Digital marketing and its characteristics

Digital transformation requires companies to generate strategies in these environments to obtain a greater presence and attract the audience that interests them. And it is precisely in this sense that digital marketing has emerged as the ideal means to boost brands and help them grow.

6 characteristics of digital marketing

One of the big questions that revolves around digital marketing is: “what is its difference with traditional marketing?”. Above all, it is questioned by those companies and businesses that are about to start a digital marketing strategy , but do not know which is the best option.

Next, we present the characteristics of digital marketing.

1. Segmentation

Without a doubt, segmentation is the first characteristic that can distinguish digital marketing from traditional marketing. While the second focuses on advertising to large masses, digital marketing seeks to be less invasive and focus on a more limited audience, but one that  is truly interested in receiving the messages that are issued .

Although digital marketing also takes into account segmentations such as age, demographics or gender, it also analyzes the behavior of consumers, in order to have a more established idea of what they want, when they want to receive it and what is the best way to approach them.

2.  Price

It comes as no surprise to learn that digital marketing is quite accessible and can fit all kinds of budgets. That is why  60% of the specialists have preferred to give priority to this modality over the traditional one .

It adheres to the business needs and objectives of companies; This makes it a very flexible strategy, whether for a small business or a large corporation.

TV, radio, billboard or print ads often have quite high costs; once an investment has been made, there is no going back, just waiting for the desired impact.

Businesses or brands can be in control of their campaigns, make timely measurement of results and determine if the actions taken are the right ones to achieve business objectives.  This achieves that, in addition to having a much more adaptable price, a greater return on investment is generated with an adequate marketing budget .

3. Defined audience

As we mentioned in the first point, digital marketing has the characteristic of being highly segmented. This gives, as input, a more defined audience to which to address.

While traditional marketing can have a large audience, it is not focused on targeting only the users who are genuinely interested in a particular product or service.

Analyze it this way: surely, more than once you saw advertisements in magazines or on television for products that simply did not interest you. And even though you were part of those people who were exposed to that advertising, you just didn't become a lead.

Instead, digital marketing helps market products or services based on a variety of factors; for example: age, location, interests, needs and preferences , when building a proper online reputation .

4.  Purchase intention

Thanks to efficient digital marketing techniques, such as SEO, it is the same people who can reach your website, blog or social networks, based on a previous search with keywords.  This increases the level of conversions, since they are users who are looking for something related to what you offer or want to find the solution to a problem that you can solve.

Digital marketing aims to target potential customers from the start , so that people will find your products or services because it is exactly what they have been looking for.

5.  Duration of impact

Let's be honest: you may have liked a TV ad very much, but this will not make it last forever in your memory.This does now no longer manifest with virtual marketing. Therefore, another of its characteristics is longevity or duration of impact.  

It has many digital techniques and strategies that help you make long-term benefits; for example, video marketing, social media, blogging, and content creation. All this material and resources have an unlimited online presence, which any user will be able to consult at the time you launch it or years later.

This longevity has a cumulative impact on your website, social media, or business in general. When a piece of content is good and is constantly optimized, it can attract visitors and customers even for years.

6. Measurement of profitability

One of the characteristics of digital marketing is that all its strategies are measurable to check their performance. When launching a strategy you have the opportunity to do a timely follow-up of the interaction and participation rates of the users.

In addition, because it is very important to measure digital marketing efforts, today all social networks and websites have tools or plugins to check everything that happens day by day: how many people visited your website, how many subscribed to your blog, how many downloaded your ebook, etc.

Having all this information, measuring it and analyzing it gives you the advantage of making timely changes in your strategies, in case something is not turning out as you expect.

As you can see, the fact that it is digital makes it more accessible, being universal and strategic; therefore,  it is more scalable, measurable and improvable , as long as the common mistakes in these strategies are avoided .  Being on the internet is totally technological, without forgetting to be creative, which helps make it interactive, versatile and customizable.

Importance of digital marketing

Digital marketing is so relevant that it allows you to reach a more specific audience, according to their tastes and preferences, which leads to a greater number of effective sales than traditional techniques. In general, it allows businesses to grow beyond the sales they may have locally and take them to a very wide potential international market.

Likewise, it is essential for a company to move in digital environments with a  strategic marketing plan that allows it to contact the right audience at the right time with the right message, promoting an interaction that produces engagement with the brand.

In the end, all these actions add to the profitability and growth of the business because greater opportunities are generated: it is more visible on the Internet, with a positive image and great knowledge of consumers and the market.

5 common elements of digitamarketing

These are some of the basic pieces to start a digital strategy in shape.

Website

Having a website is basic, since it will be the center to which you will try to drive traffic and where your audience will be able to find complete information about your company. There you will be able to show your products, prices and shipping or acquisition modes, add the mission and values ​​that characterize you, as well as make your work team known, the reviews of your happy customers and much more.

Blog

A blog is a section of your website dedicated to uploading articles of interest to your audience, designed to attract them naturally through certain keywords that correspond to the various stages of research by a consumer. For example, you could create posts about how they can fix a problem with your offer, and then create posts comparing various vendors. What matters is that these contents are valuable to said public.

Social networks

Social networks are a perfect means to reach your audience and generate a community, which will make it easier for the potential or real client to have a feeling of belonging or commitment to your digital brand . In addition, there you can upload various content such as videos, infographics or links to your articles that further nurture the relationship with people, organically.

Paid ads

Paid ads help reinforce digital marketing through search engines (such as Google or Yahoo!) and on social media, as well as ad networks on related websites. They are highly effective, since you can direct them to people who have similar interests to your buyer persona  or representation of the ideal client, and to those who have already visited your website, but did not complete their purchase.

Emails

Email marketing newsletters allow you to celebrate your subscribers' birthdays with special discounts, let them know you have a new offer or solution, or simply remind them of items related to their previous purchases that might interest them. In addition, sending them personalized emails with content of interest helps them strengthen the relationship with your company.