Digital marketing: what it is and what it does

The digital marketing is a term that brings together all the online marketing activities or on electronic devices - and thus all activities to market and sell a product or service on the Internet. In this way, companies exploit all the potential offered by the network to connect with their customers (current or future).

How do they reach them? There are many channels available: search engines, social media , apps , emails and websites . In this article we will see what are the objectives, the types of digital marketing, the required jobs (and related salaries), as well as suggesting free digital marketing courses and themed readings.

·         Targets

·         There are basically 5 objectives of an effective digital marketing strategy:

·         Reach the target audience

·         Engage the target audience

·         Motivate the audience to action

·         Ensure that campaign spending is efficient

·         Maximize your return on investment (ROI)

·         Types of digital marketing

Among the various digital marketing activities, divided according to the tool and channel used, we find:

Web Marketing , all the online promotion strategies implemented by a company to create commercial relationships with the aim of selling its products. Among these: search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, e-commerce marketing , social media marketing , direct email marketing , display advertising but also e-books. It differs from mobile marketingfor the tool through which the message is conveyed and all the marketing strategies. In web marketing it is the PC, in mobile marketing the smartphone. Even if the differences, in an increasingly multi-device era, are progressively narrowing.

Mobile marketing is web marketing on a mobile device. The simplest and most traditional form of mobile marketing is SMS, but thanks to the various apps it is always easier to reach the potential customer while on the move and the strategies that must be put in place to 'capture' him cannot be the same. of web marketing. In recent years, this sector has developed very quickly, as mobile devices have become more and more performing. With the advent of 5G , the ultra-fast network, a further surge in the sector is to be expected. A mobile marketing strategy in a broad sense, on the other hand, is the so-called proximity marketing.

Proximity marketing is an evolution of mobile marketing that uses geolocation and bluetooth to communicate company promotions to a non-specific target, but limited to a limited geographical area.

The work of digital marketing

There are many and different specializations that are needed to operate in digital marketing and as many professionals. From a technical point of view, the developers of the back-end and of the App, the designer of the graphic interface, the Data Scientist, that is the person who gives meaning to the data collected and allows to develop a strategy and the Web Analyst who monitors the traffic concerning a site.

Then make way for SEO (Search Engine Optimization ) specialists to optimize the visibility of a website on various search engines and SEM (search engine marketing) to invest effectively in online advertising.

Then there is the Social Media Manager (which can include the figure of the Community Manager for the management of groups on social networks) and the Digital Content Manager (or Web Editor) that is the figure responsible for creating and curating the contents. Among the top figures in the digital world are the CDOs, Chief Digital Officers , who determine the entire strategy and media campaigns

How much does the Digital Marketing Manager earn

All these figures are coordinated by the Digital Marketing Manager who therefore must have web marketing skills (SEO and SEM but also Google AdWords, email marketing and lead generation or the generation of interested contacts), social media marketing, storytelling , digital communication and of Information technology .

According to Payscale, the average annual salary of a Digital Markerting Manager is between 17 thousand and 56 thousand euros gross for an intermediate experience figure. Obviously, it must be said that salaries vary a lot from company to company. The larger and more established ones have larger spending capacities but require more professionalism and more years of experience in the curriculum.

Digital marketing free course

Those who want to start taking the first steps - even if only to understand the rudiments of this ever-evolving discipline - can rely on Google's basic digital marketing course : 26 modules for 40 hours to learn the fundamentals of the profession with practical exercises, real examples and final certification.

To expand one's knowledge on the specific topic of online advertising and Google Adwords, there is Google Ads, in which, however, it is necessary to already have previous experience because the software is not immediately understandable for those who are beginners. For those looking for a personalized experience can find many alternatives on the web .

Books on digital marketing

As we have seen, under the umbrella of 'digital marketing' a world of skills develops, which are difficult to find in a single manual. This is why more than single volumes (there are many on the market) we recommend topics to be explored if you are interested in the topic:

How to set up a digital business marketing strategy

Social media marketing: strategies and techniques for companies

Creative writing for the network

Strategies and tools to be visible online (SEO)

tools and methodology to analyze the data of the various digital platforms (and therefore understand if the objectives set for ourselves have been achieved, including Lead Generation, Advertising or Brand Awareness activities).

Digital marketing: trends

Even digital marketing, like all disciplines born a few years ago, undergoes a rapid evolution that should be monitored in order not to risk being left behind and, consequently, out of the market. For 2021, the most important trends in the digital marketing sector concern SEO Vocal Search , the possibility, therefore, of indexing websites for search through voice assistants such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Apple Homepod. But not only.

Even if a little slower, the Visual Search , the search through images with Google Lens, is also gaining momentum and needs to be monitored. The ability to speed up online content to the maximum remains fundamental (and will become more and more so in the future) to make them easy to use, especially from mobile.

Not only quality graphics but also the ability to make it performant will be a necessary skill. Finally, AI and chatbots. Digital marketing needs to evolve the customer journey, making it increasingly personalized and responsive to customer needs. Single customer. And in this, artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots will play the lion's share to simplify processes and have the acquisition process increasingly automated and under control.