What is digital marketing?
To put it in simple terms, digital marketing is anything you do online to get attention, drive people to your website and convince them to buy your product, join your mailing list or download your app. It is the act of selling your products by using online marketing channels like social media, email marketing, and search marketing.
Unlike traditional marketing, it is measurable, which means you can see what’s working and what’s not so that you can focus on certain areas and abandon those not working. It is also less expensive and easy to test.
Imagine if you had to set up a billboard to advertise your products. You wouldn’t know how many people saw it, how many people made a purchase because of the billboard, and it would be very expensive because, in Kenya, you cannot purchase a single billboard.
Imagine if you had to set up a billboard to advertise your products. You wouldn’t know how many people saw it, how many people made a purchase because of the billboard, and it would be very expensive because, in Kenya, you cannot purchase a single billboard.
Digital marketing in Kenya requires you to put your products where the eyeballs are!
This is to say that you should have your products where your customers hang out like in social media, news sites, and blogs as well as online search every time they need something.
Digital marketing helps you interact with your prospects and customers and they are able to see you, learn more about you and ask questions before making purchases or taking any action.
All the digital tactics that you’ll employ are geared towards creating a foundation for your business, that is, attracting prospects, nurturing relationships, and offering your audience value.
In order to succeed in marketing, you need to make the right offer at the right time and in the right place.
How it works
Digital marketing is similar to traditional marketing in many ways. Both require you to develop beneficial relationships with customers and prospects. However, traditional marketing methods are quite expensive and do not have a wide reach like digital marketing. Digital marketing is designed to reach today’s consumers in a personal way and in various channels which make interaction easy.
Due to the advancement in technology, most consumers search the internet first before making any purchase decision.
If a customer is looking for a home or car to buy, they will first search the internet for the available solutions, the options and where to find them.
Based on online reviews, features, prices, and referral from family and friends, you make a buying decision. You will notice that your purchasing decision began online, that is why an online presence is absolutely important for all types and sizes of businesses.
For your digital marketing to work, you need to have your digital marketing strategy in front of your follower and prospects. This is done by using several digital channels where you can create relevant content to keep them informed of the latest developments in the industry and point out their pain-points and how to solve them.
You can also use social media to share the content you created then interact with them as followers and friends.
Another way to use digital channels to engage with your prospects and customers is by using SEO to optimize your content so that it shows up when someone is searching for the information you’ve provided.
Once you have the email addresses of your followers, be sure to use email marketing to make a follow up with your followers to ensure that their issues are addressed.
To build an effective digital marketing plan, you need to consider each of these steps, one at a time.
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Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital marketing begins and ends with a customer value journey or the digital marketing strategy. A digital marketing strategy is the use of online marketing channels to carry out a series of actions which will help you achieve your company goals. A business can have multiple digital strategies with different goals. A strategy is simply a plan of actions which you intend to take in order to achieve a certain goal. Despite its undisputed importance, most companies have not yet adopted a digital marketing strategy.
Today the number of people who access the internet is greater than those who don’t.
A recent statistic shows that internet usage among the adult population has over the three past years increased by 5%. The internet has completely changed how people shop.
Actually, as more and more people are adapting to shopping online, so is offline marketing becoming obsolete. Marketers are fast turning to online advertising as it has proved to be much more viable when compared to offline marketing.
You see, effective marketing is the ability of the marketer to connect with their target audience at the right place and time and the internet has made this real.
Marketers can now meet their target audience where they are. However, for your marketing efforts to bear fruits, you need to have well-laid strategies in place. In this piece, we will look at how, as a marketer, you can develop your digital marketing strategies that work.
Steps to A Powerful Digital Marketing Strategy
1.   Set your objective
Nailing your business mission is the first thing to developing a powerful digital market strategy. You need to define the mission of your business. Your marketing mission must fit into your grand plan.
2.   Set your key performance index
Identify the figures that your business will be held accountable for, and get realistic with the KPIs through analyzing your initial marketing efforts. In the end, you will avoid avoiding your business expectations too high. But before you embark on planning your key performance indicators, first identify the appropriate metrics that matter most to your business.
3. Host webinar and live events
Use a number of digital marketing resources to engage your target audience. Use webinars, online promotion of live events and also podcasts. Streamline the process of event promotion using a third party so that the process runs seamlessly. There are some event technology platforms such as Eventbrite that has for a long time helped brands to create and market their events. The platform also promotes the sale of tickets as well as managing their audience.
4. Make your marketing strategy mobile
Your marketing content might be looking good on a desktop; however, you should strive to translate it through devices. Buyers need cohesion across various platforms. Therefore, if you provide better accessibility for your audience, the more they are likely to make a purchase.
Conclusion
There are many things to consider when coming up with a well thought-through digital marketing strategy that works. Besides identifying your means and sticking to your budget, you also need to make a plan and ’don’t stick to it’. Of cause, if it doesn’t work. Paramount, you need to come up with your digital marketing calendar and review your marketing strategies from time to time. Note the changes that are needed, and within no time, you will be ripping the benefits of your digital marketing strategy.
