A GUIDE TO DIGITAL LITERACY.

1. UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL MARKETING

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is the act of promoting and selling products and services
by leveraging online marketing tactics such as social media marketing, search
marketing, and email marketing.
If you’re new to digital marketing, it may feel overwhelming.
We get that…
But in many ways, digital marketing is no different than traditional marketing. In
both, smart organizations seek to develop mutually beneficial relationships with
prospects, leads, and customers.
Now, think about the last important purchase you made. Perhaps you
purchased a home, hired someone to fix your roof, or changed paper suppliers
at your office.
Regardless of what it was, you probably began by searching the Internet to
learn more and find your best options. Your ultimate buying decision was then
based on the reviews you read, the friends and family you consulted with, and
the solutions, features, and pricing you researched.
Today, most purchasing decisions begin online.
That being the case, an online presence is absolutely necessary—regardless of
what you sell.

And having a strong digital presence will help you in multiple ways:
• It will make it easier to create awareness and engagement both before and
after the sale.
• You can convert new buyers into rabid fans who buy more (and more
often).
• You’ll enjoy all the benefits of word-of-mouth and social sharing.
Be aware, though, the digital marketing scene is ever changing. Gurus,
podcasts, and bloggers declare a tool or tactic hot one week and dead the
next.
The truth is, today, digital marketing is less about “digital” and more
about “marketing,” largely because digital marketing has come of age. Its
fundamentals have already been established.
At DigitalMarketer, our objective is to clear the confusion about the tactics
that work and how to use them to grow your business. We stand against those
so-called gurus who promote the next “shiny object” that will reportedly kill
email marketing, digital advertising, or search engine optimization.
Here, we’re all about the fundamentals.
As you’ll see in this guide, these core disciplines of digital marketing will be
critical to your business growth today, tomorrow, and for years to come. Each
of these disciplines will be covered in a chapter of this Ultimate Guide to
Digital Marketing as shown below.

1.1. Generating subscribers.

At this point, your prospect knows who you are and has engaged with you in
some way or another.
However, if you failed to get that person’s contact information, odds are high
you’ll never hear from them again.
Why?
Because people today are inundated with marketing and content, creating
a scarcity of attention. Just because someone reads one of your blog posts
today does NOT mean they’ll remember to revisit your site in the future.
Instead, you need to get that person to progress to Step 3 in the Value
Journey, which is to subscribe.
Here, the person gives you their contact information and, in doing so, grants
you permission to contact them again in the future.
Most often, this transaction is an exchange, sometimes referred to as an
“ethical bribe.” You promote a valuable offer, but instead of asking for money,
you ask for the prospect’s contact information. And when they give it to you,
not only do you give them access to the content, product, or service you
promised, you also add them to your subscriber list.

1.2. Converting subscribers to money.

If the subscribers you gain in Step 3 of the journey remain engaged, some
of them will be ready to increase their level of commitment. They like the
information you share and have begun to trust you, so they’re ready to invest
in one of two ways: either with time or money.
This is a critical stage in the Customer Journey and one that frustrates many
business owners. The key to success in this stage is to employ what we call
“entry-point offers.” These offers are designed to give the new prospect
tremendous value without forcing them to put too much “skin in the game.”
At this stage, to ask for a significant investment in a complex product or
service would be asking too much, too soon. You’re still in the early stages of
relationship.
In fact, it’s too early even to concern yourself with profitability. That’s right: in
this stage of the Customer Journey, you might lose money on the prospects
you acquire as buyers.
This is, perhaps, the most important lesson you must learn so it bears.

Examples of Marketing That Generates Conversions
There are two types of entry-point offers: those that require a commitment
of time, and those that require a commitment of money. Here are some
examples:
• The VP of Operations at a large company purchases a high-dollar
management consultant’s book for $8 on the consultant’s website.
• A daughter of elderly parents schedules a walk-through visit at the local
retirement home.
• A man takes advantage of a $20 teeth whitening service at his local dentist.
Notice the price point of each of these offers: from $8 to $20.
Your goal here is not to make a huge profit. It’s to get customers, to shift the
relationship between you and your subscribers. Because, as you’ll see, once
someone is a customer, it’s much more likely that person will purchase higherticket, more complex products and services and do it more frequently.
Remember, one of the costliest (in time, money, resources) marketing activities
your business will undertake is the acquisition of customers. The good news is
that once you’ve acquired them, you don’t need to pay to acquire them again.
Here’s an example of an offer from GoDaddy that does a great job of acquiring
new customers with extremely low-priced domain registration services:

