When it comes to marketing, your customers determine what you should do, not you. Of course, if you listen to them… You should turn your marketing strategy in the direction of your potential customers. In today’s world, it can be challenging at times to decide which side to look for when it comes to marketing. If you are dealing with e-commerce, you need to produce “e” solutions and the “e” solution for marketing is digital marketing. So, what is digital marketing?
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a term that covers product and service promotions in digital environments and is too broad to be explained with a short introduction. With the power of the internet and the revolution of mobile, the change in the understanding of commerce and marketing has given birth to digital marketing. Digital marketing channels include the internet, search engine, social media, mobile app and much more. Briefly; Evaluating every area that can be accessed with an internet connection for advertising and sales strategies is digital marketing itself.
According to many authorities, the birth of digital marketing dates back to 1971, when the first e-mail was sent. After all, any area where two people or institutions can communicate is suitable for marketing. The term “digital marketing” first appeared in 1990, while the first clickable banner ad was published in 1994. And so the foundations of digital marketing were laid. It doesn’t mean you’re too late for decades. You can make a difference with the digital marketing strategies you will apply today.
What Does Digital Marketing Do? What is the Importance?
Of course, it is important to know what digital marketing is. But the most important thing for e-commerce entrepreneurs is to know what works. Digital marketing is a set of strategies that work to reach more potential customers, a more accurate audience, faster and more effectively. In digital marketing, advertising performances can be measured with net values, directly addressed to a specific audience, and mutual communication with potential customers can be established.
Looking at statistics is always in the logic of digital marketing. So much so that the best trick of digital marketing is that the result is measurable. Seeing that the rate of internet access with mobile broadband connection has reached 86.9% is another numerical data that increases the importance of digital marketing.
What is the Difference Between Digital Marketing and Traditional Marketing?
Marketing methods have no limits. Even you can create a strategy that has not been used before. But in the end, each strategy is different from the other. Therefore, their effects and returns are likely to be different. That’s why we come across a new marketing method every day. In fact, the vast majority of these new strategies are derivatives of existing digital marketing techniques. This situation divides marketing techniques into two main groups as traditional and digital. So, what are the differences between these terms?
Cost
The main tools of traditional marketing are television and newspaper. It is a well-known fact that print media and professional commercials require a large budget. In digital, you do not need to pay for most of the marketing processes, and you do not need a large budget for the payments you will make. For example, you only pay for advertising on social media. Instead of a large team of actors, screenwriters, directors, and copywriters, there is only one person: Influencer.
Time and Continuity
The advertisements you will make with traditional marketing methods are shown to the consumer in certain time periods and your potential customers may not see your advertisements during that time period. Since it is difficult to ensure continuity, the increase in brand awareness is also slow. This is not the case in digital. With digital marketing, your ads are on the air 24/7. An ad that will go viral can quickly increase brand awareness.
Communication and Interaction
You cannot measure the reaction of your potential customers with traditional marketing that allows one-way advertising. Because in this method, you do not know how the customer reacts when they see or hear the advertisement. There are communication options such as commenting and messaging, especially in the social media arm of digital marketing. Those who see the advertisements can express their opinions and quickly resolve their question marks and turn into real customers.
Performance Analysis
It is an important advantage that digital ads are measurable. While the number of views and clicks on digital advertisements cannot be clearly known, even how many traditional advertisements are viewed. In addition, if there is a product sale, they can even measure how many people click on the ad and buy that product.