What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, refers to advertising delivered through digital channels to promote brands and connect potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication such as: 

• Search engines
• Websites
• Social media
• Email
• Mobile apps
• Text messaging
• Web-based advertising

In-short, if a marketing campaign is using any of the above online media channels, it is digital marketing.

Consumers today rely heavily on digital means to research products. Some 77% of customers research a brand online before engaging with it, according to HubSpot Research. Meanwhile, 51% of consumers say they use Google to research products before buying.

How does digital marketing work?

Digital marketing uses a range of strategies to reach customers, whether the aim is to tempt them into making a purchase, increase their brand awareness, or simply engage with your brand. Modern digital marketing comprises a broad system of channels, including: 

• Social media
• Content marketing
• Website marketing
• SEO (search engine optimization)
• PPC (pay per click) advertising
  
  

To achieve the true potential of digital marketing, marketers must dig deep into today’s vast and intricate cross-channel world to discover strategies that make an impact through engagement marketing.

Engagement marketing is the method of forming meaningful interactions with potential and returning customers based on the data you collect over time. By engaging customers in a digital landscape, you build brand awareness, position yourself as a thought leader, and place your business at the forefront when the customer is ready to buy.

Why is digital marketing important?

By implementing an omnichannel digital marketing strategy, marketers can collect valuable insights into target audience behaviors while opening the door to new methods of customer engagement.

Additionally, companies can expect an increase in retention. According to a report by Invesp, companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers. Compare that to companies with weak omnichannel programs and they have a retention rate of just 33%. 

Digital marketing continues to evolve. For example, the increasing variety of wearable devices available to consumers affords new opportunities to market to them. Forbes also forecasts that social media will become increasingly conversational in the B2B space, video content will be refined for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, and email marketing will become even more personalized.