1.3. Creating customer excitement.

Your job now is to make sure the transaction is a good one, that the
excitement of the purchase develops into good will and trust.
The reason for this is simple: if the person doesn’t get value from this
transaction, they won’t move on to the next stage and purchase more
expensive things from you.
So, how do you make sure your customers have a good experience?
First, we assume that whatever the prospect purchased or gave up valuable
time for is outstanding. Great marketing will only increase the speed at which
your business fails if you don’t have outstanding products and services.
Second, the prospect must get value from their last transaction with you. The
Excite stage of the Customer Value Journey is something you must return to
again and again. And every time, it should create excitement.
That being the case, whenever a customer or prospect does what you ask
them to do (attend this webinar, buy this product, hire me for this service), you
should engineer your marketing to maximize the chances they’ll get tangible
value from the experience.
Examples of Marketing That Creates Excitement
Your goal in the Excite stage of the Customer Value Journey is to make sure
your customer gets value from their transaction. Here are some examples:
• A married couple buys a Keurig (coffee maker) and uses the free coffee
servings and Quick Start Guide to have an amazing cup of coffee within
minutes of opening the box.
• A new user of the Spotify music streaming app goes through an
instructional walkthrough teaching her how to build a playlist of her favorite
songs.
• A young man reads through 3 eye-opening blog posts recommended
via email by his newly hired Life Coach in advance of their first coaching
session.

2. MARKETING CAMPAING.

How To Move Prospects Through The Customer Value
Journey
Now that you know what the Customer Value Journey is, the next thing you
need to understand is:
How do you seamlessly and subtly move customers and prospects through
each phase of the Customer Value Journey?
The short answer? You build marketing CAMPAIGNS that INTENTIONALLY
move people from one stage to the next.
And those two words—campaigns and intentionally—are important here. So
let’s unpack them one at a time.

2.1. What is marketing campaign?

First, let’s talk about what a campaign really is.
A marketing campaign has two critical components:
• A call to action
• A traffic source
The call to action is what you want people to do. If the marketing campaign
you’re creating is aimed at the Subscribe stage of the Customer Journey, your
call to action might be for people to download a whitepaper, checklist, or
video resource. If it’s a campaign in the Convert or Ascend stage, your call to
action might be to buy a product or service. If the campaign you are creating
is for the Awareness stage, the call to action might be as simple as listening to
a podcast episode or reading a blog post.
The traffic source could be digital clicks from ads, email, social media sites, or
search engines like Google. Offline marketing could include direct mail, TV, or
radio advertising, print ads, or anything else that gets the call to action in front
of your prospects.

2.2. Campaign as a journey.

Intentionally Moving Customers Through The Value Journey
Anyone who has ever become a customer of a company has moved through
the Value Journey, whether that company made it happen intentionally or not.
Sometimes, people move through the Value Journey on accident.
For example, imagine that you had never heard of Dropbox before. Then, one
day, a friend tells you that he uses Dropbox to store all his files online, and he
recommends that you check it out.
At this point, both you and your friend have progressed along the Value
Journey. You have moved to Step 1, Aware, and your friend has moved to Step
8, Promote.
However, this progression didn’t happen because of anything Dropbox did
intentionally. It resulted from a random comment or a casual conversation
between you and your friend.
Contrast that with Dropbox’s marketing campaign offering extra space to
customers who refer friends and family:
In this example, Dropbox is moving people along the value journey
INTENTIONALLY by creating a program that is designed for that specific
purpose.
This is an important distinction to make.
Once you figure out that you can move people intentionally through the Value
Journey using marketing campaigns, you realize that you have the ability to
grow your business by improving the areas where your customers are getting
“stuck.”
At this point I’d like to point out that there’s one common mistake that many
companies make when trying to move customers and prospects through the
Customer Value Journey.

3. CONTENT FOR MARKETING.

Let’s start with a thorough understanding of what we mean when we say
content.
You see, most businesses miss out on a lot of opportunities because their
vision for content marketing is too small.
As a result, they’re churning out content but not getting great results. And
here’s why: content in and of itself isn’t what drives traffic and sales.
Your content needs to be “perfect.”
Now, what do we mean by that?
Perfect content isn’t about you, your brand, or your objectives. It’s about
delivering the right information to your prospects at exactly the right point in
the customer journey.

