Week 3: Digital marketing and e-commerce strategy

Hi there, glad to have you back. In the last part of the course, we explored what
digital marketing and e-commerce can
do for brands. You learned how customer journey
maps can help companies understand their customers and nurture relationships over time. You also discovered how they use digital marketing funnels
to raise awareness, encourage consideration, drive conversions,
and foster loyalty. By learning about
these concepts, you’re starting to build
a strong foundation for the next phase
of your career. In this part of the course, you’ll learn that
a funnel fits into a larger digital
marketing strategy. You’ll explore the relationship
between branding and digital marketing and
some specific ways companies can build
their brands. You’ll also find out
what goes into planning a digital marketing
strategy and get to know some of the most common channels and tactics they involve, like search engine optimization, social media marketing,
and email marketing. Using these channels, businesses
can attract customers, drive sales, and maintain
relationships over time. Creating a digital marketing
strategy is one of the most effective things brands can do to
reach customers. So, it’s crucial to
understand how they work, even if you’re just starting
out in the industry. In fact, one of the first things I did when starting out as a product marketing
manager was collaborating on digital marketing
strategies for social media. I worked hands-on
in developing ways to reach and engage
our target audience. Digital marketing strategies are so important because
they ensure that a brand’s digital marketing
and sales activities all work together
toward a common goal. I’m so excited to get started, and I hope you are too.

The value of brands for digital marketing

A brand is more than just a name and logo. It’s the sum of all the experiences that customers have with a company, from its products and services to its marketing and customer service. A strong brand can be incredibly valuable for digital marketing, as it can help to:

• Increase brand awareness: A strong brand is more likely to be remembered and recognized by potential customers, which can lead to more website traffic and conversions.
• Build trust and credibility: A brand that is perceived as trustworthy and credible is more likely to be chosen by customers over other brands. Digital marketing can be used to build trust and credibility through testimonials, customer reviews, and high-quality content.
• Differentiation: In a crowded marketplace, it’s important for brands to differentiate themselves from the competition. A strong brand can help to do this by communicating its unique value proposition and positioning itself as the go-to brand for a particular need or want.
• Customer loyalty: A strong brand can help to build customer loyalty, as customers are more likely to return to a brand that they trust and enjoy. Digital marketing can be used to stay in touch with customers and nurture relationships over time.

Here are some specific ways that digital marketing can be used to leverage the value of a brand:

• Content marketing: Content marketing is a great way to position your brand as an expert in your field and build trust with potential customers. By creating and sharing high-quality content, you can attract visitors to your website and establish yourself as a thought leader.
• Social media marketing: Social media marketing is a great way to connect with potential and existing customers, and build relationships with them. By sharing engaging content, interacting with your audience, and running social media contests and promotions, you can create a positive brand experience for your customers.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): SEO is the process of optimizing your website and content so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can help to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising: PPC advertising is a way to display your ads at the top of SERPs for relevant keywords. This can be a great way to drive traffic to your website for specific products or services.
• Email marketing: Email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with customers and nurture relationships with them. By sending regular email newsletters, you can share updates about your company, products, and services, and offer exclusive discounts and promotions.

By using digital marketing to leverage the value of your brand, you can attract new customers, build relationships with existing customers, and drive sales.

Here are some additional tips for using digital marketing to promote your brand:

• Be consistent: It’s important to be consistent with your branding across all of your digital marketing channels. This means using the same logo, colors, and fonts, and communicating the same brand messaging.
• Be authentic: People can spot a fake from a mile away, so be yourself and let your brand’s personality shine through in your digital marketing.
• Be helpful: One of the best ways to build a strong brand is to be helpful to others. Answer questions, share your knowledge, and offer advice.
• Be patient: It takes time to build a strong brand. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results immediately. Just keep at it and you’ll eventually start to see progress.

By following these tips, you can use digital marketing to build a strong brand that will help you to achieve your business goals.

What is brand equity?

The value consumers attribute to one brand’s offerings when compared with similar products from another brand

Brand equity is the value consumers attribute to one brand’s offerings when compared with similar products from another brand. When a brand has positive equity, it means consumers feel good about the brand.

So far, I’ve said a lot about brands,
how they find their audiences, how they engage with customers, and
how they build loyalty and boost sales. But what exactly is a brand? And how does it relate to digital
marketing and e-commerce? In this video, we’ll explore why
understanding brands is so important for digital marketing. A brand is how a business or
organization is perceived by the public. There are a lot of factors that
can influence a brand, like values, culture, design elements,
and tone of voice. And companies can do things
to build their brands. But a brand isn’t a physical asset,
like a product or service. Products and services are the things
that a business sells, like clothing, software, or entertainment. A brand is more like a personality or
a reputation. It’s the sum of who you are and what
people think about you and your products. So why is it important to know
about brands and their value? Because a company’s brand guides all
of their marketing and sales efforts. Before they can even start
thinking about ads or promotion, companies need to understand their
mission, values, and unique offerings. Marketing efforts can, and
should, change with the times. But a brand identity is permanent. Think of it this way. If a brand is who you are, marketing
is how you get people’s attention. So a company can pour tons of resources
into a digital marketing strategy, but without a strong brand identity,
no one’s going to remember who they are. Likewise, they can have great values and
amazing products, but they still need marketing to build
brand recognition and drive sales. A brand is the foundation of
a successful digital marketing strategy, but digital marketing can also affect
public perception of your brand. You can’t have one without the other. A strong brand can be
incredibly valuable, and digital marketing can
make it even stronger. For example, digital marketing campaigns can help
increase value through brand equity. What is brand equity? It’s the value consumers
attribute to one brand’s offering when compared with similar
products from another brand. When a brand has positive equity, it means
consumers feel good about the brand and might pay more for it than
an identical product from another company. For example, let’s say we have two bottles
of sunscreen with identical ingredients— one from a known and trusted brand, and
the other from a lesser known brand. Brand equity is how much more customers
are willing to pay for the brand they know and trust than the other one, even
though they have the same ingredients. The trust people have in the familiar
brand adds to its overall value. Digital marketing is one of the ways
businesses build that trust. When they run an ad campaign, those ads
don’t just get consumers to take notice. They can also help shape public
perception of the brand. Digital marketing can communicate
a brand’s values, personality, and perspective, which can influence
how people think of them. All right, time to review. A brand is more than just another word for
a business. It’s how customers think and
feel about a company and its products. It’s also the foundation for
successful marketing and sales strategies. Digital marketing, in turn, can help build
brand equity, recognition, and trust. Moving forward, we will begin to explore
how brands create digital marketing strategies that support
their larger goals.

