Digital marketing, often referred to as online marketing, is the marketing of a brand, products, or services via the use of the Internet and other types of digital communication to interact with potential clients. Not only does this encompass email, social media, and web-based advertising, but it also covers text and multimedia messaging as a marketing channel.
Essentially, digital marketing is any marketing effort that utilises digital communication.
Types of Online Marketing in South Africa
There are many different types of digital marketing efforts that offer different benefits and features. Here are a few key examples of types of online marketing popular in South Africa:
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing includes increasing traffic and brand exposure by engaging people in online discussions. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the most popular social media marketing platforms, with LinkedIn and YouTube on their heels.
Social media marketing has built-in engagement analytics and metrics that can help you evaluate how successfully you’re reaching your target audience. You get to choose whatever sorts of interactions are most important to you, whether it’s the number of shares, comments, or overall clicks.
The main goal of your social media marketing initiatives isn’t necessarily always about making sales. Many times, it’s about establishing a direct two-way communication relationship with consumers.
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is technically a marketing tool and not a type of marketing in itself. SEO is the process of optimising a website’s technical setup, content relevancy, and link popularity so that its pages are easier to locate, more relevant and popular to user search queries, and, as a result, search engines rank them higher.
When working with SEO there is no consistent rule of thumb. The Google algorithm changes constantly and SEO specialists have to closely monitor their page’s performance and make adjustments accordingly.
Content Marketing
SEO is an important component of content marketing, which is a strategy built on distributing relevant and useful material to a target audience.
The purpose of content marketing, like any other marketing technique, is to generate leads that will eventually convert into customers. However, rather than luring prospects with the prospective value of a product or service, it provides value for free in the form of written information.
Content marketing can be tricky. Copywriters need to be able to rank highly in search engine results by using strategic keywords but should also be engaging for potential consumers who interact with the content.
Is Digital Marketing in Demand in South Africa
South Africa, like many other parts of the world, has a significant demand for talented digital marketers. However, the sector continues to have a very low supply of talent. Luckily, Starbright has enough talent to go around.
To find out more about digital marketing, and how it can elevate your brand, contact our team at Starbright!