3.1. Developing content for marketing.

1. Perfect Content Marketing is Full Funnel
   I know this is Marketing 101 stuff, but stick with me for just a second before I
   get into the more advanced content marketing concepts we’ll be covering.
   For an ice-cold prospect to become a customer, they will need to travel
   through three stages:
   The 3 stages all prospects go through on their way to becoming a customer
   Chapter 02: Develop1. Awareness – The prospect must first become aware that there is a problem
   and that YOU or your organization have a solution for it. (This is where your
   blog excels.)
   2. Evaluation – Those who move through the Awareness Stage must
   now evaluate the various choices available to them, including your
   competitor’s solutions and, of course, taking no action at all to solve the
   problem.
   3. Conversion – Those that move through the Evaluation Stage are now at
   the moment of truth—purchase. At DigitalMarketer, our goal at this stage is
   to convert leads into frequent and high-ticket buyers.
   A cold prospect cannot evaluate your solution until they are first aware of the
   problem and your solution. And conversion is impossible until the prospect
   has first evaluated the possible courses of action.
   To move a prospect through a marketing funnel, you need to give them
   content specifically designed to satisfy their needs at each of the three stages.
   In other words…
   • They need content at the top of the funnel (TOFU) that
   facilitates awareness.
   • They need content in the middle of the funnel (MOFU) that facilitates
   evaluation.
   • They need content at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU) that facilitates
   conversion.
   Make sense?
   Blogs are fantastic facilitators of awareness, but they do a poor job
   of facilitating evaluation and conversion. And, at the risk of pointing out
   the obvious, evaluation and conversion are super critical to your business.
   To move prospects through the middle (MOFU) and bottom of the funnel
   (BOFU) you’ll need other content types.

4. CUSTOMER VALUE JOURNEY

Now that you know what the Customer Value Journey is, the next thing you
need to understand is:
How do you seamlessly and subtly move customers and prospects through
each phase of the Customer Value Journey?
The short answer? You build marketing CAMPAIGNS that INTENTIONALLY
move people from one stage to the next.
And those two words—campaigns and intentionally—are important here. So
let’s unpack them one at a time.
What Is A Marketing Campaign?
First, let’s talk about what a campaign really is.
A marketing campaign has two critical components:
• A call to action
• A traffic source

4.1. Call to action and Traffic Source.

The call to action is what you want people to do. If the marketing campaign
you’re creating is aimed at the Subscribe stage of the Customer Journey, your
call to action might be for people to download a whitepaper, checklist, or
video resource. If it’s a campaign in the Convert or Ascend stage, your call to
action might be to buy a product or service. If the campaign you are creating
is for the Awareness stage, the call to action might be as simple as listening to
a podcast episode or reading a blog post.
The traffic source could be digital clicks from ads, email, social media sites, or
search engines like Google. Offline marketing could include direct mail, TV, or
radio advertising, print ads, or anything else that gets the call to action in front
of your prospects.

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Now that you know what a campaign IS, let’s talk about what a campaign is
supposed to DO.
The purpose of a marketing campaign is to intentionally move people from
one stage of the Value Journey to the next.
For example:
A campaign might have the goal of getting people to sign up for your email
list (going from Engaged to Subscribe).
Another campaign might have the goal of getting new customers excited
about their purchase (going from Convert to Excite).
Once again, notice that a campaign is intentionally moving people through the
Value Journey. And that word “intentionally” is important.

4.2. Moving customers through the Value journey

Anyone who has ever become a customer of a company has moved through
the Value Journey, whether that company made it happen intentionally or not.
Sometimes, people move through the Value Journey on accident.
For example, imagine that you had never heard of Dropbox before. Then, one
day, a friend tells you that he uses Dropbox to store all his files online, and he
recommends that you check it out.
At this point, both you and your friend have progressed along the Value
Journey. You have moved to Step 1, Aware, and your friend has moved to Step
8, Promote.
However, this progression didn’t happen because of anything Dropbox did
intentionally. It resulted from a random comment or a casual conversation
between you and your friend.
Contrast that with Dropbox’s marketing campaign offering extra space to
customers who refer friends and family:

In this example, Dropbox is moving people along the value journey
INTENTIONALLY by creating a program that is designed for that specific
purpose.
This is an important distinction to make.
Once you figure out that you can move people intentionally through the Value
Journey using marketing campaigns, you realize that you have the ability to
grow your business by improving the areas where your customers are getting
“stuck.”
At this point I’d like to point out that there’s one common mistake that many
companies make when trying to move customers and prospects through the
Customer Value Journey.

5. CRAFTING DIGITAL

One of our biggest challenges as digital marketers is traffic.
How can we easily and affordably get people’s attention, push them to our
websites, and convert them to subscribers and customers?
The secret is digital advertising. And if you understand how to make it work, it
can give you full control over your traffic flow and help you sell more too.
In this chapter, you’ll learn the process for planning, setting up, and optimizing
your ads, including the metrics you need to watch, the lingo you’ll use as a
media buyer, and the people in your business who should be responsible for
digital advertising.
But before we start, let’s get clear about why paid traffic is a smarter
investment than organic.

5.1. Difference between Paid and Organic Traffic.

Free traffic is always the goal, right? Which is why most businesses aim for
organic traffic first. After all, if you can get a steady flow of free traffic, you’ll
pocket the savings.
But as with everything else in life, you get what you pay for.
The easiest way to explain that is with a simple comparison: the water hose
versus the rain.
Paid traffic is like a water hose. You have complete control over the direction
it’s pointed, the amount of water pouring from it, and how long you let the
water flow. You can turn it on and off whenever you want.
If you’re getting more traffic than you need, with paid traffic, you can slow the
flow. You have control of where it’s going, how fast, and when.