Tutorial on the Elements of a Digital Marketing Strategy

Introduction

Digital marketing is the use of digital platforms and technologies to promote products and services. It is a broad field that encompasses a wide range of tactics, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and more.

A digital marketing strategy is a plan for how you will use these tactics to achieve your business goals. It should be tailored to your specific industry, target audience, and budget.

Elements of a Digital Marketing Strategy

The following are some of the key elements of a digital marketing strategy:

• Website: Your website is the foundation of your digital marketing presence. It is where potential customers will go to learn more about your business and what you have to offer. Make sure your website is well-designed, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly.
• SEO: SEO is the process of optimizing your website and content so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can help you attract more organic traffic to your website.
• PPC advertising: PPC advertising is a type of paid advertising that allows you to place ads at the top of SERPs. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
• Social media marketing: Social media marketing involves using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect with potential and existing customers. You can use social media to share content, promote your products or services, and build relationships with your audience.
• Content marketing: Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and retain customers. This can include blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, and more.
• Email marketing: Email marketing involves sending emails to subscribers with information about your products or services, special offers, and other relevant content.

Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy

To create a digital marketing strategy, you need to first define your business goals. What do you want to achieve with your digital marketing efforts? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or generate leads and sales?

Once you know your goals, you can start to identify the tactics that will be most effective for achieving them. Consider your budget, resources, and target audience when making your decisions.

It is also important to track your results and make adjustments to your strategy as needed. Use analytics tools to track your website traffic, social media engagement, and email open rates. This data will help you see what is working and what is not.

Conclusion

A digital marketing strategy is essential for any business that wants to succeed in the online world. By following the tips above, you can create a strategy that will help you achieve your business goals.

Here are some additional tips for creating and executing a successful digital marketing strategy:

• Set SMART goals. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
• Develop a clear understanding of your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your digital marketing efforts? What are their needs and interests?
• Use a variety of digital marketing channels. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Use a mix of channels to reach your target audience.
• Create high-quality content. Your content should be informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience.
• Promote your content on social media. Social media is a great way to reach a large audience and promote your content.
• Track your results and make adjustments as needed. It is important to track your results and make adjustments to your strategy as needed. This will help you ensure that you are on track to achieve your goals.

If you need help creating or executing a digital marketing strategy, there are many resources available. You can hire a digital marketing agency, or you can learn how to do it yourself using online resources and tutorials.

What is a media mix?

The combination of digital channels a company uses to reach their goals and how a company divides their budget among them

Media mix is the combination of digital channels a company uses to reach their goals, and how a company divides their budget among them.

Now that you understand the relationship
between branding and marketing, it’s time to get deeper into how brands
use digital marketing strategies to reach business goals. When you’re just starting out in
digital marketing or e commerce, you probably won’t be responsible for creating a digital marketing strategy
unless you’re working at a small company, setting a strategy is usually
a broad collaborative effort. But, you’ll definitely help execute
the strategy even if it’s set by others. That’s why it’s important for
you to understand what a digital marketing strategy is and
what goes into building one. Simply put, a digital marketing strategy
is a plan for achieving specific goals through online channels to support and
advance business objectives. So now, let’s discuss what actually
goes into creating a digital marketing strategy. Before you can start planning things like
ad campaigns or social media outreach, you need to research your audience and
set meaningful goals. These steps will tell you who
you’re trying to reach and what you want to accomplish. You’ll learn more about how to do
these things later in the program. All you need to know right now
is that they’re essential to the success of any digital
marketing strategy. Once you’ve completed your research and
set your goals, it’s time to work out a strategy.
That means you’re using what you’ve learned to guide customers through each
stage of the digital marketing funnel with the most effective tactics and media mix. Media Mix refers to the combination of
digital channels used to reach your goals and how you divide your budget among them. These are all the activities that
go into your marketing funnel. To select your media mix you’ll first
review your existing media content to find out if there are any gaps after that, you
can decide which channels to focus on what content and campaigns to run on those
channels and how to allocate your budget. Let’s try an example. Imagine you’re part of a team that’s
working with a high end jewelry retailer who wants to drive a 30% increase
in revenue within three years. You know that jewelry customers can
take a long time to go from awareness to purchase. So you pick marketing goals that
support movement through the funnel, bringing in new customers and
nurturing existing leads more effectively. These are upper and middle funnel concerns
that should boost sales over time. That means you’ll need to
concentrate on raising awareness and encouraging consideration to achieve them. Here’s a simplified version of a digital
marketing strategy for these goals. To increase awareness and draw in
new customers your team puts 40% of its budget towards upper funnel efforts. From your research you know that video
ads are the most effective way for raising awareness among
your target audience. Another 40% of your budget goes to driving
leads in the middle of the funnel, use this money to engage customers across
different channels like social media and a paid ad campaign to reach customers
who are actively researching jewelry purchases. The last 20% is for serving product
focused ads to website visitors and email marketing. The goal of the email campaign
is to turn those leads you nurtured in the upper funnel
into paying customers. Each part of your funnel is important, but
most of your budget goes to the top and middle sections to help you reach
new customers and nurture leads. Once you have a strategy in place,
you can start creating the content you’ll need to run your campaigns. That
includes everything from email templates to video animations,
ad copy, and banner images. You’ll learn more about creating all
that content later in the program. Lastly, you’ll need a plan to measure and
analyze the results of your efforts so you know how you can
improve in the future. That one is really important and we’ll explore some ways to do that later
in this course and there you have it. There’s a lot that goes into creating
a digital marketing strategy. But remember this is a team effort. You may only be responsible for
things like aligning budgets to marketing activities or
analyzing the results of a campaign. Let’s recap. To plan an effective
digital marketing strategy: You first need to research
your audience and set goals that support
the business overall. Next, you review your existing media for
gaps, select marketing channels and plan the content you’ll
use to reach your goals. Finally, you’ll create a plan to
measure and analyze results. And if all this seems like a lot, don’t worry, we’ll break everything down for
you over the course of this program. Coming up, we’ll learn more about
setting effective goals for your marketing strategy.

