weren’t looking for food, in fact, you weren’t even hungry but their marketing effort won you over.

It’s 2017, and that is annoying.

Nobody wants to be bombarded with messages they aren’t looking for. Therefore, we love things like Netflix or DVR, where we have control. We don’t want to be sold too because our time is valuable.

What are inbound digital marketing tactics?

Inbound marketing is less intrusive and is geared at providing value to prospective clients. Things like content marketing, social media customer service, and online reviews are great examples that provide value to the user.

I shared this story a few months ago in a blog post, “The Scary Truth about Social Media.”

“I love to smoke meat. So naturally, I wanted to build a smoker. I went online to learn about which type of welder I needed and came across a well-known welder manufacturer who had written a blog post about the different types of welders and common uses for that type of welder. Nowhere in the article did they sell me one of their welders, but what they did do was answer my questions and provide value. For me, this automatically built brand awareness and loyalty.”

Focus your digital marketing efforts with inbound marketing tactics. The goal is to provide value to your customers who are looking for it, not to random people trying to watch television.

Provide value not noise.