Digital Marketing - What is it and why there is need to adopt it?

Are you in confusion about Digital Marketing? What is it and why is it demanding now these days?

Firstly I will clarify you about this term. As you know "Digital" describes electronic technology that generates, stores, and processes data in terms of two states: positive and non-positive. 

Now the another word is "Marketing". The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.

For example, new Apple products are developed to include improved applications and systems, are set at different prices depending on how much capability the customer desires, and are sold in places where other Apple products are sold. In order to promote the device, the company featured its debut at tech events and is highly advertised on the web and on television.

Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling because "Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariable does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse and satisfy customer needs." 

In other words, marketing has less to do with getting customers to pay for your product as it does developing a demand for that product and fulfilling the customer's needs.

So, Digital marketing is marketing that makes use of electronic devices (computers) such as personal computers, smartphones, cellphones, tablets and game consoles to engage with stakeholders. Digital marketing applies technologies or platforms such as websites, e-mail, apps (classic and mobile) and social networks. Digital Marketing can be through Non-internet channels like TV, Radio, SMS, etc or through Internet channels like Social Media, E-mails ads, Banner ads, etc. Social Media Marketing is a component of digital marketing. Many organizations use a combination of traditional and digital marketing channels; however, digital marketing is becoming more popular with marketers as it allows them to track their Return on Investment (ROI) more accurately compared to other traditional marketing channels.

Why there is need to adopt digital marketing strategies?

In a digital age, where most users have computers and mobile devices, accessing websites, social networks, and other online media, has become part of day-to-day living. Thus, many companies have adopted digital marketing strategies to continue to promote their products and services to these users via these channels.

According to global statistics (by the World Bank), more than 2 million people have Internet access today, out of which 70 percent uses it daily. It is for this reason that companies are investing an average of 12 percent to 20 percent of their annual income on digital marketing.

Digital marketing is on a continuous growth path thanks to the ever growing number of always-online users - mostly due to the explosive growth in the mobile space. It is important for marketers to evaluate different strategies in seeking out where to invest their marketing budget to get the best results and increase conversions.