An overview of applying Digital Marketing for every business

What is Digital Marketing? What are the right Digital Marketing strategies and tactics for your business? How to set a budget and measure the effectiveness of Digital Marketing activities? Find out with CleverAds in the article below.

1. What is Digital Marketing?

According to Kotler and Armstrong (2009), Digital Marketing is a form of direct marketing that connects brands with consumers through interactive technologies such as email, websites, online platforms, and phones.

According to the book Digital Marketing – Strategy, implementation and Practice, Digital Marketing is applying digital technology and communication to achieve marketing goals.

Marketing objectives include

• Profit target
• The target for market share
• Promotion goal
• Growth goals

2. Overview of Digital Marketing

2.1. Media classification

Media is divided into three categories: Paid, Owned, and Earned Media.

Paid media:

Paid media for views, reach, and conversions through search, display advertising, or affiliate marketing.

Owned media:

The brand owns the media. The medium includes the company’s website, blog, email, mobile application, and social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Earned media:

The media presence comes from the brand’s public relations activities. This can come from influencers or customers, the public discussing the brand on social networks, blogs, communities, etc.

2.2. Digital media platforms

Platforms on computers and laptops:

• Computer browser: Google Chrome, Coc Coc
• Computer applications: Microsoft Office
• Email: Gmail, Outlook
• Feed-based platform and application interface: Facebook feed, Twitter feed, etc.
• Videos: Youtube, TikTok

Platforms on phones and tablets:

• Phone browser: Safari, Samsung browser
• Mobile apps: Evernote, Notion, etc.

Platforms in hardware

• Games: PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox
• Kiosk applications: ATMs, interactive signage in commercial centers, etc.
• Wearable innovative gadget items: Apple smartwatches, Google smart glasses, etc.

3. What are the benefits and challenges of Digital Marketing?

3.1. What are the benefits of Digital Marketing?

Benefits Digital Marketing brings to businesses in terms of revenue, cost, brand, and customer relationship:

• Identify customer needs and wants.
• Anticipating customer needs, thereby controlling and adjusting resources accordingly.
• Satisfy customers through electronic channels.
• Increase sales by distributing wider.
• Bring added value to customers, such as announcements, dialogues, and feedback.
• Bring brands closer to customers through two-way conversations.
• Save on communication, research, and distribution costs.

3.2. What is the challenge of Digital Marketing?

Some of the marketing challenges that need to be improved to achieve optimal results from Digital Marketing:

• The responsibility of online marketing activities is not clear
• Not specifying marketing goals
• Not enough budget
• Waste of budget on testing activities that have not reached breakeven point
• Do not evaluate online opportunities, do not create differentiated values, and treat online channels as another normal marketing channel.
• There is no specific plan, only a trial-and-error approach
• Lack of coordination between online and offline channels

4. Digital Marketing Environment

4.1. Microenvironment and issues to be aware of

4.2. Macro Environment (PEST)

• Political forces:

Governments and international organizations are essential in receiving and controlling the Internet.

• Economic forces:

Economic conditions affect trading opportunities, customer payment behavior, and enterprises’ business results, thereby affecting Digital Marketing’s planning.

• Social forces:

Cultural diversity among digital communities affects how businesses use the Internet, and the services companies provide online.

• Technological forces:

Technological changes affect marketing opportunities, create new products, and offer new ways to reach target markets.

5. Customer Journey in Digital Marketing

The customer buying journey in Digital Marketing is divided into two main stages: Pre-purchase and Post-purchase.

What’s unique about the digital customer journey is that it’s not linear and ends right after the customer purchases. Still, repeats can start at any point, even after the customer has purchased. And use the product.

6. What are Digital Marketing Strategies?

7. What are Digital Marketing Tools?

Search Marketing

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Paid Search
• Pay Per Click (PPC)

Online public relations

• News
• Join the community
• Change media
• Trademark Protection

Online partner 

• Affiliate Marketing (Affiliate Marketing) 
• Sponsor 
• Co-branding 
• Link-building 

Offline communication 

• Advertisement 
• Personal sales 
• Sales promotion 
• Public Relations 
• Sponsor 
• Letters 
• Exhibition 
• Packaging 
• Word of mouth (WOM)
• Interactive advertising 

Advertise on specific websites 

• Ad network 
• Contra-deals 
• Sponsor 
• Targeting behavior 

Email 

• Brand email list 
• Rent an email list 
• Brand cooperation 
• Ads in third-party emails

Social media marketing 

• Audience participation 
• Managing your social media presence 
• Online campaign 
• Feedback from customers

8. Budget setting and digital media selection

Budgeting methods are suggested by Kotler et al. (2001):

• The “affordability” method calculates the marketing budget by subtracting expected revenue from expenses.
• The “percentage of sales” method: the marketing budget is calculated as a percentage of projected sales.
• The “competitive parity” method: marketing budgets are set based on competitors.
• The “goal and task” method: the marketing budget is calculated by calculating the costs of the tasks that must be done to achieve the marketing goal.

Digital marketing campaign plans require three important decisions about online advertising investment or online media mix. That is:

• The level of investment in digital media.
• Incorporate investments in digital communication channels or electronic communication tools.
• The story of investment in digital assets.

9. Measure and evaluate the effectiveness of Digital Marketing

• Search traffic: including clicks, sessions, and users
• Quality: conversion rate, bounce rate
• Media cost: cost per click (CPC) and cost per thousand visits (CPM)
• Cost of customer acquisition or cost per action (CPA): cost per visitor, lead, business deal
• Return on Investment (ROI)
• Brand value scales: brand awareness, ad recall rate, brand familiarity, brand preference, and purchase intention.
• Lifetime value: a customer’s lifetime value compared to the cost of attracting and retaining them and other fees.

In addition to understanding Digital Marketing in general, to successfully apply it to their businesses, marketers must research specifically the industry they are doing.

CleverAds – the most trusted Digital Marketing destination

After reading the article, marketers must have understood what Digital Marketing is and briefly about how to apply Digital Marketing to businesses.

However, from theory to practice is a long distance. Only some businesses have a marketing department with enough professional human resources to deploy the most complete and effective Digital Marketing campaign. In such cases, outsourcing a Digital Marketing agency is a wise choice for the business.

CleverAds pioneers new-generation advertising services and technologies in Southeast Asia. We have been giving customers a Stop Digital experience with a diverse service system, comprehensive and comprehensive solutions on a digital platform. With five offices in 3 countries, CleverAds has successfully implemented advertising campaigns for more than 20,000 customers in many industries at home and abroad.

If you need an optimal solution for Digital Marketing, don’t hesitate to contact us – CleverAds for the fastest support!