Okay, what is digital marketing?
Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, encompasses all marketing efforts conducted on the Internet. Businesses utilise various digital channels to engage with both existing and potential customers. These channels include:
The benefit of using digital marketing in South Africa
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, having an online presence for your business is not just a need; it’s an absolute necessity.
Reach a large demographic
Digital marketing enables you to connect with a vast and diverse customer base with ease.
It’s pretty affordable
That depends on the type of digital marketing, of course — but compared to traditional media, it’s a steal. According to a quick web search, wide-reach television ads cost hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Rands, and it’s tough to determine whether they’ve even worked.
Digital marketing is measurable
Measuring the impact of your marketing efforts is critical for success. This is one of the biggest benefits of digital marketing, as it can give you a start-to-finish view of all the metrics that matter to your company — including:
Easier personalisation for customers
Customer data is the foundation of digital marketing.
Eight types of digital marketing for small business
There’s no shortage of ways you can market your business online. Here are some of the most common types of digital marketing:
1. Content marketing
Content marketing is a strategic approach that seeks to educate and provide value to readers rather than overtly promoting products or services. It isn’t outwardly promotional in nature but establishes your business as a thought leader and a trustworthy source of information.
2. Search engine optimisation (SEO)
SEO involves optimising your website’s content, technical aspects and visibility to ensure it ranks prominently in search engine results for specific keywords. This process involves:
3. Social media marketing (SMM)
SMM promotes your brand and content across various social media channels to boost brand awareness, drive traffic and generate leads.
You probably already use these sites pretty regularly, don’t you? Social media marketing is about connecting with people where they’re already spending time in order to create brand awareness and drive value for your business.
To create an effective social media marketing strategy, it’s crucial to follow best practices. Here are a few of the most important social media marketing best practices:
4. Native advertising
Native advertising involves creating and placing ads that seamlessly blend with the user experience on the platform where they appear. These ads are less disruptive and more engaging, enhancing the user experience.
5. Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing
PPC is a form of digital marketing where you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your digital ads. It’s a cost-effective way to drive traffic and can be targeted based on keywords, location, demographics and retargeting.
6. Influencer or affiliate marketing
Influencer marketing partners with influential figures in your niche to promote your brand to their audience. This strategy can leverage existing audiences to drive product or service awareness.
7. Email marketing
Email marketing involves reaching out to customers through strategic email messages. It remains one of the quickest and most direct ways to connect with your audience, and it can be highly effective when used to maintain relationships, build loyalty and increase retention.
8. Mobile marketing
Mobile marketing, also known as SMS marketing, targets users on mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and wearables. It’s crucial to optimise content for mobile screens, considering that the majority of consumers use mobile devices.
1. Know your product / service
You need to know your offering inside and out before trying to market it. After all, if you don’t know your product or service, how can you explain it to your customers?
2. Identify your target audience
Now that we’ve got the product or service you’re trying to sell, spend some time thinking about your customers (or potential customers). It’s easier to make engaging, persuasive digital content when you know how your audience thinks and behaves.
3. Know your digital marketing channels
Digital marketing happens across a wide range of channels—places where you market your products or services. Marketers use an average of 7.2 channels, so you should use at least a couple to keep up with the industry, like your:
Creating your digital marketing strategy
Once you have a clear understanding of your product, audience, and channels, you can create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy tailored to your small business:
What does a digital marketer do?
Now that you have learned how to create a digital marketing strategy for your small business in South Africa, it’s essential to understand the role of a digital marketer and how they can impact your business or brand.
1. Research and analysis
Digital marketers conduct thorough research to understand your business, industry, competitors and target audience. They use data-driven insights to inform marketing strategies.
2. Campaign creation
Digital marketers design and execute marketing campaigns tailored to your business goals. These campaigns can include various tactics such as content marketing, social media advertising, PPC, email marketing and more.
3. Content strategy
Marketers develop engaging and relevant content that resonates with their audience. They create blog posts, videos, infographics and other content types to attract and retain customers.
4. Topic trending
Staying updated with industry trends, digital marketers identify and leverage trending topics to enhance your content strategy and keep your brand relevant.
5. Analytics and data management
Marketers monitor and analyse website and campaign analytics. They track key performance indicators (KPIs), measure ROI and adjust strategies based on data-driven insights.
6. Social media management
Digital marketers manage your social media accounts, creating and curating content, engaging with followers and running paid advertising campaigns to increase brand visibility and engagement.
7. Email marketing
They create and manage email marketing campaigns, nurturing leads, promoting products or services and maintaining customer relationships through personalised email content.
8. Design and marketing collateral
Marketers oversee the creation of marketing collateral, such as graphics, banners and advertisements, to maintain a cohesive and visually appealing brand presence.
9. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
They optimise your website and content for search engines to improve your organic search rankings and drive organic traffic.
10. Paid advertising
Digital marketers manage pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads and social media. They create and optimise ad content to reach your target audience effectively.
11. Lead generation
Marketers work on strategies to generate and nurture leads, converting them into customers through various digital marketing tactics.
12. Online reputation management
They monitor and manage online reviews and feedback to maintain a positive online reputation for your brand.
13. E-commerce marketing
For businesses selling products online, digital marketers can optimise product listings, create effective e-commerce marketing strategies and improve the overall online shopping experience.
Does digital marketing work for small businesses?
So, you have a small local shop where you sell unique handmade items, but why do you need digital marketing? What are the benefits of this investment?
Your Landing page needs traffic and digital marketing is the way
Converting visitors into customers is the ultimate goal of digital marketing.
Here are a few tips for creating effective landing pages:
Digital marketing creates growth
In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, digital marketing stands out as a powerful force for growth and success. It should be a central pillar of any business’s marketing strategy.
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