What is digital marketing and how is it used
P1 Explain the role of digital marketing as an extension of traditional marketing
and the ways the message can be delivered.
The use of digital platforms to market goods and services and reach consumers is referred to as
"digital marketing” it is also sometimes known as online marketing. Online based digital
technologies include websites, mobile devices, social media, search engines, streaming services,
email and digital channels, in fact any form of marketing that exists online is part of this kind of
marketing. When the internet was introduced in the 1990s, digital marketing became a new
way for businesses to share information about their goods and services with their customers.
Digital marketing is often seen as a simpler and more efficient way for businesses to interact
with customers and understand their behavior, and is often linked to a younger market,
although this is not exclusively the case at all. It shares some of the same principles as
traditional marketing and traditional and digital marketing strategies are often combined by
businesses. A very popular way of using digital marketing for many businesses is to create a
website and for those businesses that don’t they may instead use social media or have ads that
are presented as part of a digital strategy. Because digital marketing and content is so popular
now a lot of customers rely on it and expect to be able to find out about a brand in this way.
There are so many options available to a business for its digital presence and it gives a chance
to be creative with its marketing and use different approaches. There is also the opportunity for
the audience to connect responses and share communication with the business to become
more of a two-way relationship.
Digital marketing has taken over traditional marketing in terms of efficiency and effectiveness,
this has been due to several factors. With the massive growth of social media in the past 10
years many companies have started to use social media as a form of simple and usually cheaper
advertising compared to traditional marketing. An example of this would be Snapchat ads
which are as little as £5 a day in comparison to TV ads that can start at a £3400 cost for a
daytime ad running per day. However, as the number of people in the UK watching TV daily is
26 million while Snapchat is only 23 million, the decision as to which type of advertising to use
depends on what your product or services are. If you were advertising life insurance, then TV
would be better as adults over the age of 65 watch the most TV with a mean of 4 hour, whilst
for products like phones or consoles, Snapchat would be better as the average age of Snapchat
users are teenagers aged 15-19.
Not all marketing needs to be digital with small, traditional businesses may not need a full
marketing campaign and ay be able to use local advertising for products and services that are
less reliant on developing its customer base extensively. Often older people will be more
comfortable with more traditional methos of advertising and so poster campaigns, leafleting
and advertising in local publications and newspapers may be more likely to reach this market.
,Digital marketing can be used to work alongside traditional methods so a mix of print
advertising and online advertising can be created to target the audience whilst still being a cost-
effective way to reach them. All businesses need a time sensitive and manageable strategy for
marketing so a mixture of traditional and digital methods will give a broader range of
opportunities to connect with customers.
Current trends for digital marketing include Vlogging, this is where videos are created that
might talk about a particular subject or might review a service or product. Vlogs can be used on
different platforms that may include Facebook, Vimeo, or Daily Motion and can build a loyal
audience base and be influential in the promotion of products and services to potential
customers. A survey by Statista found that 32% of participants between the ages of 18 and 34
would watch a minimum of three vlogs each week. With the use of a Vlog there is the chance to
turn the experience of seeing a product as fun and engaging rather than a more traditional
approach which might be more boring to a younger audience.
A business that uses Vlogs could reach its audience with a more human feel to its brand and
show day to day elements of the business to make viewers feel more connected. Videos can
give the audience an idea of the benefits of a product and why they need to have them, it is a
way to educate the viewers on the product features so they can feel confident in buying it.
Pedigrees “Bring it Back” campaign that used an animated video of a game of fetch with a
message of the positive impact of owning a dog for mental health, and also linked to
merchandise linked to the campaign with fetch balls linked to the love and life themes of the
video.
Another digital marketing trend on the increase is Influencer Marketing, this is when a
particular well-known person or celebrity’s image and their goodwill to a brand is used to help
advertise and promote a product or service. This type of marketing is used to try and tap into a
community of followers on social media who are already connected to the influencer and may
be the audience that a business is trying to reach. It is like the traditional celebrity
spokesperson idea where in the past companies like Weight Watchers have had famous people
endorse their products and plans in advertising. Influencer fans trust that what they are told
about a product is researched and of personal preference to their favorite influencers rather
than being the old style signed contract where a company and a famous person had more of a
basic financial arrangement. Dunkin’ Donuts have seen the benefit of this type of digital
marketing and has a long-term sponsorship deal with Charli D’Amelio the most followed Tik Tok
creator. A viral campaign for a new drink released with her name led to a 45% increase in cold
drink sales the next day. With nearly 700 million people viewing Tik Tok videos every day a
business that promotes itself using this platform will have an inexpensive way to connect with a
large and varied audience. Short videos are a punchy and to the point way of giving viewers
information about a product and give the visibility that can raise awareness and interest.
, Digital marketing can help businesses to develop customer databases to deliver digital
communications because it finds contact information for potential customers. By using tools
like online surveys, interactive ads and by buying information from other companies the
business can build up a collection of information about customers. This may include contact
information, like the person`s name, address, phone number and e-mail address. This
information is important for business as it allows them to contact the customer with
promotions that are of interest to them. Information can be gathered on potential customers
by using free content to generate leads for marketing purposes. For example, a business could
offer a product demonstration. Requests for a demo could be placed on the company website,
an interested user could then link to a landing page.
Competitions are another way of generating leads with content, a user could be drawn to the
chance to win a product and share contact information as a result. The simplest way for a
business to gather customer information for a database of contact data is when the information
is provided at the point of an online order. By having access to this information there is an
opportunity to promote and offer information on sales and discounts to previous customers
and encourage repeat business. Personaising contact with the customer either with their name
or by referencing products they have previously bought is a way to make them feel valued by
the business.
Businesses can use digital marketing to target specific marketing segments by finding out how
audience is divided into what media they use and how they fit into demographics. A market can
be broken down by age groups, geograpical loacaions, and gender. It is important to know the
audience segment, how that audience thinks and behaves because buying decisions are
happening more quickly than ever before.
There are data management platforms like Lotame that look at consumer behaviour online with
cookies to track the online preferences of the audience. The platforms are exact at showing
what the interests, preferred choices and demographics of a user are, and this data can be used
to target marketing to a specific audience for a business. The focus for marketing then needs to
be presented to these individuals after finding their history of purchases, what is bought
repeatedly and how loyal they are. Social data can give a business consumer information when
users log in to a business's site using existing social media accounts, this can allow the business
to request specific social data including interests and followers. This data can then be used to
segment the market strategically picking the users who should be targeted.