Organic traffic, on the other hand, is more like rain. You aren’t sure when or
if it will come, how consistent it will be, nor how long it will last. Listen to the
weather channel all you want. You have no control.
With organic traffic, you can lose traffic if Google changes their algorithm. If a
competitor has a huge launch, you could lose traffic to them. You also have no
control over where the traffic goes. Even simple things like changing the URL
of your landing page can mess things up.
You can enjoy all the control of paid traffic without it actually costing you
anything. You do that by building funnels that reimburse your ad spend.
So in essence, you can acquire customers for free, and then once your
advertising costs have been reimbursed, use simple tactics to build loyalty and
optimize your customers’ lifetime value.
Better still, it’s not an either/or proposition.
The better your paid traffic is, the better your organic traffic will be as well,
because good advertising drives traffic—and the pages that get lots of traffic
tend to rank higher in search engines.
That creates an upward spiral of traffic acquisition. A win-win, if you will.
But it’s important to be realistic. You just can’t run one traffic campaign and
expect it to magically deposit a million dollars in your bank account.
If you want a constant flow of leads and customers for your business, you must
look at this as a system.

5.2. Sources for paid Traffic.

Some of the best platforms for paid traffic are Facebook, Google, YouTube,
Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

But to know which one is right for you, you need to know where your
customers hang out and which ad platforms are suited for the type of
marketing you do.
In most cases, you’ll probably start with Facebook and Google. According to
Business Insider, these two sites drive 80% of referral traffic, more than all the
other platforms combined.

Google Is Like the Yellow Pages
Because Google is a search engine, people start there when they’re looking
for information. So it’s a lot like the Yellow Pages.

To drive traffic through Google, you’ll bid on keywords that will help people
find you and can lead to an ideal sales conversation.
Facebook Is Like a Billboard
Scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed is a bit like driving down the
highway. As you scroll, you see ads, promoted posts, as well as random
comments.
And if you, as a business, are willing to pay, your message will also appear in
the newsfeed of your target audience.
With Facebook, you can spend as little as you want and still expand your
reach.
Because it’s a social platform, and because they collect data on our behavior
every day, they know a lot about us. All that data makes them the most
powerful ad platform available today.
Target your ads precisely enough, and you’re sure to get the right eyeballs on
your message.
YouTube Is Like Television
YouTube’s top metric is the number of minutes watched. Their goal is to
keep you on the site consuming videos, so they operate a lot like traditional
television, playing ads in the videos, interrupting people’s viewing.
Disruptive, yes, but with YouTube, your ads are always relevant.
That’s because you can target your ads based on the YouTube channels your
audience likes, the types of videos they watch, and what they’re searching for.
So what are the top 3 paid traffic sources? What’s the best place to start with
your paid traffic campaigns?
Facebook, Google, and YouTube: All three will give you quality traffic from
people who are interested in your offers.

6. DEVELOPING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY.

Trouble is that “going social” isn’t as easy as it looks. There’s a lot more to
social media marketing than simply posting to Facebook and Twitter.
In this chapter, we cover the basics of a successful social media program,
including methods and metrics, the business roles that should own your social
media marketing, and the lingo you’ll use to talk about it.
Keep in mind, there’s a big difference between a social media manager and a
community manager. (Yes, both manage social media efforts, but their focus
is different.) Learn more in our article, Social Media Manager vs. Community
Manager.

6.1. Methods of Well-Executed Social Media Marketing

There are 4 stages in a successful social cycle:
• Listening
• Influencing
• Networking
• Selling

The social success cycle has 4 stages, beginning with listening.

6.2. The four main Pillars of Social Media marketing.

• Listening
• Influencing
• Networking
• Selling

1. Social Listening
   As with any marketing strategy, you need to start with your target audience.
   That’s why social media marketing starts with listening.
   This is key to creating a successful social strategy. Whether you’re paying attention or not, people are talking about you and
   reaching out to you on the social web. They’re sharing their experiences with
   your products. They’re talking about the things you’re saying or doing. They’re
   even asking you questions.

The 3-Step Social Customer Service Plan
For social media marketing to work, you need to make it human and authentic.
Even when you’re dealing with a complaint, your aim is to align yourself with
the person, de-escalate the situation, and provide a compassionate, human
touch.
Here’s the 3-step process for doing that:
1. Respond quickly. Social media moves quickly. Make sure you perform
triage within 12 hours and resolve issues within 24 hours.

