What is Digital Marketing and How Does It Work?

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is the practice of promoting products or services with the help of digital devices and technology. In simple words, digital marketing is any form of marketing that occurs online with the help of mobile, laptop, internet, etc. In addition to digital signage and technology that may not be connected to the internet. It can range from anything as complex as automated email marketing initiatives all the way down to the content choices on your website’s blog.

Inbound Marketing vs Digital Marketing

Importance of Digital Marketing

Once you're clear what is digital marketing, next is understanding the value and importance it holds. The importance of digital marketing is immense! Unlike traditional marketing, which is constrained by geographical limitations, digital marketing provides a platform for businesses to connect with potential customers worldwide. Small companies and startups can now compete with the bigger players. Digital marketing enables precise targeting, ensuring marketing efforts are directed toward specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, thereby increasing the ROI. 

Real-time data analytics and measurable results are noted advantages of digital marketing, helping businesses make data-driven decisions and quickly adapt strategies to improve outcomes. The emphasis on SEO and content marketing improves online visibility and attracts organic traffic (further allowing the company build its brand and authority). Other pointers include:

• It reaches a broad spectrum of internet users who spend their time and money online.
• It pins small businesses in top-ranking positions over brick-and-mortar firms with a meager advertising budget.
• It provides businesses with laser-focused control to ensure target audiences read their messages.
• It allows personal-level marketing to provide comfort and security for customers to subscribe to the messages and purchase. 
• It enables tracking ads and communicating with the target audience. 
• It provides scaling and adaptability for growing businesses to get instant results and optimize accordingly, reducing lost revenues and wasted ad spend.
• It influences the purchase decisions of internet users who look for services, products, or anything they desire online. 
• It allows businesses to market to people by various means that show individual respect. 

With a new smartphone making its way into the market every next day, the number of mobile devices and users is at an all-time high, making digital marketing an indispensable tool for businesses that wish to grow in times like these!

Wondering how to leverage AI to enhance your digital marketing strategy?

Our article, Top Generative AI Tools for 2025, provides insights into the latest AI tools.

B2B vs. B2C Digital Marketing

Benefits of Digital Marketing

After what digital marketing is, the benefits you can reap from it come. Digital marketing has become popular in such a short period and for a good reason. Today’s customers and clients spend more time online, and they expect their favorite companies to be online, too.

The internet landscape might seem intimidating, but effective digital marketing can be an enormous boon for business. With careful strategy and implementation, the benefits of digital marketing on business include the expansion of the audience, meeting target customers where they’re spending their time, and achieving this for a far more affordable price than traditional marketing methods allow. While there is an unending list of the benefits of digital marketing, here are some of the noted ones:

1. Cost Effective: Digital marketing is often more affordable than traditional methods, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes.

2. Customer Engagement: Facilitates direct customer interaction through social media, emails, and other online platforms, building stronger relationships.

3. Measurable Results and ROI: Campaign performance can be tracked and success measured accurately, resulting in higher ROI.

4. Global Reach: Allows businesses to reach a worldwide audience, breaking geographical barriers.

5. Personalization: You can tailor marketing messages and communications according to individual preferences, which will enhance customer experience. This can also lead to higher conversion rates since you will be delivering personalized and relevant messages to the right audience.

6. Greater Reach: Digital marketing expands your potential customer base because it involves various digital channels and platforms.

7. Competitive Advantage: By building strategic digital campaigns, you can analyze the insights, track data, and use the right tools to outperform competitors.

8. Higher Conversion: Increases conversion rates by delivering personalized and relevant messages to the right audience.

9. Get Instant Feedback: You can get immediate customer responses and feedback, that will help you make quick improvements and informed decisions.

What is Digital Marketing Strategy and How to Create One

A digital marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a business will use digital channels to achieve its marketing goals and objectives. Creating a digital marketing strategy involves several vital steps to ensure it is comprehensive and practical. Here’s a 10-step guide:

1. Define your goals

2. Set your target audience

3. Perform a competitor analysis

4. Conduct a SWOT analysis

5. Finalize your digital marketing channels

6. Develop a content strategy

7. Finalize a budget

8. Implement SEO best practices in all your marketing collaterals 

9. Optimize your website and content for search engines to improve visibility and attract organic traffic.

10. Use analytics and reporting tools to know the performance of your campaigns, monitor them regularly and adjust accordingly

Challenges in Digital Marketing

A few known challenges include:

• One of the foremost challenges of digital marketing is the increasing competition. As more and more businesses have started investing in digital strategies, it has become harder to stand out. 
• Additionally, ad blockers pose a significant challenge, reducing the reach of paid advertising and pushing marketers to find alternative methods to connect with audiences. 
• Next up is content saturation! It means creating unique, high-quality content that captures attention in the digital space is increasingly difficult. 
• Maintaining brand consistency, managing online reputation, and providing personalized experiences at scale is another challenge. 
• Additionally, balancing automation with a personal touch is another ongoing struggle.

