Unleash the power of digital marketing: A beginner's guide to reaching new customers online

Interested in unlocking the secrets of modern marketing? Dive into the world of digital marketing, where strategies evolve at the speed of clicks.

Like traditional marketing, digital marketing is all about reaching, attracting, and then converting customers. And since most customers — past, current, and potential — live almost every aspect of their lives online these days, that means your marketing must be online, too.

This guide describes how strategic digital marketing enhances your online presence, various kinds of digital marketing, the benefits of digital marketing, and offers some impactful free tools to get you started.

Read on to discover how to harness the power of online platforms and engage with audiences in ways that drive results.

What is digital marketing?

Businesses utilize digital marketing to increase brand visibility, attract potential customers, and drive sales in an increasingly digital world. Additionally, digital marketing enables businesses to track and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns, allowing for continuous optimization and improved ROI.

Once you understand the ins and outs of digital marketing and how it can benefit your business, you’ll be anxious to apply the following tips and tools towards building your brand.

Digital marketing defined

Digital marketing leverages online platforms and technologies to promote products or services, aiming to reach and engage with target audiences. It encompasses various strategies such as social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, and content marketing. To be effective, digital marketing requires a deep understanding of consumer behavior, data analytics, and continuous adaptation to emerging trends in the digital landscape.

Why is digital marketing so important?

With the majority of consumers turning to the internet for information, entertainment, and shopping, digital marketing provides unparalleled opportunities to connect with potential customers. Moreover, it offers cost-effective methods for measuring and analyzing campaign performance, enabling businesses to refine their strategies and maximize their possible return on investment.

Explore different types of digital marketing

There are several types of digital marketing, and each has its own unique flavor. Consider what fits both your brand and your ideal customer to determine what types of marketing make the most sense for growing your customer base.

Here are 13 digital marketing examples with a brief explanation of each:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

The process of optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), thereby increasing organic (non-paid) traffic to the site.

2. Social media marketing:

Utilizing social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn) to promote products or services, engage with audiences, and build brand awareness.

3. Website marketing:

This type of marketing encompasses strategies and tactics aimed at promoting a website to attract visitors, improve user engagement, and ultimately achieve specific business objectives, such as increasing sales or generating leads.

4. Content marketing:

Creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience, ultimately driving profitable customer action.

5. Email marketing:

Sending targeted messages and promotional content to a list of subscribers via email, often used to nurture leads, promote products, and build customer relationships.

6. Influencer marketing:

Collaborating with influential individuals on social media (influencers) to promote products or services to their followers, leveraging their credibility and reach.

7. Affiliate marketing:

Digital affiliate marketing is performance-based marketing where businesses reward affiliates for driving traffic or sales to their website through the affiliate's marketing efforts.

8. Display advertising:

Placing visual ads (banners, images, videos) on third-party websites or platforms to increase brand visibility and drive traffic back to the advertiser's site.

9. Video marketing:

Creating and sharing video content to educate, entertain, or promote products/services, often distributed on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.

10. Mobile marketing:

Marketing efforts specifically targeting mobile device users, including mobile-optimized websites, mobile apps, SMS marketing, and location-based marketing strategies.

11. Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC):

This is an advertising model where advertisers are paid a fee each time their ad is clicked, commonly used in search engine advertising (Google Ads) and social media advertising (Facebook Ads).

12. Search Engine Marketing (SEM):

SEM is a digital marketing strategy that involves promoting websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages through paid advertising and optimization techniques like SEO.

13. Text marketing:

Text marketing, also known as SMS marketing, involves sending promotional messages, updates, or notifications directly to customers' mobile devices via text messages.

Using Key Performance Indicators to measure success

Understanding the diverse array of digital marketing channels is just the beginning; what truly matters are the results they yield. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) serve as a compass, guiding businesses to measure the effectiveness of their digital marketing efforts.

KPIs are measurable metrics that indicate the success of marketing campaigns in achieving specific goals. They help assess the effectiveness of marketing efforts and provide insights into performance trends over time.

Examples of KPIs include conversion rates, website traffic, customer acquisition costs, click-through rates, and social media engagement metrics.

• Conversion rates refer to the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or completing a form, out of the total number of visitors.
• Website traffic refers to the volume of visitors who access a website, typically measured by the total number of visits or sessions over a specific period.
• Customer acquisition costs represent the total expenses incurred by a business to acquire a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses, divided by the number of new customers gained within a specific time frame.
• Click-through rate is the percentage of people who click on a specific link or advertisement out of the total number of people who view it, typically used to measure the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns.
• Social media engagement metrics are quantitative measures that assess the level of interaction and participation with content on social media platforms, including likes, comments, shares, and clicks, indicating the extent of audience engagement and interest.

How do I put digital marketing to work for my brand?