2. Empathize. Make an empathetic statement as soon as possible: “I’m sorry
you ran into this,” “I know this is frustrating,” or “I can understand how
important this is to you.”
3. Move it to a private channel. If you can’t solve the issue in a sentence or
two, take it off public channels. Private messaging, email, or a phone call
allow you to talk in detail without the rest of your followers adding their two
cents to the discussion.
This approach demonstrates that you’re listening. It also allows you to express
compassion. And by moving the conversation to a private channel, you make
people feel as if you’re committed to giving them a real solution.

2. Social Influencing
At this stage, your aim is to lead and direct your followers’ opinions, attitudes,
and behaviors. And since you’ve been listening, it’s relatively easy. You already
know the trending topics and conversations taking place, so adding your
authority voice is the natural next step.
What are the signs that your influence is growing?
• You get more engagement – people retweeting or sharing your posts, and
people responding to your posts.
• Your traffic numbers increase – people click on your links.
• You develop a greater mindshare – people share their questions, thoughts,
and opinions with you, and they eagerly seek interaction with you.
• You become a recognized authority and a brand people watch.
Keep in mind, this stage of the success cycle is influenced by the social
listening you did in Stage 1. But the reality is that you’ll continue listening at
every stage. In fact, once the cycle is going, you’ll perform every stage every
day.

3. Social Networking
It’s at this stage of the social cycle that you connect with other influencers and
authorities and begin to move the needle.
Social networking is important for all businesses, whether you’re just getting
started, scaling, or expanding into new markets.
It may help to think of social networking as a live event—except your
interactions are online rather than face-to-face. After all, networking is
networking, no matter where (or how) it happens. And it can lead to deep and
lasting relationships, both with your followers and potential partners.

6.3. Social influencing.

At this stage, your aim is to lead and direct your followers’ opinions, attitudes,
and behaviors. And since you’ve been listening, it’s relatively easy. You already
know the trending topics and conversations taking place, so adding your
authority voice is the natural next step.
What are the signs that your influence is growing?
• You get more engagement – people retweeting or sharing your posts, and
people responding to your posts.
• Your traffic numbers increase – people click on your links.
• You develop a greater mindshare – people share their questions, thoughts,
and opinions with you, and they eagerly seek interaction with you.
• You become a recognized authority and a brand people watch.
Keep in mind, this stage of the success cycle is influenced by the social
listening you did in Stage 1. But the reality is that you’ll continue listening at
every stage. In fact, once the cycle is going, you’ll perform every stage every
day.
Goals for Social Influencing
During this phase of the social success cycle, you’re trying to:
• Increase engagement with your brand and your content.
• Start conversations around the topics related to your business.
• Boost traffic to your site.
• Build awareness of your products and offers.
• Grow your retargeting list.

Retargeting is an advanced tactic that can significantly boost your bottom line.
To learn more about retargeting (or remarketing), read The Remarketing Grid:
The Science of Ad Retargeting Audience Segmentation.
Metrics to Watch
How do you know you’re building your social influence? These are the metrics
that matter most:
• Site engagement rates. Are you getting more social shares and
comments?
• Traffic by channel. Traffic from your social media channels should increase
over time.
• Offer awareness. People see and respond to the offers you make in social
media.
• Retargeting list growth. Through retargeting, you’re able to get your
offers in front of people who are most likely to buy from you—and they
respond by downloading your lead magnets and subscribing.

6.4. Social Networking

It’s at this stage of the social cycle that you connect with other influencers and
authorities and begin to move the needle.
Social networking is important for all businesses, whether you’re just getting
started, scaling, or expanding into new markets.
It may help to think of social networking as a live event—except your
interactions are online rather than face-to-face. After all, networking is
networking, no matter where (or how) it happens. And it can lead to deep and
lasting relationships, both with your followers and potential partners.

Your Goals for Social Networking
During this stage of the social success cycle, your aim is to:
• Share content that fills gaps left from your own content. This content may
relate topically or target people at different skill levels.
• Create good will with brands that are similar to yours.
• Over time, transform that good will into profitable partnerships.
Metrics to Watch
To measure the strength of your social network, watch these metric:
• Number of inbound links. A strong network will result in more backlinks to
your content.
• Number and description of earned media mentions. Consider the
relevance and value of the mentions, who they come from, and the value
of those mentions.
• Number and description of earned strategic partnerships. Are you
reaching out to partnership prospects, or are they reaching out to you?
How relevant are those brands to your business, and what is the value of
those relationships?

6.5. Social Selling

The fourth and final stage of the social success cycle is social selling.
This is where social media marketing gets interesting. Finally, after listening
to your prospects, building authority in your space, and establishing a strong
network, you can start putting your offers in front of people—and converting
them.
What does good social selling look like?

