Call it Digital Marketing or Internet Marketing, they’re one & the same thing. In the past decade or so, we saw a massive wave of trends come & go. Whether its internet memes or economic reforms affecting us all, trends have defined marketing.
Marketing means converting the ordinary joe into your potential customer, which not only includes reaching out but also educating him about your brand. Remember the Microsoft Zune from 2006? Yeah, a lot of people don’t. Make no mistake: Marketing IS everything.
Beginners in this field always get their heads wrapped around terms like SEO, CPA, AI, Keyword Proximity, Demographics, or what have you. But don’t jump into this jungle of analytical wizardry barefoot. Get some shoes first.
The mastery of anything initially requires a strong base. So, before you start getting your feet dirty through all the technical mumbo jumbo, try relaxing with some basics first. Here are some crucial things every beginner should know…
Starting with Social Media
Let’s begin with the most obvious. Social Media makes up for the bulk of internet marketing in itself but here’s the thing: they all serve different purposes.
For example, Instagram users are more inclined towards lifestyle & self-care products due to its heavy emphasis on the millennial generation. Similarly, Reddit & Facebook are suitable for tech products which cater to nearly every demographic.
So you see, you don’t need to be everywhere but only where it truly matters. Starting here is easy but you need more than just a great social profile.
Discover your niche
A niche is more than a marketing gimmick, it’s part of your brand. Although competition today certainly is sky high, small niche markets still have their place to fill.
Niche could be something as simple as figuring out your individual interests & passion. For example, your travel blog can attract not only casual readers but also some other people that read an irregular stream of food reviews.
Of course, there’s also things like competition & the profitability aspect of your niche to consider. But before making any logical investment, you can always test your idea first.
Know your Influencers
Influencer marketing is slowly but steadily becoming the new norm. Influencers are social media gurus that have amassed a significant following of faithful followers. The influencing part is born from the trust of their followers.
Now, huge companies have been using social media personalities for a long time. Youtube is a great example where many tech companies tend to invest. Youtubers review an upcoming product to their audience which means advertising for the company.
Influencer marketing is relatively new and it certainly doesn’t have to be your forte. But today even smaller companies have begun to penetrate this field.
When to invest in Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is certainly controversial. Before the boom of digital marketing, it used to be all about money. The more money you have, the stronger your campaign is. But that certainly has changed over time.
Paid advertising is great when you’ve just started your business and want some initial boost of traffic. But traffic alone can’t drive sales. You need some basic strategy first to make paid adverts worth it like for example a free e-book when visitors enter your website.
Google & Facebook Ads are proven methods but you also need to consider the rate of return. If you’re spending way too much, and getting way too less then it’s time to cut back which means trying different things out.
Call To Action
Or CTA prompts the user to make the intended decision. It’s usually phrased as ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Check it out’ or ‘Click Here!’. What CTA essentially does is provide an easy route for the user to make the purchase which is key in affiliate marketing.
Although a CTA is only a line of code, what really matters is how it’s presented. CTAs are the most effective when they’re placed after stating a noteworthy pro.
For example, you wrote an article about your favorite sunscreen & its high SPF count is impressive enough to trigger a buying action from the reader
Similarly, CTAs aren’t only limited to articles but you can also embed them into potential ads & promotional emails which brings us to our next point…
Email Campaigns
So, here’s a fact: On average, people only really use in total 5 apps on their phones. Can you guess which one they use the most? Email apps, especially Gmail. Gmail has been recently regarded as the most used app of all time.
Having your own official app isn’t the most attractive idea today. People install new apps and dump older ones at the blink of an eye. Building a long list of emails isn’t as tough as you may think, besides people tend to go through their emails at least twice a day.
Page Optimization
Also known as on-page optimization, is the tinkering of a webpage to improve site ranking on search engines & increase traffic. It may sound like a small thing but it pays by making your landing page much faster.
To be technical, the less code your page has, the faster it runs due to the computer having less data to process. Although it is a part of SEO, page optimization is often considered a common practice. If you’re afraid then WordPress has plugins to help you out.
Don’t stress about SEO
Beginners often take this part way too seriously than they have to. Yes, SEO is important but it drives on one very crucial thing: GOOD CONTENT. It’s simple to understand but hard to master.
Another thing is that SEO is one of the most competitive fields right now. Your site has to not only feature great content but also compete with thousands of other websites with a niche similar to yours.
The best move to make is to hire an SEO expert while you concentrate on content quality or if you’re a beginner on a tight budget, then you can try going solo with these tools.
Get PPC
Now we know that we mentioned paying for advertising before, but you can use pay-per-click marketing as a last resort if you can’t seem to get any organic traffic going.
Now that doesn’t mean that you have to become completely reliant on PPC. The best way to implement this is to mix it with everything else like a topping on pizza. Try using PPC as concretively as possible as it’s a sure money hole.
Budgeting
We saved the best one for the last. Of course, there are hundreds of free resources out there that can help you implement your best marketing strategy, but digital marketing, like a lot of professions, involves money.
Budgeting is creating limits around your finances. You may have a lot of money but using it wisely makes all the difference. Consulting a financial advisor helps but here are a few tips:
- Start with a clear goal in mind
- Research trends
- Look into your past decisions
- Prioritize your target audience
Plus, budgeting also reduces stress.
Conclusion
The Internet has never stopped growing since its advent. Still, according to HostingPill stats, half of the world’s population does not use the internet. It may sound startling but that number fluctuates more than you might think.
Internet marketing is one of the fastest growing professions in the world right now. Its growth can be accredited to the fact that the Internet offers an open learning ground for everyone, just as we did.
Those were 10 things to know for a beginner internet marketing enthusiast such as yourself. Now let us know what you think. Do you have any more tips you could share? Did they help you in your venture? Please comment down below & let us know.
About the Author
Chris Wagner – Head of Content @ HostingPill. He regularly writes about Hosting, Web servers, and WordPress. He has more than 9 years of Industry experience.