Developing digital marketing strategies involves conducting comprehensive market research to understand target audiences, competitors, and industry trends. It entails setting clear and measurable goals, such as increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or boosting sales.

Strategies often encompass a mix of tactics, including content creation, digital marketing tools, social media engagement, paid advertising, and ongoing analysis and optimization to ensure effectiveness and ROI.

The following aspects of digital marketing examples can help you determine what digital marketing strategies make sense for your brand and how to apply them.

• Market research: Understanding your target audience, their preferences, behaviors, and pain points is essential. Utilize tools like surveys, focus groups, and customer analytics to gather valuable insights into their behavior and effective digital marketing trends.
• Competitive analysis: Evaluate competitors' digital marketing strategies to identify gaps, opportunities, and areas for differentiation. Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and BuzzSumo can provide valuable competitor insights.
• SWOT analysis: Assess your brand's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the digital landscape. This analysis can inform strategic decision-making and help prioritize marketing efforts.
• Goal setting: Clearly define your marketing objectives, whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or improving conversion rates. Ensure that your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
• Customer journey mapping: Map out the various touchpoints and interactions that customers have with your brand online. Understand their needs at each stage of the journey to tailor digital marketing strategies accordingly.
• Content strategy: Develop a content strategy that aligns with your brand voice, values, and objectives. Determine the types of content (e.g., blog posts, videos, infographics) and channels (e.g., social media, email, website) that will resonate with your target audience.
• Digital advertising platforms: Explore different digital advertising platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Twitter Ads. Understand their targeting options, ad formats, and bidding strategies to effectively reach your audience.
• Analytics and measurement: Implement tracking tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and email marketing platforms to monitor the performance of your digital marketing efforts. Analyze key metrics and adjust strategies based on data-driven insights.

Use Adobe Express to shape your successful digital marketing strategy

Ready to shape digital marketing that will engage more customers and drive success for your business’s brand? Add these Adobe Express tools to your toolkit today!

• Effortless graphic design: Adobe Express helps you effortlessly create stunning graphics for social media posts, blog headers, logos, and email newsletters without the need for graphic design expertise.
• Professional videos: With Adobe Express, you can easily create engaging video content for social media, presentations, and advertisements, enhancing your digital marketing efforts with professional-quality visuals.
• Compelling webpages: Businesses can use Adobe Express tools to create visually appealing webpages and microsites to showcase products, services, and promotions, enhancing their online presence and driving conversions.
• Consistent branding: Adobe's customizable templates and branding features ensure that businesses maintain a consistent brand identity across all digital marketing materials, reinforcing brand recognition and trust.
• Social media content creation: Thanks to the easy-to-use interface, you can streamline the process of creating and sharing visually appealing content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X, maximizing engagement with target audiences.
• Time efficiency: Adobe Express's user-friendly design tools and pre-designed templates save businesses time by expediting the content creation process, allowing them to focus on other aspects of their digital marketing strategy.
• Mobile accessibility: The Adobe Express mobile app enables businesses to create and edit marketing materials on-the-go, ensuring flexibility and convenience in managing digital marketing campaigns from anywhere.
• Analytics integration: Adobe Express integrates seamlessly with Adobe Analytics and other analytics platforms, allowing businesses to track the performance of their digital marketing content and make data-driven optimizations for improved results.
• Audience engagement: You can use Adobe’s templates to shape customer feedback forms, increasing audience engagement and gathering valuable feedback to inform your digital marketing strategies.
• Cross-platform compatibility: Adobe's templates are optimized for viewing across various devices and platforms, ensuring a seamless user experience for audiences engaging with digital marketing content on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
• Localized marketing: Adobe offers multilingual support and localization features empower businesses to create tailored marketing materials for different regions and target audiences, effectively reaching diverse markets with relevant content.
• Community collaboration: Collaboration tools within Adobe facilitate teamwork and creativity within businesses by allowing team members to co-create and edit digital marketing content in real time, fostering collaboration and innovation.
• Cost-effectiveness: Adobe offers affordable pricing plans and a range of free features, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes and budgets, enabling them to optimize their digital marketing efforts without breaking the bank.
• Educational resources: Through Adobe Express, you can equip your business with a wealth of educational resources, including tutorials, webinars, and inspirational content, empowering them to continually improve their digital marketing skills and stay ahead of industry trends.
• Versatile applications: Whether it's creating social media graphics, promotional videos, or interactive web pages, Adobe offers a versatile suite of tools and resources that cater to a wide range of digital marketing needs, providing businesses with the flexibility to adapt and innovate in their marketing endeavors.

Now that you know the fundamentals of digital marketing and have access to a full arsenal of tools, nothing can stop you from building a powerful digital marketing strategy that helps your brand stand out above the competition and drives your business to success!

This post was updated on August 28, 2024.