Tutorial on Defining Your Marketing Goals

Introduction

Marketing goals are the specific objectives that you want to achieve with your marketing efforts. They should be aligned with your overall business goals and should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Why are marketing goals important?

Marketing goals are important because they help you to:

• Focus your marketing efforts and resources on the most important things.
• Measure the success of your marketing campaigns.
• Make adjustments to your marketing strategy as needed.
• Communicate your marketing goals to your team and stakeholders.

How to define your marketing goals

To define your marketing goals, you should first identify your overall business goals. What do you want to achieve with your business in the next year, two years, or five years? Once you know your business goals, you can start to think about what marketing goals will help you to achieve them.

Here are some tips for defining your marketing goals:

• Be specific. Your goals should be as specific as possible. For example, instead of saying “increase brand awareness,” say “increase brand awareness by 10% in the next year.”
• Be measurable. Your goals should be measurable so that you can track your progress and see if you are on track to achieve them. For example, “increase website traffic by 20% in the next quarter.”
• Be achievable. Your goals should be achievable, but challenging. If your goals are too easy, you won’t be motivated to achieve them. If they are too difficult, you will set yourself up for failure.
• Be relevant. Your goals should be relevant to your business goals and your target audience.
• Be time-bound. Your goals should have a deadline so that you can stay on track and measure your progress.

Examples of marketing goals

Here are some examples of marketing goals:

• Increase brand awareness by 10% in the next year.
• Increase website traffic by 20% in the next quarter.
• Generate 100 new leads per month.
• Increase sales by 15% in the next year.
• Launch a new product and generate $1 million in revenue in the first year.

Once you have defined your marketing goals, you can start to develop a marketing strategy to achieve them. Your marketing strategy should outline the tactics and channels that you will use to reach your target audience and achieve your goals.

Conclusion

Defining your marketing goals is an important step in developing a successful marketing strategy. By taking the time to define your goals, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are focused and effective.

What are some common marketing goals? Select all that apply.

Raising brand awareness, Generating new leads, Increasing web traffic

Some common marketing goals include: raising brand awareness, increasing web traffic, and generating new leads.

So far, we’ve covered the basic elements
of digital marketing strategy, the importance of customer research,
and what goes into customer personas. Now, let’s think about the next part
of the process: setting goals for a digital marketing strategy. We all set goals, whether in our
professional or personal lives, but we’re more likely to reach our goals if
we’re clear about why they matter and what they involve. That’s as true at all levels of
a business as it is for individuals. Every company, department, team, and
employee benefits from setting clear and relevant goals to guide their work. You already know that digital marketing
goals should support a business’s larger goals. But what’s the difference between
a marketing goal and a business goal? And how do you make sure they’re aligned? Let’s start with business goals.
Business goals are desired aims, achievements, or outcomes for a business. They are typically big, long-term, and have
the potential to affect an entire company. They include things like
increasing profits, gaining new customers,
improving customer service, raising productivity, or
launching new products or services. Marketing goals tend to be smaller,
more targeted, and—you guessed it— related to marketing activities. They’re specific objectives
in a marketing plan or strategy that should support
a business’s larger aims. Some common marketing goals include
raising brand awareness, increasing web traffic, generating new
leads, and driving sales or conversions. So how do you connect a marketing goal like raised brand awareness to
a business goal like increased profits? For starters, both your business goals and your marketing goals need to
be specific and measurable. So, for example, let’s say there’s a
company that makes photo editing software, and they want to expand
their customer base. A well-defined version of this business
goal could be something like: Grow our number of active customers
by 25% over the next two years by adding five frequently-requested
features to our software. That’s way more specific, right?
It tells you what they’re going to do, how they plan to do it, and
when they want to get it done. You’ll learn more about setting well-defined
goals later in this course. For now, let’s consider this goal from
a marketing perspective. What kinds of digital marketing goals could help this
company expand its active user base? How about increasing website traffic?
After all, people need to visit the website
to sign up for an account, but more website traffic doesn’t
necessarily equal more new users. It would depend on how many
of those visitors are new versus existing customers and what
they’re doing once they get to the site. So increasing website traffic might
work, but maybe there’s a better option. What about generating new leads? Since a lead is someone who is already
interested in a company, lead-generation is more likely to result in more signups
than general website traffic. A well-defined version
of that goal could be: We will increase our lead
generation by 40% in the next year by running upper-funnel ads that
highlight our new features and increasing our mid-funnel budget
by 20%. By raising awareness of the new features and increasing the budget for
activities that create new leads, the marketing goal supports the business
goal of growing its user base. That’s one example of how a marketing goal
can support a business goal, but there are a lot more. In fact, you can think of business
goals like the top part of a pyramid— there are a lot of different
goals below that support them. So a digital marketing strategy
can even have multiple goals that build towards that
top business objective. And you may also have goals for
each part of your strategy. For example, you can set goals specifically for your
social media or email marketing efforts. When all these smaller goals are aligned
to the big things that a business wants to achieve, they are much more
likely to reach those aims. Let’s recap: Well-defined goals
are important at all levels of a business. Business goals are long-term aims
that can impact a company at all levels. Marketing goals are specific
to marketing efforts, but should always contribute
to business-wide aims. In the next lesson,
we’ll explore some of the tactics and channels brands can use to advance
their marketing and business goals. Meet you there!

Paid, owned, and earned media are three main categories of digital media that brands use to reach and engage with their audiences.

Paid media is any form of digital promotion that a brand pays for, such as banner ads, video ads, social media ads, shopping ads, and pop-ups. The advantage of paid media is that it produces results quickly, but the downside is that those results go away instantly when you stop paying for them.