The short answer is funnels. But you’ll use multiple channels for getting people
into those funnels, from blogging to retargeting to pay-per-click advertising.
So, for instance, you’ll lead with blog content that’s perfectly targeted to
your audience, and in that content, you’ll embed an opt-in offer. Then you’ll
promote the content in social media (leveraging Stages 2 and 3 of this cycle).
Your social promotion will direct traffic to your content, where they’ll see your
offer. If they respond, you’ll immediately make an upsell offer—a low-priced
product designed to convert your new lead quickly into a customer. We call
that entry-level product a tripwire.

7. DESIGN SEARCH MARKETING STRATEGY.

The Big Picture
First, SEO is a broad field divided into 2 big camps.
1. The structural, or technical, side. People in this camp focus on the
technical details of your website rather than the quality of your content.
2. The content side of things. People in this camp know how to create welloptimized
content, build links, and boost social shares.
Which camp is best?

7.1. What is content creation in digital marketing.

Content creation. It is the process of generating textual, visual or audio material that piques readers' interest, resonates with them and motivates them to act. It includes a variety of formats that are custom to different platforms and audiences. This encompasses anything from blog postings and social media posts to videos and podcasts.   

Content creation is all about telling stories. It's about crafting tales that capture and connect with your audience. It is the key to standing out in the cluttered digital scene, whether you're a company, a marketer or an individual wanting to develop an online presence.  

But it's not about producing words or images; it's also about adding value. The material you create should offer information, insights or amusement that your viewers cannot get somewhere else. It should fix their issues, provide answers to their queries or make their day better.  

Content creation is a strong tool for building relationships and establishing authority. It also helps in creating trust in your audience. It's all about establishing a community around your business or personal brand, one in which people feel heard, understood and motivated. So, whether you're a skilled storyteller or a visual artist, content creation is your ticket to success in the digital marketing world.  

What is Content Creation in Digital Marketing?  

Content creation is the fuel that drives success in the fast-paced world of digital marketing. But, exactly, what does it entail? In digital marketing, content creation is the skill of creating smart and engaging resources to attract, engage and convert your target audience. 

In digital marketing, content creation extends beyond words and images. It's all about telling tales that people can relate to. It's all about knowing your audience, their wants, needs and pain spots. It then sees you create material that is specific to them. It's all about making a connection, developing trust and establishing your brand as a reliable authority.  

In digital marketing, content creation is a dance between creativity and strategy. It's about figuring out the perfect balance between attracting your audience and aligning with your marketing goals. It involves doing research, learning about SEO and using statistics to influence your material selections.  

Above all, content creation in digital marketing is an opportunity. It's a chance to highlight your brand's personality, values and unique selling proposition. It's about rising in a sea of digital noise and winning over your audience's hearts and minds.  

So, if you're looking to start on a journey where creativity meets strategy, ideas come to life and your brand's story develops, this element of digital marketing is your ticket to success.

7.2. The structural, or technical, side.

People are conducting searches from their mobile devices. That means your
pages must be easily accessible from phones and tablets as well as computers.
It’s important to adopt a “mobile first” mindset.

Today, Search Is Structural and Technical
As mentioned above, if your site isn’t set up right, Google won’t even see you.
But once your structural issues are resolved, you’ll focus mostly on content and
basic on-page optimization.
The key to SEO is simply to build a better page than anyone else on the web.
For each search query, Google wants to put the absolute best page at the
top of the SERPs. So your page needs to be the most relevant and the closest
match for searchers’ intent.
How do you do that? You research what’s already ranking for your target keyword and build
something 10x better than those pages.
That’s it.
There’s no hack and no easy button. Just a lot of hard work.
But on a positive note, if your content is 10x better than anything else on the
web, your pages will rank.

8. MARKETING AND CONTENT CREATING.

How does digital marketing and online content creating link up and how are the two different. 

8.1. The content side of it.

People in this camp know how to create well-optimized
content, build links, and boost social shares. There’s no contest. To succeed at search marketing, you need both. When you
need to create link assets or get more backlinks, you need an SEO content
specialist. But if Google doesn’t seem to see those assets, and you’re not
ranking, you’ve likely got structural issues. You need an SEO technician.
Another thing to keep in mind is that SEO isn’t a once-and-done task.
Hundreds and thousands of websites are constantly battling for the #1 spot in
search engines for their target keywords—and securing that spot is kind of like
playing the kid’s game, “king of the mountain.”

You may knock off the guy who’s sitting there now, but someone is coming
behind you, trying to knock you off as soon as you get there.
Which means your content needs to be finessed, updated, and promoted to
rise in the search engine result pages (SERPs) and secure your top-ranking
spot. Meanwhile, everything needs to be working right from a technical
perspective. Finally, search constantly changes. Google’s algorithm isn’t static. It’s based on
artificial intelligence, and it’s learning more every day.
As a result, the rules change too. The tactics you use today won’t be the ones
you use next month or next year. And that’s okay.
Expect to continue learning and adjusting the tactics you use. Don’t resist; just
accept it as part of the process—because the only way to win at this game is
by following the rules.

