It would not be wrong to say that marketing has always been the most critical function of business machinery. It is the cushion that supports businesses to withstand external and internal shocks. However, marketing has seen radical changes over the past decade. Consumers have increasingly become more active on virtual platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Similarly, marketers have adopted this change in their marketing strategies. The brainchild of this entire shift is digital marketing.

There used to be an era when TV commercials during prime time were enough to capture the audience. However, in today’s age, we enjoy 24/7 connectivity. Therefore, businesses need to be active round the clock. It sounds to be an impossible feat for businesses. That is where digital marketing provides the right avenues for companies to keep their target customers within reach at all times. A single online post can represent your brand to your customers more comprehensively than other traditional marketing gimmicks. Best CRM Software In 2021

Where to begin digital marketing? Which strategy to adopt? You might be having these questions at the back of your mind. If you do not have an efficient online marketing plan, you will undoubtedly lose to more tech-savvy competitors. It’s better to ponder on these questions right now and devise an effective digital marketing strategy. Only digital marketing can enable you to connect with the right customer, at the right time, and on the right platform.

If you still do not have a mature digital marketing strategy, take notes of the points this article highlights. Here we discuss five tools to set up a robust digital marketing infrastructure for your offerings.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

The importance of understanding search engines goes without saying in the world of digital marketing. You must understand and incorporate SEO, backlinks, and paid search ads – mainly Pay Per Click (PPC). According to a survey, 93% of the time, people find a brand’s presence for the first time through a search engine like Google. Therefore, your online presence must possess the correct attribute so that search engines value your website.

SEO is an offshoot of search engine marketing. It mainly revolves around optimizing your website content with the right keywords and phrases so that search engines rank it higher. It initiates a cycle that ultimately results in increased sales, and a higher website ranking results in increased organic traffic. More traffic means increased chances of new customer acquisition. It eventually results in higher revenue for the business.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation is the utilization of software-based technology to perform repetitive marketing tasks automatically. Marketers specify criteria for particular functions, which are then interpreted by software. The software then analyzes the set standards and generates leads. It delivers real-time data to the sales team. The primary mediator in between is usually the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.

Marketing automation provides three essential benefits to marketers. Firstly, marketers can create a central marketing database. They can collect data from every touchpoint where they interact with a customer. It helps them to design a more targeted and customer-centric marketing campaign. Secondly, marketing automation assists engagement marketing engines. Marketers can produce omnichannel customer engagement through these engines. Thirdly, it provides analytical support to marketers to gauge the ROI of their marketing efforts.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is an online marketing model that is quite self-explanatory in itself. The advertiser pays for every click. It is like buying visits to your website and ads. Advertisers pay whenever a user clicks their ad. So it creates an incentive for search engines to highlight your ads to earn more. In return, it enhances your brand awareness and increases your online footprint. PPC marketing increases sales, generate leads and promotes brand awareness.

The largest Pay-Per-Click platform is Google Ads, proving to be a vast avenue to advertise your brand and increase your market footprint. It produces 50% better results than organic searches. A whopping 90% of global internet users go through these ads daily. The next big giant is Microsoft Advertising. It mainly covers the various Microsoft and Yahoo platforms. It is predominantly keyword-based advertising. PPC marketing has produced successful results for several marketers. It has generated profitable leads and increased brand awareness among potential customers.

Data Analytics

Data analytics is the utilization of data to generate valuable insights for future use. It has made its way into marketing strongly. In this modern world, we have hyper-connectivity, proving why there are more than 3.5 billion smartphone users globally. Each of these devices generates enough data to interpret a customer in every possible domain of marketing. Marketers collect data at different stages of a buying decision.

This data can tell marketers about the likes and dislikes of a customer. It can also highlight the right tactics to create a more personalized marketing campaign. Primarily, digital marketing relies on online means where the role of data is inevitable. Therefore, data analytics helps marketers to gauge market trends and design digital marketing strategies accordingly.

Social Media Marketing

More than 45% of the global population is an active social media user daily. Only Facebook has more than 2.5 billion active monthly users. So what does this portray? What to do in marketing? Surprisingly, 54% of total internet users around the world research a product on social media. Now think, even if half of those researches end up in actual sales, how huge this market is. Billions of people are not just active but searching for products on social media. A single Facebook or Instagram post can earn your brand millions of new prospective customers.

Nowadays, businesses operate entirely through social media. The traditional brick-and-mortar stores don’t exist for them. Therefore, social media marketing becomes even more critical.

Final Thoughts

Digital marketing is not something new. However, the recent expansion that it has witnessed is indeed unprecedented. Now marketers cannot launch a successful marketing campaign unless they incorporate proper digital marketing tools. If you still do not have a comprehensive digital marketing strategy for your business, you are already late. However, better late than never. Therefore, start evaluating your business environment and adopt digital marketing at your earliest.