Owned media refers to all the digital content that a brand fully controls, such as website content, blogs, eBooks, and social media content. Owned media can be persuasive, but unlike paid media ads, it doesn’t advertise or sell products directly. Instead, it provides value by giving customers what they need in order to make informed decisions.

Earned media is any positive digital exposure generated through personal or public recommendations. Companies don’t create or own earned media, and they can’t pay for it directly. It’s generated by customers in response to things like product quality and customer service, in addition to successful marketing campaigns.

Here is a tutorial on how to use paid, owned, and earned media in digital marketing:

Paid media

1. Choose the right paid media channels. There are many different paid media channels available, so it’s important to choose the ones that are right for your business and target audience. Consider factors such as your budget, goals, and target audience when making your decision.
2. Create compelling ad copy. Your ad copy should be clear, concise, and persuasive. It should also be relevant to the keywords that people are searching for.
3. Set a budget and track your results. It’s important to set a budget for your paid media campaigns and to track your results so that you can see what’s working and what’s not.

Owned media

1. Create high-quality content. Your owned media content should be informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience. It should also be optimized for search engines so that people can easily find it.
2. Promote your owned media content. Once you’ve created great content, you need to promote it so that people can see it. You can do this through social media, email marketing, and paid advertising.
3. Track your results. It’s important to track the results of your owned media campaigns so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. This will help you to improve your content and promotion strategies over time.

Earned media

1. Create high-quality products and services. The best way to generate earned media is to create high-quality products and services that people love. When people are happy with your products and services, they’re more likely to talk about them with their friends and followers.
2. Build relationships with influencers. Influencers are people who have a large and engaged following on social media or other online platforms. By building relationships with influencers, you can encourage them to talk about your products and services to their followers.
3. Monitor social media and respond to feedback. It’s important to monitor social media and respond to feedback, both positive and negative. This shows that you’re listening to your customers and that you care about their experience.

Here are some tips for using paid, owned, and earned media together:

• Use paid media to drive traffic to your owned media channels. For example, you could run social media ads that link to your blog posts or eBooks.
• Use owned media to nurture leads and convert them into customers. For example, you could send email newsletters to your subscribers with exclusive offers and discounts.
• Use earned media to build trust and credibility with potential customers. For example, you could share customer testimonials on your website and social media pages.

By using paid, owned, and earned media together, you can create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that will help you to reach and engage with your target audience.

Which are examples of owned media? Select all that apply.

Case studies, eBooks, Website content

Examples of owned media include website content, case studies, and eBooks. Owned media refers to all the digital content a brand fully controls.

In the last lesson, you learned all about
creating a digital marketing strategy. We covered customer and
competitor research, setting marketing goals to
align with business goals, and what to consider when
selecting digital channels. Let’s expand on that last point. There are a lot of digital channels to
pick from when planning strategies and campaigns—from email to
social media to video and beyond. But all those channels fit into three
main categories of digital media— paid, owned, and earned— and a strong digital strategy
takes advantage of all of them. You’ll find out more about each one
as you move through the program, but let’s start with a quick overview. First, paid media is exactly that— it’s any form of digital promotion a brand pays to put online. Some examples of paid media
include banner ads, video ads, social media ads,
shopping ads, and pop ups. You’ll learn more about some of these
types of paid ads later in the course. The big advantage of paid ads is
that they produce results quickly. The downside is that those results go away
instantly when you stop paying for them— and paying for
ads can get expensive over time. That’s why paid media is just one
piece of a larger digital strategy. Paid ads can lead directly to purchases, but they also help drive
traffic to a business’s owned and earned media channels, as well. Now, let’s move on to the second type:
owned media. Owned media refers to all the digital
content a brand fully controls. Owned media content can be persuasive, but
unlike paid media ads, it doesn’t advertise or
sell products directly. Instead, it provides value by
giving customers what they need in order to make informed decisions. Think of it this way: If paid ads bring consumers
to a company’s website, owned content is what
convinces them to stay. Owned media includes things
like website content, blogs, eBooks, and social media content. Documents like whitepapers and
case studies can also inspire confidence by explaining why brands make certain
decisions and conveying the results through real-world examples. The thing about owned media is that
it can’t do much on its own. No matter how great a company’s website or
case studies are, they can’t educate customers
who don’t know they exist. Businesses can bring customers to
their own content through paid ads and ranking highly on search
engine results pages. We’ll break down some ways to improve
search rankings in a bit. Right now, let’s move on to the last
type of digital media: earned. Earned media is any positive digital
exposure generated through personal or public recommendations. Companies don’t create or own earned
media, and they can’t pay for it directly. It’s generated by customers in response
to things like product quality and customer service, in addition to
successful marketing campaigns. So, if a brand starts a formal partnership
with an influencer, that’s paid advertising. But
if a customer likes a product so much that they tell their friends about
it for free, that’s earned media. Basically, it’s the reputation a brand builds for
being great at what they do. Earned media can take the form of social
media mentions, blog posts, written or video reviews, or positive press coverage,
like product profiles or best-of lists. Customer-generated content can
help businesses sell products, but it does way more than that. It also helps brands reach new markets and
build public trust. Before we move on, let’s review:
To be successful online, brands use a combination of paid, owned, and
earned media. Paid media is advertising you pay for, like banner or video ads.
Owned media is content a brand creates and controls, like website content,
blogs, or case studies. Earned media is positive, customer-
generated content that raises awareness and enhances a brand’s reputation. Now that you know about the different
types of digital media, you’re ready to learn more about the specific tactics and
channels brands used to reach customers.

Attract customers with search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher a website ranks in SERPs, the more likely it is to be seen by potential customers.

Here are some tips on how to attract customers with SEO:

1. Conduct keyword research. The first step in any SEO campaign is to identify the keywords that your target audience is searching for. You can use a variety of tools to conduct keyword research, such as Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush.
2. Optimize your website content. Once you have identified your target keywords, you need to optimize your website content around those keywords. This includes making sure that your keywords appear in the title tags, meta descriptions, and throughout the body of your content. You should also use relevant images and videos, and make sure your content is well-written and informative.
3. Build backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites to your own. Backlinks are a signal to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy. You can build backlinks by creating high-quality content that other websites will want to link to, or by guest blogging on other websites.
4. Monitor your results. It’s important to track your progress in SERPs so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. You can use a variety of tools to track your SEO results, such as Google Search Console and Ahrefs.