How Can You Become A Digital Marketer?

To begin with, you must have a Bachelor’s degree in the relevant field. You can sharpen your digital marketing skills further by enrolling in a reputed certification program, like the Digital Marketing Specialist program offered by Simplilearn. This program will help you master various marketing nuances like SEO, social media, PPC and much more. You can also network with other professionals in the same field to learn more about digital marketing, latest trends, what’s happening, and take a sneak peek at the current industry. 

Must Read: Step-by-step Guide on How to Become a Digital Marketer

How Digital Marketing Works?

While digital marketing offers numerous benefits, understand that each form of internet marketing functions differently. Companies should assess the bigger picture before determining which forms of digital marketing to invest in and which platforms to use. It’s generally recommended to crawl before you walk–start small with your online marketing strategy and grow as the company becomes accustomed to different areas. 

Digital marketing is hugely helpful to firms because it allows them to grow their audience as far as their budget allows. Conversely, internet marketing allows companies to focus clearly on marketing to the right audience. In other words, a firm may reach the perfect target clientele locally, nationally, or internationally while staying on budget. 

Necessary Digital Marketing Skills

Some of the crucial digital marketing skills include:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Content Marketing
• Data Analytics
• Social Media Marketing
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Copywriting
• Video Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Marketing Automation
• A/B Testing
• Project Management
• Mobile Marketing
• Adaptability and Learning Agility
• Communication Skills

Must Read: Expert Guide on Top 25 Digital Marketing Skills for 2024

Why Choose a Career in Digital Marketing? 

Unsurprisingly, the demand for digital marketers is on the upswing. As more and more companies learn the value of Internet marketing, job opportunities in the area continue to rise. 

Digital Marketing Roles and Responsibilities

Job responsibilities for digital marketers will vary depending on experience and specialization. 

For example, an SEO specialist will understand all aspects of SEO, including the know-how to drive organic traffic, identify and evaluate high-quality content, and make competitor analyses. 

On the other hand, a social media manager will devise a social media strategy in line with the identity of the brand, define a communication style and a content strategy, create and adapt the content for each social media network, and stay up-to-date on the latest digital marketing trends.

Get Certified Today to Become a Digital Marketer

By now, you would have understood what is digital marketing, how does it work, it's benefits, challenges and more. It is one of the world’s fastest-growing disciplines, and our certification course will raise your value in the marketplace and help you become more appealing to employers. Enroll in our PG Program in Digital Marketing, learn over 35 tools, in-demand skills, get masterclasses from Purdue faculty, and more. What ar you waiting for? Jump-start your career in this fascinating field today!

FAQs

1. What are the 4 main types of digital marketing?

Digital marketing can be categorized into several types. The 4 most promising and popular types of digital marketing are - 

1. Content Marketing
2. Social Media Marketing 
3. Paid Marketing or PPC 
4. Search Engine Marketing 

2. What skills do I need for digital marketing?

Here are some top skills that a professional for digital marketing needs: 

1. Communication Skills 
2. Writing Skills 
3. Creativity 
4. SEO Knowledge 
5. Design Knowledge 

3. What is the main purpose of digital marketing?

The purpose of digital marketing is to promote products and services online through different channels like social media, ads, etc. 

4. Is digital marketing a good career?

Yes, digital marketing is an excellent career due to its high demand, diverse opportunities, and potential for growth and creativity.

5. Why is digital marketing so powerful?

Digital marketing is powerful because it allows precise targeting, real-time engagement, measurable results, and a global reach, making it highly effective for businesses of all sizes.

6. How do social media platforms fit into digital marketing?

Social media platforms are integral to digital marketing, providing channels for brand awareness, customer engagement, content distribution, and targeted advertising.

7. How can I measure the success of my digital marketing efforts?

Success can be measured using metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, engagement rates, ROI, and key performance indicators specific to each campaign and platform.