8.2. Is Content creation same is digital marketing.

Digital content creation may take many forms. It may be an infographic that simplifies difficult material so that your audience can understand it. It may be a blog article that gives important insights and ideas, establishing your brand as an industry authority. It might also be a sequence of eye-catching social media postings that excite interest and drive engagement.  

When it comes to digital content creation, the options are limitless. It is all about adapting your message to the platform and the people you are trying to reach. It is all about using visual elements, interesting stories and interactive features to make your material memorable and shareable.  

Is Content Creation the Same as Digital Marketing?   

Content creation and digital marketing are two powerful forces that intersect and complement one another in the realm of digital marketing. But they are not the same. Let's take a closer look at the differences between the two.  

The process of creating appealing and valuable resources like blog entries, videos, social media updates and more is content creation. It's all about mesmerising your audience, creating tales and offering relevant information. While digital marketing consists of actions targeted at promoting products, services or brands via various digital media.  

While content creation is an important aspect of digital marketing, it is only one piece of the equation. Digital marketing includes not only content creation. It also includes strategic planning, market research, audience targeting, advertising, SEO, analytics, etc. It is an extensive approach to advertising your business in the digital environment.  

How do I Start Digital Content Creation?   

Are you up for an exciting trip into the realm of digital content creation? Buckle up and prepare to let your imagination go wild! Starting digital material creation can look difficult, but don't worry, we have some useful advice to help you get started.  

- First, develop your goal. Determine why you want to make digital content and your goals. Do you want to inform, entertain, or inspire your audience? Clarifying your objectives will help in shaping your matter and ensuring its relevance 

- Next, understand your target audience. Investigate and comprehend your target market's preferences, needs and problem areas. This understanding will help you create pieces that will resonate with them and attract their attention 

- Select your format now. Will you write blog articles or make videos?  Will you produce infographics or experiment with different formats? Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each and then choose the one that best matches your talents and engages your audience 

- Create interesting material. Create intriguing headlines and introductions that will attract your readers right away. To keep your audience interested, use storytelling tactics, pictures and captivating language 

- Next is to stay consistent. Produce and stick to a regular content schedule. Consistency fosters trust and keeps your audience returning for more 

9. EMAIL MARKETING

Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves sending emails to a group of people or subscribers with the intention of promoting products, services, or engaging with customers. It is a direct form of communication between a business or organization and its target audience. Email marketing campaigns can include various types of emails such as promotional emails, newsletters, announcements, product updates, and more. The goals of email marketing typically include building brand awareness, driving sales, increasing customer loyalty, and fostering relationships with subscribers. Email marketing campaigns often utilize tools for email list management, segmentation, personalization, and analytics to optimize their effectiveness

9.1. Introduction to Email Marketing

Email marketing is a powerful digital marketing strategy used by businesses and organizations to communicate with their target audience via email. It involves sending commercial messages, promotional content, or informational updates to a group of subscribers who have opted in to receive emails from the sender.

Here's a breakdown of key elements and concepts in email marketing:

1. Building an Email List: The foundation of email marketing is an email list comprised of subscribers who have willingly provided their email addresses to receive communications from the sender. Building a quality email list involves various tactics such as website sign-up forms, social media promotions, and incentivized offers.

2. Email Campaigns: Email campaigns are the series of emails sent to subscribers with specific objectives in mind. These campaigns can vary in nature, including promotional campaigns, newsletters, welcome sequences for new subscribers, product launches, or seasonal offers.

3. Personalization: Personalization plays a crucial role in email marketing effectiveness. By segmenting subscribers based on factors such as demographics, purchase history, or engagement level, marketers can tailor content to better resonate with each recipient, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

4. Email Design and Content: The design and content of emails are essential for capturing the attention of subscribers and conveying the intended message effectively. Emails should be visually appealing, mobile-responsive, and include compelling copy, images, and calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage recipients to take desired actions.

5. Automation: Email marketing automation involves the use of software and tools to automate various aspects of email campaigns, such as sending automated welcome emails, follow-up sequences, or abandoned cart reminders based on predefined triggers or subscriber actions.

6. Analytics and Tracking: Monitoring email campaign performance through analytics is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of strategies and optimizing future campaigns. Metrics such as open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), conversion rates, and subscriber engagement provide valuable insights into subscriber behavior and campaign success.

7. Compliance and Regulations: Compliance with email marketing laws and regulations, such as the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, is essential to ensure ethical and legal email marketing practices. This includes obtaining proper consent from subscribers, providing clear opt-out options, and safeguarding subscriber data privacy.