Here are some additional tips for attracting customers with SEO:

• Focus on local SEO if you have a brick-and-mortar business. Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your website for local search results. This includes making sure that your website is listed in local directories, such as Google My Business, and that your website content is relevant to local search terms.
• Use social media to promote your content. Social media can be a great way to promote your content and build backlinks to your website. When you share your content on social media, be sure to include relevant keywords in your posts.
• Create a content calendar. A content calendar will help you to plan and publish new content on a regular basis. This is important for SEO, as search engines favor websites that publish fresh content.
• Keep your website up to date. Make sure that your website is up to date with the latest information and that your content is still relevant. You should also make sure that your website is mobile-friendly.

SEO is a complex and ever-changing field, but by following these tips, you can start to attract more customers to your website.

What is search engine optimization (SEO)?

A set of practices designed to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a website

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of practices designed to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a website.

Have you ever wondered how
a search engine decides which results go at the top of
the page and which go at the bottom? What about the results that end
up on page 2, 20, or 200? Search engines work by exploring and indexing the content of billions
of webpages across the internet. When you search for a term, the search engine uses an algorithm to
rank the results by relevance and quality. Those rankings matter because
search engines are the most common method people use to find
products and services online. And the internet is a crowded place. Let’s try an experiment. Say that I
want to buy a plant for my home office, maybe a small cactus. If I search the web for
the phrase “potted cactus for sale,” I get over 26 million results. That’s more than two
million pages of links. And just how many of those results
do you think I’m going to click on before I find the cactus I want? It’s a lot less than 26 million. So ranking in search results is
essential for reaching customers. But how do you make sure you’re
producing content that a search engine recognizes as relevant and high quality? The answer is a process called search
engine optimization, or SEO, for short. SEO is a set of practices designed
to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a website. At the most basic level,
it involves optimizing content around commonly-used search terms, also called keywords, to improve
a website’s position in search engine results pages. Search engine results pages, or SERPs, are the pages of results produced
when someone performs a search. Typically, the higher a site ranks in
these search listings, the more likely customers
are to click on it. And the more visitors you have,
the more chances you have to drive sales, establish authority, and build your brand. SEO and paid ads each have advantages and
disadvantages. You’ve already learned that
ads produce results quick, but those results disappear when
you stop paying for them. With SEO, it’s the reverse. The exposure you get from good SEO
can last much longer than paid ads. But rising in the search rankings
can take time and effort, which is why SEO and
paid ads are often used together. SEO has been around since
the early days of the internet, and it’s evolved a lot in that time. These days, it involves a lot
of different activities. Let’s go over a few SEO basics now: keyword research, quality content,
and website structure. First, keyword research is the process
of identifying common search terms and phrases consumers use to find products or
services online. For example, some common keywords for
a company that sells musical instruments might include “guitar,”
“drum set,” or “grand piano for sale.” Part of SEO is finding the keywords that
are most relevant for your audience and products and
making sure they’re part of your content. But you can’t just pack your website full
of keywords and expect good results. You also need quality content that’s
useful and usable for your customers. That means not only writing great
content but keeping it up to date. You want website content to match your
business’s current offerings and reflect keyword trends. Quality content is a win-win because
it’s helpful for customers and tends to rank better in SERPs. Your content should also be easy to find, so organizing the site in a user-
friendly way is important too. A well-structured website makes it
easier for both search engines and customers to navigate your content. Time to recap: SEO is the process of
increasing the quality and quantity of traffic to
a website from search engines. Businesses can improve their search
engine results, page rankings, or SERPs in a few different ways,
including keyword research, creating useful, usable content, and
a clear website structure. Of course, there’s a lot more to
good SEO than we’ve covered here. In the next part of the course,
you’ll find out more about SEO, as well as some paid
advertising strategies.

To reach customers with search engine marketing (SEM), you can follow these steps:

1. Identify your target keywords. What are the terms that your target audience is likely to search for when they are looking for products or services like yours? You can use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner to help you identify relevant keywords.
2. Create compelling ad copy. Your ad copy should be clear, concise, and persuasive. It should also be relevant to your target keywords and the products or services you offer.
3. Set a budget and track your results. It is important to set a budget for your SEM campaigns and to track your results so that you can see what is working and what is not. You can use Google Ads to create and manage your SEM campaigns.

Here are some additional tips for reaching customers with SEM:

• Use long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are more specific and less competitive than short-tail keywords. This means that they are more likely to be searched for by people who are already interested in what you have to offer.
• Use negative keywords. Negative keywords are words or phrases that you do not want your ad to show up for. For example, if you sell running shoes, you might want to add the negative keyword “free” to your campaigns, so that your ad does not show up for searches for “free running shoes.”
• Use ad extensions. Ad extensions provide additional information about your business, such as your phone number, address, and website links. This information can make your ad more appealing to potential customers.
• Target your ads to specific locations. You can target your ads to specific locations, such as cities or regions. This is helpful if you only serve a certain geographic area.
• Use ad scheduling. You can schedule your ads to show up at specific times and days of the week. This is helpful if you know when your target audience is most likely to be searching online.

By following these tips, you can reach more customers with SEM and grow your business.

What is search engine marketing (SEM)?

The process of generating traffic to a website through paid ads that appear on search engine results pages

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the process of generating traffic to a website through paid ads that appear on search engine results pages.

