5 Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Marketing

January 26 / Chair 10 Marketing Team / filed under Internet Marketing

Digital marketing is hardly a new concept but confusion reigns and that’s no surprise. Mastering the digisphere is incredibly daunting but success begins with the basics. Here are five straightforward responses to digital marketing questions you may not even have realized you had.

What Is Digital Marketing?

When we refer to digital marketing, we’re talking about the way brands use online channels to reach both current and prospective customers. Because technology is constantly evolving, digital marketing is also kind of a living, breathing thing; what’s current today won’t necessarily be the right approach tomorrow and new channels are constantly springing up.

Today, digital marketing campaigns many include any of the following:

  • A main business website
  • Social media profiles
  • Visual marketing such as infographics and vlogs
  • Blog posts
  • Emails
  • Ebooks
  • Whitepapers
  • Review sites and reputation management
  • PPC/online advertising
  • SEO
  • Public relations (in terms of online exposure)

You may also see terms like “content marketing”, “social media marketing”, “native advertising”, “affiliate marketing”, “influencer marketing”, and “inbound marketing” bandied about. These are all related specialties that intertwine closely with digital marketing and an agency may concentrate on one or all of these areas.

What is SEO?

The term SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” SEO is constantly tossed about these days but few people really know what it means – even some so-called marketing experts struggle to properly explain it. For starters, SEO is more of a concept than a term. Search engine optimization is a complex operation that encompasses both on- and off-site efforts to boost a website’s visibility and help convert incoming traffic. SEO is not the simple placement of keywords or quickly submitting your site to some kind of automated visibility generator.

What is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?

Pay-per-click, or PPC, is a form of digital advertising in which the advertiser is only charged when a consumer clicks on the ad in question. This is a more cost-effective way for advertisers to manage the efficacy of a campaign and for site owners with healthy traffic, hosting PPC ads can generate a ton of revenue.

Review Sites are Stupid. Why Should I Pay Any Attention to Them?

Review sites like Yelp are commonly left out of the digital marketing equation but that’s like watching vandals spray graffiti all over your store canopy or billboard and doing nothing about it. When a customer leaves their opinion, they’re asking for someone to acknowledge their feelings and, in many cases, to promise some kind of action. Not responding is the online equivalent of an unanswered phone or ambivalent customer service agent. Managing your online reputation requires consistency, genuine interest, and a plan of action, all of which can seriously influence your overall brand image.

Why Should I Work With an Agency Instead of Taking on My Own Digital Marketing Strategy?

You can’t talk about digital marketing without talking about digital marketing agencies because they’re everywhere. The problem is that many of those agencies try to do too much or narrow their focus to the extreme. The best agencies offer a family or services that are closely linked so that those experts can create and execute a winning marketing strategy with optimal results. That’s also why it’s important to go the agency route rather than attempting to become a marketing pro in between client calls; marketing is a full-time job and the landscape is constantly shifting underfoot. You may be able to create a few blogs or get the basic gist of the crazy PPC wonderland, but you’ll never be as efficient or effective as someone (or better yet a team of someones) who embrace digital marketing as the all-encompassing profession it truly is.