Have you ever been stuck in an endless loop of window shopping over the internet? If we think about it, the amount of time spent on online research before a purchase is significant. Amidst a sea of limitless options and offers of goods and services, a consumer is often deeply engaged in doom scrolling before he/she finally clicks the checkout option. Now, have you ever thought about the amount of effort that is put behind the curtain to make those goods and services pop out? Understanding the Pillars of Digital Marketing reveals the extensive strategies and techniques employed to capture and retain consumer attention effectively.
Digital marketing is the journey of marketing those goods or services using digital platforms to procure targeted audiences effectively. This can be achieved by leaning on various digital platforms such as search engines, social media, web pages, digital advertisements and so on. It was back in the 1990s that the term digital marketing was marketed and by the 2000s a huge amplification could be seen in the number of Internet users as the server took over the salesperson. With this upsurge in consumption there was also an increase in the number of problems which arose and demanded an effective solution.
Pillars of Digital Marketing
With time and a great effort, there arose a number of pillars of digital marketing which supported the functioning and helped businesses grow. Let’s delve deeper and embrace each of those pillars of digital marketing closely:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Boosting natural traffic to a website is the most important target of a certain brand. SEO thus becomes the most efficient pillar of digital marketing as it takes support of techniques to increase visibility on the search engines. Some of the techniques include adding relevant keywords (or a group of words), specific content, backlinks and cross links. It also involves improving the website’s user experience as a whole and its compatibility with all digital devices.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM is another important pillar of digital marketing as it is an elaborate technique to magnetise traffic towards a particular business or a brand. It is usually a paid marketing strategy which uses models such as Pay Per Click (PPC or Cost Per Mile (CPM) depending on the structure of the business.
- PPC : Cost is paid every time the link of the advertisement is clicked by the audience.
- CPM : Cost is paid for a set of every thousand impressions received by the advertisement.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Digital Public Relations (PR)
PR when run out digitally uses online communication tools and channels to create the online presence of the business. This involves a call for press releases, collaboration with bloggers, asking out for reviews, publishing high-quality and well-researched content on social media and so on. Digital PR not only lays a strong foundation for the businessonline but also helps it earn links, sales, image and trust digitally. Being cost-effective, online PR then becomes another important pillar of digital marketing.