Overall, email marketing remains a cost-effective and versatile tool for businesses to reach and engage their audience, drive sales, and build long-term relationships with customers. With strategic planning, targeted content, and continuous optimization, email marketing can be a valuable asset in any digital marketing strategy.

9.2. Challenges facing Email marketing.

While email marketing is a highly effective strategy, it also faces several challenges that marketers must navigate to achieve success. Some of the key challenges include:

1. Deliverability Issues: Ensuring that emails reach recipients' inboxes is crucial for the success of email marketing campaigns. However, factors such as spam filters, blacklisting, and changes in email service provider policies can affect deliverability rates.

2. Email Engagement and Open Rates: Getting recipients to open and engage with emails is becoming increasingly difficult due to inbox saturation and competition for attention. Marketers must focus on crafting compelling subject lines, relevant content, and personalized messaging to improve open and click-through rates.

3. List Management and Quality: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is essential for effective email marketing. Challenges such as list decay, subscriber churn, and inactive subscribers can impact campaign performance. Marketers need to regularly clean and segment their email lists to improve targeting and engagement.

4. Mobile Optimization: With the growing use of smartphones and mobile devices, ensuring that emails are optimized for mobile viewing is critical. Failure to design emails that display properly on mobile devices can lead to decreased engagement and conversions.

5. Data Privacy and Compliance: Stringent data privacy regulations, such as the GDPR and CCPA, require marketers to obtain proper consent from subscribers and handle their personal data responsibly. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in legal consequences and damage to brand reputation.

6. Content Relevance and Personalization: As consumers' expectations for personalized content continue to rise, marketers must deliver relevant and tailored messages to their audience. Failure to personalize emails or provide value-added content can lead to increased unsubscribe rates and decreased engagement.

7. Competition from Other Channels: Email marketing competes with various other digital marketing channels, such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and paid advertising. Marketers need to integrate email marketing with other channels and employ multi-channel strategies to maximize reach and engagement.

8. Measurement and Attribution: Measuring the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns and attributing conversions can be challenging due to the complex customer journey across multiple touchpoints. Marketers need to use analytics tools to track key metrics accurately and analyze the impact of email marketing on overall business goals.

Despite these challenges, email marketing remains a valuable tool for businesses to connect with their audience, drive engagement, and achieve marketing objectives when approached strategically and thoughtfully. Constant adaptation to industry trends and best practices is essential for overcoming these challenges and maximizing the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns

10. EMERGING TRENDS IN DIGITAL MARKETING.

These are the new trends that are now emerging with digital marketing skills in the business industry.

10.1. What are the emerging issues in Digital Marketing.

1. AI and Machine Learning: AI and machine learning continue to revolutionize digital marketing by enabling personalized customer experiences, predictive analytics, and automation of repetitive tasks such as content curation, email segmentation, and ad optimization.

2. Voice Search Optimization: With the increasing popularity of voice-enabled devices like smart speakers and virtual assistants, optimizing content for voice search became crucial. Marketers began adapting their SEO strategies to accommodate conversational queries and long-tail keywords.

3. Video Marketing: Video content consumption continued to rise across social media platforms and websites. Marketers leveraged video marketing for storytelling, product demonstrations, tutorials, and live streaming to engage audiences and drive conversions.

4. Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing evolved into a mainstream strategy, with brands collaborating with influencers to reach niche audiences, build credibility, and generate authentic content. Micro-influencers gained prominence for their highly engaged, niche followings.

5. Ephemeral Content: Platforms like Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and Facebook Stories popularized ephemeral content, which disappears after a short period. Marketers utilized these formats for behind-the-scenes content, limited-time promotions, and real-time engagement with audiences.

6. User-Generated Content (UGC): UGC became increasingly important in digital marketing strategies, as brands encouraged customers to create and share content related to their products or services. UGC fosters authenticity, builds trust, and amplifies brand reach through social proof.

7. Privacy and Data Protection: With growing concerns over data privacy and regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, marketers prioritized transparency, consent management, and compliance with data protection laws to build trust and protect customer data.

8. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): AR and VR technologies offered immersive experiences that marketers leveraged for interactive product demonstrations, virtual try-ons, and branded gamification to enhance customer engagement and drive sales.

9. Social Commerce: Social media platforms expanded their e-commerce capabilities, allowing users to discover and purchase products directly within the platform. Marketers capitalized on social commerce by optimizing product listings, implementing shoppable posts, and leveraging social ads to drive conversions.

10. Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Consumers increasingly favored brands that demonstrated commitment to sustainability, social causes, and ethical practices. Marketers incorporated CSR initiatives into their brand messaging and storytelling to resonate with socially conscious consumers.

These trends represent some of the key developments shaping digital marketing strategies and practices. However, it's essential for marketers to continually adapt to evolving technologies, consumer behaviors, and industry dynamics to stay ahead in the ever-changing digital landscape.