If you’re new to digital marketing, you might not know what strategies will prove most effective. With so many marketing tactics available online, it can be hard to know which ones will work best for your brand. Whether you’re a digital marketer, market researcher, or strategist, you’ll inevitably face this dilemma. Let’s explore how to differentiate between online and offline marketing so you can choose the right tactics to grow your business.
The History of Digital Marketing
The roots of digital marketing date back to the 1960s, when companies started using computers to process orders and advertise. However, it was not until the 1990s that digital marketing truly took off. Since then, the industry has grown tremendously, and today, it’s considered a multi-billion-dollar business. Despite this success, though, it’s still considered a niche area within the marketing world. It’s not easily transferable to traditional marketing, and it requires specific expertise to be truly effective.
What is Digital Marketing?
Broadly speaking, digital marketing is allocating online and offline marketing in order to gain brand awareness, gain subscribers, and acquire paid customers. As a rule of thumb, if you’re unable to track something in real life, you should consider implementing a digital strategy. This could mean anything from creating a blog to hosting an online-conference, depending on your product and business growth goals.
The 4 Phases of Digital Marketing
As with any industry, the evolution of digital marketing has followed a distinct pattern, which we can identify as four distinct stages.
- Phase one: Pre-awareness
- Phase two: Awareness
- Phase three: Attitude
- Phase four: Behavior
Each phase builds upon the last, so let’s take a closer look at what happens during each stage.
1. Pre-Awareness
In the pre-awareness stage, your goal is to raise brand awareness among a specific audience. This could be potential customers, existing customers, or non-customers who may become interested in your product or service. The trick is to find a way to get the attention of the people that matter most to you. Typically, companies focus on building awareness among the general public with advertisements placed in prominent positions on the web. For instance, if you’re selling travel insurance, you may want to advertise on travel websites or blogs. The goal is to create a buzz about your product or service among potential customers. One important note: you want to avoid being too promotional in this stage, as you want to maintain a balance between marketing and content.
2. Awareness
Once you’ve established brand awareness among your target audience, you can move on to the next stage: awareness. In this stage, your goal is to make your target audience aware of your product or service. For instance, if you’re a travel company, you may want to create a blog that focuses on travel tips and tricks. If your target audience is savvy internet users, you may want to create a brand-specific blog that teaches users how to find and book the best travel deals online. As with the pre-awareness stage, you want to avoid being too promotional in the awareness stage, as you don’t want to push potential customers to come back later and buy your product.
3. Attitude
In the attitude stage, your goal is to change the way your target audience thinks and feels about your product or service. Typically, this is where most companies get into trouble, as too many ads in this stage can turn off customers rather than attract them. To create an immersive experience, surround yourself with visual and auditory content that promotes your product or service.
4. Behavior
In the behavior stage, your goal is to make your target audience act in a certain way — either purchase your product or service or give you their business. Once you’ve established a behavior, you can use a variety of tactics to make sure customers stick around — from rewarding them with discounts to providing them with helpful support.
As you might imagine, each of these stages requires a specific set of skills that only an experienced digital marketer can muster. If you’re looking to grow your business, you can follow these guidelines to build a blueprint for your next marketing campaign.
Create A Marketing Plan
With any new industry or product, there are always going to be those who are skeptical about its viability. No surprise there — in a world full of uncertainty, there’s a place for skepticism. However, for those who are genuinely interested in exploring the travel industry, there’s a wealth of opportunities that await you. It’s important to take the time to plan out your strategy before you dive in. This way, you’ll minimize the risk of wasting time and money.
The Importance Of Research
Just because something is new doesn’t mean that it’s going to work for your business. Just because there’s a lot of talk about digital marketing doesn’t mean that your industry is prepared to accept it. In a world full of constant change and innovation, it’s vital to do your research before you implement a marketing plan.
If you’re not familiar with digital marketing, it can be hard to know which tactics will work best for your business. With so many platforms and strategies to choose from, it might be tempting to go with what you know or what looks good. While this might work for short-term gains, it could hurt your business in the long run. If you want to truly understand digital marketing and how it can transform your business, you need to seek out the knowledge and experience of an expert. With this in mind, don’t just look at what’s available online — visit educational institutions and look into attending conferences and workshops.
Make Use Of Technology
There are plenty of technology-based ways to market your product or service, whether you choose to use SEO, PPC, or content creation platforms — platforms like blogging or vlogging. However, not all technologies will work for your business. For instance, SEO might help to drive traffic to your site, but it’s not necessarily going to convert this traffic into paying customers. This is where the importance of research comes in. Before you begin your marketing efforts, take the time to do thorough research into whether or not these technologies will help your business achieve its goals. If you’re not sure, ask your vendor or contact person for assistance.
Diversify Your Approach
If you’re looking to grow your business, it might be wise to consider exploring several different channels and platforms. Using several different platforms and methods helps to ensure that you reach as many people as possible — and let’s be honest, the more people you reach, the more chances you have of encouraging a few to buy your product or service.
If you want to see your travel business succeed, you may want to consider exploring other industries that are related to tourism. For example, if you’re selling luxury watches, you may want to develop a luxury hospitality group, where you can offer your customers the ultimate experience. Or, if you’re selling luxury fragrances, you may want to consider creating an exclusive club for people who want to enjoy the benefits of your product.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. Whatever you decide, just be sure that you stick to reputable sources and don’t overpromote.