Unless you have previously worked or currently work in the field of digital marketing, you may not necessarily understand what it is. The complex world of online advertising takes time to learn, let alone master, and it is ever-evolving across many different platforms. In my first year, I learned a few key things.
1. Digital marketing is similar to traditional marketing, but also very different
Traditadwoional advertising is focused on mediums like television, radio, and print media while digital is completely online. Both require similar skills for creating successful advertising campaigns, but the data can be harder to come by on traditional channels.
Digital marketing allows advertisers to discover their core audience in new ways with more precise data tracking and research. The information that is available to online advertisers allows you to get in front of prospective and current customers on search engines, websites, social media, email, and video. Each of these platforms offer a variety of ways to simultaneously discover and learn about your audience.
2. Google Ads is intention focused, Facebook builds awareness
Search engine and social media marketing both play a huge role in how you want to target online.
Targeting on Google Ads is ideal for getting in front of people who already have an idea of what they’re looking for. Although the Search Network can be competitive and pricey, it’s typically more likely to convert than other platforms. This is due to how advanced your customer already is in the decision- making process. Our goal as advertisers is to figure out how to best get in front of them as they are already looking for you.
Targeting on Facebook is great for expanding your audience and targeting very specific groups of people. They may not necessarily know about you yet, but based on their interests, demographics, etc. you can find them early on and create that engagement. It allows you to set goals like lead generation, email signups, and page likes, plus it is generally cheaper than Google Ads.
3. A digital marketing teams needs both an analytical and a creative brain
It’s important to be able to look at data in different facets; from understanding how you rank compared to your competitors to figuring out how to market to your audience, both the creative and the analytical brains are essential in creating a comprehensive perspective. Reporting and optimizing your accounts are a huge part of the day-to-day, but in order to write copy for your ads and speak to your target, you need to be able to analyze the data and build your advertising around it. It’s important to know how to choose, understand, and speak to your audience across all platforms.
4. Every business needs digital marketing
It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business or a brick-and-mortar shop with no previous online presence. Online advertising can be developed based on company goals and the best digital marketing platforms for your target market.
For instance, if you have a retail shop that wants to start selling online, you can create a shopping campaign for each item and control how much you want to spend for people clicking on your product. Starting small and collecting the data allows you to build out your advertising based on customer’s needs (and also helps control your budget).
5. Digital marketing is always changing
One of the best things about working in digital marketing is that every day is different, as are the client’s needs. The continuous changes on each of the platforms not to mention new research, data breaches, reporting tools, and so much more require any digital marketing team to stay on top of their game at all times. The goal of any agency is to help their clients be successful!