So far in this lesson you’ve learned
about three types of digital media: paid, owned, and earned. You also discovered how
brands use SEO to rank in search engine results pages and
increase traffic to their own content. Now we’re going to explore paid
advertising in a little more depth. You’ll recall that paid advertising
is any form of digital promotion a brand pays to put online. A big part of that promotion is
Search Engine Marketing, or SEM. SEM is the process of
generating traffic to a website through paid ads that appear on
search engine results pages. SEM ads are the ones that appear above or
below the regular search listings in a SERP. A quick note on terminology here. Some companies think of SEM as a broad
umbrella that includes both paid ads in search engines and SEO. We’re going to simplify things and say that SEO has to do with the ranking
of search listings within SERPs, while SEM happens through paid ads. SEM starts out the same way that
SEO does: with keyword research. So, if your company sells vitamins
you might want to serve an ad to customers who search for
the phrase “vitamin C.” Once you have your keywords you enter an
ad auction to bid on them. An ad auction is how a search engine determines which
ads to display, and the order they’re shown, When someone performs a search. When you bid on a keyword,
you decide how much you’re willing to pay when someone searches for
a term and clicks your ad. This is known as pay-per-click, or PPC, because you pay only when
someone clicks on your ad. The amount you pay when
someone clicks on a PPC ad is called the cost-per-click, or CPC. Now just like in every other auction
it’s possible to lose your bid. That means your ad won’t come up every
time someone searches for your keyword. Search engines decide which ads to
display based on factors like quality and maximum bid amount. And you’ll learn more about
them later on in the program. SEM is a great way to reach
specific customers quickly, but it has other advantages too. When a customer finds a website
through search listings, they’ll usually end up on
that website’s homepage. But paid ads give you control over
where those visitors land on your site, whether that’s a sign up form or
a specific product page. But one of the biggest benefits of paid
ads is that they create opportunities for remarketing. Remarketing allows you to identify
previous customers or visitors to your website and serve them paid ads on
other sites and social media platforms. Have you ever browsed the website for
a pair of jeans and then noticed those same jeans
popping up on other sites? That’s remarketing. It’s a way of recapturing the attention
of people who are already interested in your brand. And that’s really important because
most website visitors leave before completing an action,
like making a purchase. Maybe they want to consider their options
or do more research before buying. Remarketing encourages those people to
come back by reminding them why they clicked on your ad in the first place. Website visitors and
previous customers are also the segment of your audience that’s
most likely to convert. So those extra reminders
can have a big impact. You’ll be able to explore all of these
concepts more later in the program. Right now, it’s time to review. SEM is a way for brands to generate
traffic to their websites by placing paid ads on search
engine results pages. It uses a model called
pay-per-click advertising, which charges you when
someone clicks on your ad. Paid ads have some big advantages
like reaching customers quickly, controlling where visitors land
on your site, and remarketing. Next up, you’ll learn about some
other types of paid advertising for attracting and converting customers.

Introduction to social media and email marketing

Social media and email marketing are two essential digital marketing channels that businesses can use to reach their target audience and achieve their marketing goals.

Social media marketing

Social media marketing is the process of creating and sharing content on social media platforms in order to achieve your marketing and branding goals. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok offer businesses a unique opportunity to connect with their target audience, build relationships, and generate leads.

Benefits of social media marketing

• Increased brand awareness: Social media can help you reach a wider audience and increase awareness of your brand. By sharing engaging and informative content, you can attract new followers and encourage them to learn more about your business.
• Improved customer engagement: Social media provides a platform for you to interact with your customers and build relationships with them. By responding to comments and questions, you can show your customers that you are listening to them and that you value their feedback.
• Generated leads and sales: Social media can be a powerful tool for generating leads and sales. By sharing relevant and targeted content, you can encourage users to visit your website or contact you for more information about your products or services.

Types of social media content

• Text-based content: This includes blog posts, articles, infographics, and other types of written content.
• Visual content: This includes images, videos, and GIFs.
• Interactive content: This includes polls, quizzes, and other types of content that encourage users to interact with your brand.

Email marketing

Email marketing is the process of sending emails to promote your products or services. Email marketing is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience with targeted messages.

Benefits of email marketing

• High ROI: Email marketing has a high return on investment (ROI). For every $1 spent on email marketing, businesses can expect an average return of $40.
• Targeted reach: Email marketing allows you to reach a targeted audience with personalized messages. By segmenting your email list, you can send relevant content to different groups of subscribers.
• Nurtured relationships: Email marketing can help you nurture relationships with your customers. By sending regular emails, you can stay top of mind with your subscribers and encourage them to become loyal customers.

Types of email marketing campaigns

• Welcome emails: Welcome emails are sent to new subscribers to introduce them to your brand.
• Promotional emails: Promotional emails are used to promote products or services.
• Newsletter emails: Newsletter emails are used to share news and updates about your business.
• Transactional emails: Transactional emails are sent to confirm orders, provide shipping updates, and other types of transactional information.

Social media and email marketing together

Social media and email marketing can be used together to achieve even greater results. For example, you can use social media to drive traffic to your email signup forms. You can also use social media to promote your email campaigns and encourage subscribers to open and click on your emails.

By using social media and email marketing together, you can create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that will help you reach your target audience and achieve your marketing goals.

Conclusion

Social media and email marketing are two essential digital marketing channels that businesses can use to reach their target audience and achieve their marketing goals. By using these two channels together, businesses can create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that will help them achieve success.

Now that you’ve learned about SEO, SEM,
and display ads, it’s time to introduce two more channels businesses can use
to reach their digital marketing goals: social media marketing and
email marketing. Social and
email each have different strengths, which makes them much more
effective together than separately. So before we discuss each channel on its
own, let’s go over what they do well and how they can work together
to raise awareness and maintain customer relationships over time. Brands can do a lot on social media. Because so
many people are on social media, it’s one of the most effective
channels for finding new audiences. With social media accounts,
companies can engage with customers, run ads, and even generate earned
media through viral content. But social media also
has one big drawback: businesses can control what they
post to their accounts, but they can’t control
the platforms themselves. So if a particular platform shuts down or
changes their algorithm, it can affect a brand’s ability to
reach their followers overnight. The good news is that social media can
help brands grow their email lists which they own completely. Email marketing doesn’t have the reach of
social media, but it also doesn’t need to. That’s because email
marketing is about nurturing relationships with people who
are already interested in a brand. And because businesses
control their email lists, they can nurture those
relationships over time. Email marketing is also
incredibly cost effective. On average, it brings in more than $40 for
every dollar spent. And there you have it. Together, email and social media marketing
helps brands increase their reach, raise awareness, and
connect with customers online. You’ll learn more about
both of these channels and how they work together in just a bit. Meet you there.

