Digital Marketing Fundamentals: The Complete Guide to Internet Marketing

Last Updated on 03/04/2022 by Steve Wanjie

Digital Marketing Fundamentals!

This guide is a must-read for all in the online marketing industry.

It covers the foundations of digital marketing and provides an excellent overview of starting and building your campaign.

You’ll learn about:

* SEO basics

* Content creation basics, including keyword research and writing strategies

 * Social media essentials (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) 

* Pay per click advertising (Google AdWords)

You will also learn how to:

* Build your brand’s presence on social media platforms with content development and engagement strategies that resonate with your target audience

 * Build your brand’s presence on social media platforms by building an online community through paid ads or content creation for social media networks.

Now, let’s get into the Digital Marketing Fundamentals.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is the use of digital technology to reach and influence audiences.

It includes website design, social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing, content marketing, and e-commerce.

Digital marketing is an effective way to reach out to millions of people online.

The old school methods like TV commercials or print ads are getting phased out with their digital counterpart.

In addition to social media, digital marketing has many other advantages.

For example, most businesses have websites and social media profiles.

Therefore, it helps them stay in front of their target audience, critical for building their brand identity.

In addition, today, most consumers access digital media via their smartphones, which account for 69% of all online media. 

The internet is an enormous resource for information.

You can share your message with millions of people without leaving your computer.

It’s a marketing dream. It’s so easy to reach the largest audiences and have the most impact.

What’s more, you can track your audience’s habits and make them even more loyal. 

How Does Digital Marketing Fit into Your Business Strategy?

Whether you’re a startup or an established company, there’s always room for more digital marketing.

You can use it to build brand loyalty and increase sales.

There are many ways you can use digital marketing to boost your business, and the more you learn, the better you’ll become. 

Digital marketing is a fast-growing, multi-faceted industry. It requires marketers to constantly evolve their strategies and tactics to increase brand awareness and revenue.

As digital marketing has become more complex, many businesses turn to digital agencies to help them create and execute their strategy.

 Digital agencies can offer;

• content creation

• social media management

• software development

• and SEO services.

Here are some of the most common ones:

 (i) Market segmentation:

 dividing your target audience into smaller segments based on age, gender, or other personal characteristics.

(ii) Customer lifecycle value:

 This metric is a vital component of any digital marketing strategy.

By creating an individualized customer profile, you can better understand the value of your customers.

For example, your customers can spend more money if you offer them more options. 

(iii) Smart goals:

Similarly, the digital market will have a different competitive landscape than your traditional marketing channels, resulting in higher sales.

As a result, you should create a detailed strategy for your digital marketing campaigns and align all your efforts with SMART goals.

(iv) Measurement:

It’s important to track results. Online tracking KPIs is much easier than offline.

You can see how well a particular campaign is performing by reviewing the breadcrumbs it leaves behind.

(v) Free publicity:

 Earned media can be anything from awards to articles about your business to online reviews.

Then, of course, it’s all the free publicity.

First, however, it’s still important to know your goals and set realistic objectives to measure success.

What are the Four Pillars of Online Marketing?

Online marketing is essential to the success of any business.

Therefore, it is critical to understand the four pillars of online marketing before putting in the effort.

The four pillars are something that businesses should always have in mind when planning their internet marketing strategy.

The four pillars are content, promotion, social media, and PPC advertising.

a) The Content Pillar of Digital Marketing

*Content marketing

The Content Pillar of Digital Marketing is a multi-dimensional process that is the foundation of digital marketing.

With an understanding of the content, you can ensure your business gets ahead in this competitive world.

The Content Pillar of Digital Marketing is a framework for all digital marketers to understand what content marketing is and use it effectively.

The Content Pillar consists of four parts: 

• Create content

• Build relationships

• Reach your audience

• engage with them.

Point to take home:

Use content marketing to attract a targeted audience by improving your website’s SEO through keyword optimization.

b) The Promotion Pillar of Digital Marketing:

*Content usage

The promotion pillar is all about telling potential customers about products and services.

It involves getting the word out about your business in the right place and time.

It is the process that involves building your online presence through social media, email, blog posts, newsletters, advertising, etc.

This pillar also includes analytical measures that help companies better understand what works and what doesn’t work for different audiences.

The Promotion Pillar consists of four parts:

• Content Marketing

• Engagement and conversion

• Customer Acquisition 

• Customer Retention

Point to note:

The promotion pillar involves building relationships with people you don’t know to turn them into buying and loyal clients.

 c) The social media Pillar of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is all about engagement and content.

So these two aspects must be working in unison to ensure the best experience for the user.

The social media pillar of digital marketing is an integral part of digital marketing strategy, consisting of online channels like;

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

• LinkedIn

-etc. 

It provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to build their brand by engaging with customers on multiple levels.

Social media is the fastest-growing digital marketing tool.

