What is a Digital Marketer?
Because this is a relatively new position many people are not quite sure what a digital marketer is and what digital marketers do. This position manages the rapidly expanding use of the internet. This growth has given consumers more control over their purchases and the businesses from whom they purchase. Digital marketers develop and manage marketing strategies for any of the digital and online components of a business’s marketing plan. The types of ads they manage may consist of text message blast, email blasts, social media ads, etc. Digital marketers will also be familiar with search engine optimization (SEO) and conduct research on topics consumers are searching for and how they word their searches, also known as keywords. From there, they use these keywords to apply in their SEO strategy and ads. They may not be SEO experts, so make sure to include one. They will use special software to track, interoperate, and integrate analytics for your SEO campaigns.
Digital marketers will track key performance indicators (KPIs), which measure what is used and how it is used to determine if the digital marketing campaign is successful or not. For example, when tracking a social media ad, you would track how many people it reached, the interactions it had, and the amount of individuals that visited the business’s website to purchase the advertised item. Each one of these sections in the buyer’s journey, from the initial interaction to the transaction, are KPIs. Small things such as changing the wording, time, or day a social media post gets posted could significantly change the amount of people reached and the number of transactions made. This is a long-term process of trial and error because consumers are constantly changing what they are searching for and the wording they use to search for it. Digital marketers are continuously educating themselves to keep up with these trends. “Far beyond the simple ability to use social media, digital marketing requires understanding of consumer habits and motivations, the ability to synthesize analytics, and communicating effectively with clients” (https://www.bestmarketingdegrees.org/digital-marketer/). A large portion of what a digital marketer does is develop a strategic plan to properly brand businesses across all digital mediums. There are going to be integrations of offline components as well, like print material advertising the website or social media of the business and vice versa. It is necessary that digital marketers work with other departments to align the business’s marketing strategy, consistently branding the business.
What does digital marketing include?
To answer the question “What does digital marketing include?” is somewhat difficult to answer. Some digital marketing agencies and individuals will offer most of these services, if not all of these services, and others will be very narrow in the services they offer. Some will have different options and packages at different prices in order accommodate different needs and budgets. There are even companies that will claim they are performing digital marketing, but in reality, they provide very little to no services at all. There are agencies and individuals that take advantage of small business owners, so do extensive research to find the right agency or individual creditable enough with the right fit for your business and team. Digital marketing is the promotion of a product, service, and/or brand through electronic mediums. One of the largest differences between digital marketing and traditional marketing is that the analytical information gathered in digital marketing is in real time, allowing businesses to see, acknowledge, and change what is and what is not working immediately.
- With digital marketing business owners can see what is being looked at, the frequency, and time spent on each page. Another important metric is what content made more total sales or more sales compared to the visits to the business’s website (conversion rate).
- Digital marketing involves extensive use of the internet, but one of the most basic ways to market online is through social media. You can reach a vast amount of potential customers in one post and guide them to your business’s website, which is the digital representation of your business.
- Digital marketers will gain backlinks to your businesses website on other related businesses websites, which will gain extra exposure.
- One of the larger responsibilities is assisting with the branding of the company, especially digitally. Branding identity is one of the most important things that a small business wants to consider to stand out and be unique amongst the competition.
- Another service commonly provided is advertising wireless text messaging and mobile instant messaging, usually to loyal customers who have consented to such promotions.
- Digital marketers also manage advertising for apps, both for the sale of the app through other venues and for the businesses that would like to be one of the ad providers.
Other common mediums that digital marketing include are:
- Blogs
- Podcasts
- electronic billboards
- space for television ads
- radio ads
Again, some digital marketers and digital marketing agencies will perform all of these services for their clients and others may provide a single service. Everything depends on the individual or the agency and the ultimate decision is going to require research based on the needs of the business.
For more information on “Why digital marketing?” Click the link