Social media marketing basics

Social media marketing is the process of creating and sharing content on social media platforms in order to achieve your marketing and branding goals. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok offer businesses a unique opportunity to connect with their target audience, build relationships, and generate leads.

Benefits of social media marketing

• Increased brand awareness: Social media can help you reach a wider audience and increase awareness of your brand. By sharing engaging and informative content, you can attract new followers and encourage them to learn more about your business.
• Improved customer engagement: Social media provides a platform for you to interact with your customers and build relationships with them. By responding to comments and questions, you can show your customers that you are listening to them and that you value their feedback.
• Generated leads and sales: Social media can be a powerful tool for generating leads and sales. By sharing relevant and targeted content, you can encourage users to visit your website or contact you for more information about your products or services.

Types of social media content

• Text-based content: This includes blog posts, articles, infographics, and other types of written content.
• Visual content: This includes images, videos, and GIFs.
• Interactive content: This includes polls, quizzes, and other types of content that encourage users to interact with your brand.

Social media marketing strategy

Before you start creating and sharing social media content, it’s important to develop a social media marketing strategy. Your strategy should include your goals for using social media, your target audience, and the types of content you will share.

Social media content creation

Once you have a social media marketing strategy in place, you can start creating and sharing content. When creating content, it’s important to keep your target audience in mind. What kind of content are they interested in? What will they find engaging?

It’s also important to create high-quality content that is well-written and visually appealing. Poorly written or designed content will reflect poorly on your brand.

Social media content scheduling

Once you have created content, you need to schedule it for publication. There are a number of social media scheduling tools available, such as Hootsuite and Buffer. These tools allow you to schedule posts in advance, so you don’t have to worry about posting manually every day.

Social media analytics

It’s important to track the performance of your social media content so you can see what’s working and what’s not. Most social media platforms provide analytics tools that can help you track metrics such as engagement, reach, and impressions.

Social media advertising

In addition to organic social media marketing, you can also use paid social media advertising to reach a wider audience. Paid social media advertising allows you to target your ads to specific users based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors.

Conclusion

Social media marketing is a powerful tool that can help you achieve your marketing and branding goals. By following the tips in this tutorial, you can create a successful social media marketing campaign.

What are the five pillars of social media marketing? Select five.

Planning and publishing, Listening and engagement, Strategy, Analytics and reporting, Paid social media

The five pillars of social media marketing are: strategy, planning and publishing, listening and engagement, analytics and reporting, and paid social media.

Throughout this course, we’ve stressed how important it is to find and connect with target audiences where
they are online. One of the best places to
do that is on social media. Well over half the people in the entire world are
on social media, and that number is only growing. Maybe one audience
likes Twitter more than Tiktok or another prefers
Facebook to Instagram. But no matter what
a business sells, chances are good
that social media is a key part of their
marketing strategy. Social media marketing
is the practice of creating and
publishing content for social media platforms
in order to drive engagement and promote
a brand or product. Creating social media
content might seem simple. After all, people
post interesting, funny, or touching content to their personal
accounts every day. But there’s a lot more to social media marketing than writing clever or
informative posts. Social media marketing
involves a lot of the same concerns as a company’s overall digital
marketing strategy. Like increasing engagement,
expanding their reach, and building their brand. It just that all of
those activities happen on social
media platforms. Now, let’s explore some of
the ways businesses use social media to amplify their efforts and reach their
digital marketing goals. We can break down these
activities into five categories, known as the five pillars
of social media marketing. These pillars include: strategy, planning
and publishing, listening and engagement,
analytics and reporting, and paid social media. Let’s start with strategy. Before planning your
content or campaign, you need to know who
your audience is, and which social
platforms they use. If your audience is
mostly interested in content about home decorating, you might not post
on a platform that caters to business
and networking. Posting the right content in the right places can save
both time and money. To know what types of
content to create, you’ll also need to
understand your goals. For example, if you want to build community
around your brand, you might focus on
interactive content like polls or questions
and answer sessions. But if your goal is to
promote a new product, running a contest or giveaway
might get better results. Understanding your audience
and having clear goals will help you create
effective, relevant content. Once you’ve set your
strategy and content, you’ll need to consider
planning and publishing. That means deciding when to post content and how often
to post content. The goal is to engage followers enough so that
they remember you, but not so often that
you overwhelm them. Next up is social
listening and engagement. Once your content is
out in the world, you can track and analyze social conversations and
mentions related to your brand. This could mean monitoring
direct responses to a brand’s social content or earned media, like posts
about its products, which are great ways
to find out how customers feel about
your business. The insights you gain can
help you decide how to respond to and engage with
customers on social platforms. Those responses are
important because they can affect your brand image and
customer relationships. Think of social listening and engagement like a conversation. First, a business
publishes content. Then they listen to how
their audience responds. By paying attention to
what their audience says, they can determine the
best way to reply. For example, if
someone posts about how helpful they find
a particular tool, like a habit tracking app, the brand could respond with
thanks and encouragement. But if they post that the
app isn’t working correctly, they could share
troubleshooting tips instead. Next, you’ll use analytics
and reporting to find out how your content or campaigns are performing and communicate
results to others. Social media analytics tools can track and measure
things like comments, shares, follows, or clicks. They can tell you how
many people are using a hashtag or the number of
positive mentions over time. Businesses can use these
insights to respond to trends, or guide
future strategies. Finally, there’s
paid social media. Paid social media
ads have a lot of the same benefits as paid
ads for other channels. It can expand a
brand’s reach beyond its existing customer base and allow them to remarket products. But advertising on social media has some other advantages, too. For one thing, social
platforms provide more detailed user information
than search engines. That means brands serve ads to highly specific customer groups. Finally, paid social media is a good way for brands to
grow their email lists. By linking ads to
email sign-up forms, businesses can contact
their followers directly and send
them special offers. Like any digital
marketing strategy, social media marketing involves getting to know your audience, finding them online, and setting meaningful goals. Only then can you plan, create, and publish content. Next, social listening and
measurement can tell you how to engage with your audience effectively and
refine your strategy. Lastly, with paid social ads, you can expand your reach, address specific customers,
and grow your email lists. Coming up, you’ll learn more about social media marketing and how to use email to maintain
customer relationships.