Therefore, it is essential to create a vibrant online presence.

The social media pillar of digital marketing includes the following strategies:

• Monitoring the company’s social media pages

• Posting content on websites

• Strategies to boost engagement on platforms

• Engaging in customer service via social media channels

d) The PPC advertising Pillar

What is PPC advertising?

PPC stands for “pay-per-click”.

It refers to advertisements on websites shown when users visit them or search for specific topics related to the website.

The advertiser pays when someone clicks on the advertisement or takes action on it – such as signing up for a free trial of a product

The PPC advertising pillar is a marketing strategy that consists of four essential components:

1. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

2. Display Advertising

3. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

4. Pay Per Click (PPC)

The PPC advertising pillar helps companies reach millions of potential customers.

Still, it also offers the ability for companies to measure and understand their online marketing efforts in a more accurate way.

The most important aspect of PPC advertising is that it can be highly affordable, with the vast majority of digital marketers can afford it.

It is also highly targeted, as advertisers can create keyword lists for each campaign.

How does Google Search Engine Optimization fit into the 4 Pillar of Online Marketing?

Search engine optimization (SEO) affects the appearance of a website or a web page to improve the site’s number of visitors.

Google has its search algorithm used to rank websites and determine their placement in search engines.

But what is Google’s algorithm, how does it work, and SEO techniques to improve your website rankings matter?

Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an integral part of online marketing that can help increase visibility on search engines like Google.

What is Google’s algorithm?

Google’s algorithm is a set of rules and procedures that Google uses to organize and present its search engine results.

It’s a way for Google to provide the most relevant and valuable information to its users.

The algorithm has two major components: the “algorithmic core” and the “algorithms designed for specific use cases.”

The algorithms designed for specific use cases are more like computer programs that take user-provided inputs, such as queries, and return search results.

The algorithmic core determines which pages will rank on Google’s first page of search results on any given query; these pages rank by an objective ranking formula based on how users click on links, or what is known as “query-based ranking.”

There’s also a separate component called “PageRank,” which determines how well your website ranks in search engines.

Which Platforms Should I Focus on for Effective Digital Marketing Investments?

Marketing professionals need to know which platforms are the most effective for their business.

While there are many platforms to choose from, marketing professionals should focus on building their digital marketing campaigns on the media so they can succeed.

A lot of marketing professionals are wondering which platform is best for them to invest in marketing.

The answer to this question largely depends on the type of business you are running.

When looking for a platform, marketers should consider three key factors: audience, competitors, and time-to-market considerations.

Social media platforms are great for reaching different demographics since they allow easy access to publish content and share it with friends, family members, and followers.

On the other hand, desktop blogging will enable businesses to build relationships with customers more personally while also offering a platform for content creation and sharing.

What are the Most Important SEO basics?

SEO basics are the basics of search engine optimization.

These basics are a set of best practices that ensure that a website ranks high in search engines.

Here are some vital SEO basics to keep in mind:

• Title:

The title should be descriptive and concise. It should also include keywords.

Title tags should not exceed 55 characters. 

• Keyword research:

People use two basic types of keywords when searching for something online – broad keywords and phrase keywords.

General keywords are words like “high school” or “traveling” to describe an industry like tourism or schools.

Phrase keywords are more specific, like “best hiking trails near Los Angeles” or “best time to visit Abu Dhabi.”

• Keyword density:

Your keyword density must be at least three percent for your title tag to appear at the top of the search engine results page.

• Quality content:

What is quality content

You can define quality content as “providing valuable, actionable, and helpful information” to the audience.

Quality blog posts are those that are informative and provide value. They also contain relevant keywords, a clear structure, and a unique voice.

Experts agree that to be successful, blog posts should speak to the audience in a conversational tone.

These opinions about what makes a great blog post can differ depending on the type of blog.

The quality blogs we’ve mentioned so far include:

TechCrunch, Wired, Huffington Post

• On-page SEO: 

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO is a process of optimizing a website’s content and architecture to increase its visibility on search engines.

On-page SEO is the first step of the three-step process needed to rank well on search engines.

It includes designing text content, choosing keywords, and optimizing the website’s design.

It also includes the title, headers, meta description, relevant keywords, body text, and more.

You can achieve this by making sure your website follows best practice SEO guidelines.

On-page optimization is essential because, without it, you are just wasting your time on ranking efforts that are not going to have any significant impact on how users view your website.

• Off-page SEO:

What is off-page SEO?

Off-page SEO means SEO work done outside the website. It includes things like social media marketing, PR, content sharing, and building backlinks.

Off-page SEO is an old-school optimization process that became popular again in the last few years with Google’s changes to its algorithm.

Off-page SEO has constantly been evolving to meet current industry standards and the continually changing algorithm of search engines like Google.

With the help of off-page SEO, you can boost your website’s rankings without any need to buy expensive keywords.