Building relationships with email marketing

Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help you build strong relationships with your customers. By sending relevant and engaging emails, you can stay top of mind with your audience and encourage them to become loyal customers.

Here are some tips for building relationships with email marketing:

• Segment your email list. Segmentation allows you to send targeted emails to different groups of subscribers. For example, you could segment your list by demographics, interests, or purchase history. This will help you ensure that your emails are relevant to the people who receive them.
• Personalize your emails. Personalization makes your emails feel more like they are coming from a real person, not just a company. You can personalize your emails by using the subscriber’s name, including relevant product recommendations, or referencing their past interactions with your brand.
• Create engaging content. Your emails should be more than just sales pitches. They should provide value to your subscribers by offering helpful information, entertaining content, or exclusive deals.
• Send regular emails. The key to staying top of mind with your subscribers is to send them emails on a regular basis. However, you don’t want to bombard them with emails either. A good rule of thumb is to send no more than one or two emails per week.
• Ask for feedback. One of the best ways to build relationships with your customers is to ask for their feedback. This shows that you value their opinion and that you are interested in improving your products and services.
• Respond to emails promptly. When subscribers take the time to email you, it’s important to respond promptly. This shows that you are listening to them and that you care about their concerns.
• Offer exclusive deals and discounts. One of the best ways to encourage subscribers to open and read your emails is to offer them exclusive deals and discounts. This shows that you appreciate their business and that you are willing to give them something extra.
• Celebrate special occasions. Taking the time to celebrate special occasions with your subscribers is a great way to show that you care about them as individuals. For example, you could send them a birthday email or a holiday greeting.
• Thank your subscribers. It’s always a good idea to thank your subscribers for their support. You can do this by sending them a thank-you email or by including a thank-you message in your regular emails.

By following these tips, you can use email marketing to build strong relationships with your customers. These relationships will help you increase customer loyalty and drive sales.

Fill in the blank: _____ is the practice of dividing an email subscriber list into smaller groups, based on criteria like interests, location, or purchase history.

Email segmentation

Email segmentation is the practice of dividing an email subscriber list into smaller groups, based on criteria like interests, location, or purchase history. With email segmentation, brands can customize emails for different groups and send subscribers content that is relevant to them.

So far, you’ve learned that social media marketing enables brands to extend their reach and build a list of
email subscribers. In this video, we’ll
discuss some of the things brands can do with those subscriber lists
once they have them. But before we get to that, let’s define what email
marketing is and what it isn’t. First, most importantly, email marketing is not spam. Spam, also known as junk mail, refers to any unwanted emails sent out in bulk to a
mass recipient list. These are the emails
that land in your inbox, even though you never
signed up for them. Spammers might make claims
that are too good to be true or send the same content
to everyone on their list, regardless of their interests. They’ll often send
so many emails that they end up annoying
potential customers. How is email marketing
different from spam? Email marketing is when a
brand sends messages to a list of existing subscribers
to share information, drive sales, or
create community. That means sending
relevant, helpful content to people who’ve
agreed to receive it. When it’s done well, email marketing helps
brands build and maintain relationships with potential
and existing customers. How do brands avoid coming
across like spammers? How do they make sure they’re
sending the right content, to the right people,
at the right time? They use segmentation
and personalization. Let’s take these
ideas one at a time. First, segmentation. Email segmentation is
the practice of dividing an email subscriber list into smaller groups or segments, based on criteria like interests, location, or purchase history. It allows brands to
customize emails for different groups and send subscribers content
that’s relevant to them. The more brands learn
about their subscribers, the more they can
segment their lists, which makes it easier to build relationships
with customers. So if someone buys cat
food from a pet store, they might appreciate
getting ads about other cat-related products
like treats or toys. But if they get a
coupon for birdseed, they might delete that email, and they could even
unsubscribe altogether, which is the opposite of
what the pet store wants. Let’s move on to
personalization. While segmentation
helps marketers decide what email content
to send to which people, personalization is a
process of customizing email content for
individual subscribers. That doesn’t mean running
a different email for every single subscriber. If email marketers did that, they wouldn’t have time
for anything else. But there are some things
they can do to deliver an experience that feels
specific to each individual. Here are a few examples: email marketers can
address each recipient directly by putting their name in the greeting or subject line. Send promotions for
special events like birthdays, holidays,
or anniversaries. Send messages that match where customers are in the
marketing funnel. For example, an email about
a loyalty program probably shouldn’t go to
subscribers who are still at the
consideration stage. Finally, they can follow up
on previous interactions, like asking a customer to share their opinion on a
recent purchase. Now you know the
difference between email marketing and spam, and how brands use techniques
like segmentation and personalization to build and maintain customer
relationships. Coming up, you’ll learn about some different types of
emails that can engage, convert, and retain customers.

You made it. You’ve learned so
much about attracting, engaging, and communicating with customers
through digital channels. Let’s sum up what we’ve done so far. First, we found out why digital marketing
is essential for building a strong brand. Next, we covered the basics of
creating a digital marketing strategy. We explored the foundations of a digital
marketing strategy, learning about your audience and setting goals that
support to business’s larger aims. Then we discussed picking channels and creating content to
carry out that strategy. We went through some of the most common
channels and tactics that marketing and sales teams use in their strategies. Like search engine optimization, which helps them reach audiences
through search results. We also discussed search engine marketing,
pay-per-click advertising and display ads. Finally, we explored how companies expand
their reach and engage with customers through social media, and how they build
relationships using email marketing. Remember that even if you never write an
acquisition email or do keyword research, understanding these concepts is
an important foundation for your career. By now, you may be starting to get
a better idea of which parts of digital marketing and e-commerce interests you
the most, but there’s still more to come. In the next part of the course, you’ll
learn about some of the ways companies measure and improve their marketing and
sales strategies so they can better meet their goals.