Off-page SEO is the practice of improving your site’s search engine rankings by promoting it on other websites, forums, and social media.

It helps content to be seen more organically by Google’s search algorithm.

Off-page SEO increases rankings in local business searches and improves your website’s visibility in English language searches.

• Link building:

a) Internal links

Internal links are links between pages on your site that refer to each other.

They provide a way for users within your company (or customers) to navigate through different content without having to leave the website they’re visiting.

Internal linking can also help you create greater depth for your website

b) Backlinks

Backlinks building is the process of acquiring links pointing to your website or blog.

It is also the process of building backlinks on third-party websites to increase your rankings on search engines.

Link building can be done via natural and organic means, paid advertising, guest posting, social media marketing, work-from-home opportunities, etc.

• Content marketing:

Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined audience.

It is the practice of creating content meant to help customers or clients solve their problems or satisfy their needs by communicating with them through content they are likely to consume.

This technology has many benefits, including lower costs, improved customer retention, increased sales leads, more straightforward marketing automation, better customer service responses, etc.

The key benefit of content marketing is that it allows companies to speak directly with their target audience through targeted marketing strategies.

• Social media marketing:

Social media marketing promotes a product, service, or concept on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.

It helps in developing brand awareness and customer loyalty.

With the mass adoption of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, brands find it difficult to promote their product or services through traditional advertising methods.

So they turn towards social media marketing.

Traditional advertising requires money for people to see advertisements.

At the same time, social media marketing can target specific audiences at scale without spending too much on the ad.

Social media marketing effectively reaches out to your target audience while still creating positive brand awareness.

Social media marketing can be by paid ads or organic posts with the help of different tools that are available online that allow brands to create content with ease.

Social media has become an essential part of our daily lives.

More than half of millennials in the US use social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

How to Build your brand’s presence on social media platforms

Building a brand’s presence on social media platforms is not an easy task.

It requires a lot of trial and error and an accurate understanding of the platform.

 You can make social media presence by following these simple steps:

• Find your target audience

• Gather their information such as age, gender, location, interests, etc.

• Create content that reflects your audience’s interests and demographics

• Consistent content sharing efforts

Digital Marketing Fundamentals: How to build an online community? 

Let us know the steps to create content for social media first.

How to create social media content:

• Create an outline of the ideas you want to include:

• Pick a topic that is relevant and that your audience will find interesting.

• Choose a target audience, including demographics such as age, gender, location, etc.

• When picking topics, find what resonates with your audience better than others.

• Write content that entertains and educates people on their blog or magazine website, so they stick around for more extended periods.

Online communities are not just about socializing.

They are also about finding solutions for everyday problems that people face in different areas of life.

Here are some ways to build online communities:

• Create an ad campaign to attract prospects and convert them into members.

• Host a giveaway on your site to get more members involved in your community.

• Start a contest on social platforms

• Sponsor social events on social media

The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing: How It Can Transform Your Business

Digital marketing is a new approach to marketing that has an enormous potential of transforming a business.

It is a way to build a relationship between the company and the audience they want to target.

The fundamentals of digital marketing are putting in place effective online channels, creating unique content, and utilizing social media.

The success of any business relies heavily on the customer experience they offer.

Digital marketing allows businesses to see what their customers need and provide it engagingly.

Many companies find that this impersonal approach is more effective than traditional advertising campaigns or self-promotion campaigns.

Today, digital marketing is at the top of the list for most businesses looking to grow.

The fundamentals of digital marketing are simple enough to understand.

Usually, the goal is to create a presence on social media to reach your target audience.

Then, it will allow you to get your product or service in front of these people.

Here are some fundamental steps of digital marketing:

• Create a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter-

• Use adverts to promote on search engines, Facebook and Instagram-

• Ensure you’re actively participating in online communities on Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube-

• Choose a website design that supports your business goals – it should be mobile-friendly.

Conclusion: The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

In the next few years, digital marketing is going to see many changes.

There are many new challenges that marketers are facing.

The increasing complexity of the digital landscape is only going to increase in the years to come.

There are several ways in which digital marketing has changed over the years.

Still, fundamentally, it’s about reaching your audience where they are and creating a meaningful experience for them that keeps them coming back again and again.

We have seen how digital marketing has become essential for our lives.

It gives us the convenience of access to an infinite amount of information in a flash.

But, it also helps us make complex decisions by giving us the information and data we need.

The purpose of this article is to give you insights into the fundamentals of digital marketing and what it means for your business and life as a whole.

We hope you will gain insights from this article and use it as a springboard to make your discoveries with digital marketing!

The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing is an exploration of the field of digital marketing.

It takes readers on a journey to explore what digital marketing is, how it has evolved, and what all the hype is about regarding its effects on our daily lives.

The most important thing to remember is that digital marketing needs to be constantly updated and improved.

We conclude the article on the fundamentals of digital marketing here.

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