Digital Marketing is the promoting of brands using the Internet, mobile and other digital channels. So whilst digital marketing does include many of the techniques and practices contained within the category of Internet Marketing, it extends beyond this by including other channels with which to reach people that do not require the use of The Internet. As a result of this non-reliance on the Internet, the field of digital marketing includes a whole host of elements such as mobile phones, SMS/MMS, display / banner ads and digital indoor / outdoor.
Nowadays seen as a stand-alone service in its own right, digital marketing covers most, if not all, of the more traditional marketing areas such as Direct Marketing by providing the same method of communicating with an audience but digitally.
And while digital marketing is effective when using just one message type, it is much more successful when a marketer combines multiple channels in the message campaigns. For example, if a company is trying to promote a new product release, they could send out an email message or text campaign individually. This, if properly executed, could yield positive results. However, this same campaign could be exponentially improved if multiple message types are implemented.
An email advert as shown opposite could be sent to a list of potential customers with a special offer for those that also include their cell phone number. A couple of days later, a follow up campaign would be sent via text message (SMS) with the special offer.
Push and pull message technologies can also be used in conjunction with each other. For example, an email campaign can include a banner ad or link to a content download. This enables a marketer to have the best of both worlds in terms of their marketing messaging.
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Digital Marketing – Pull versus Push Strategies
There are two separate methods of digital marketing, each with plus and minus
Pull Processes
Pull digital marketing processes involve the user having to seek out and directly grab (or pull) the content via web search. Web site/blogs and streaming media (audio and video) are good examples of this. In each of these examples, users have a specific link (URL) to view the content.
Plus
No restrictions in terms of type of content or size as the user determines what they want.
No technology required to send the content, only to store/display it.
No regulations or opt-in process required.
Minus
Considerable marketing effort required for users to find the message/content.
Limited tracking capabilities – only total downloads, page views, etc.
No personalization – content is received and viewed the same across all audiences
Push Processes
Push digital marketing processes involve both the marketer (creator of the message) as well as the recipients (the user). Email, SMS and RSS are all good examples of push digital marketing whereby the marketer has to send or push the messages to the users (subscribers) in order for the message to be received.
Plus
Easily personalised — messages received can be highly targeted and specific to selected criteria – like a special offer for men, 18 years or over, and residing in London.
Detailed tracking and reporting – marketers can see not only how many people saw their message but also specific information about each user such as their name as well as demographic and psychographic data.
High ROI possible – if executed the right way, push messaging can help drive new revenue as well as brand reinforcement.
Minus
Nowadays there are compliance and regulatory issues – each push messaging technology has its own set of regulations, from minor (RSS) to heavily controlled (email and text messaging)
Requires mechanism to deliver content – the marketer has to use an application to send the message, from an email marketing system to RSS feeders.
Delivery can be blocked – if the marketer does not follow the regulations set forth by each push message type, the content can be refused or rejected before getting to the intended recipient.
Some Digital Marketing Terms
Banner Ad
This is a product or service advert that appears on a Web page, usually somewhere near the top (header) or bottom (footer) of the page. Designed to have the user click on it for more information (see Microsite)
Blacklisted
A blacklisted notice means that the message may not have been delivered due to having been flagged on one of the major lists that keep tabs of known spammers. Different ISPs use different blacklists to block mailings from being delivered to their clients. It can be a temporary ban or a permanent one, depending upon the list.
Blocked
A blocked notice means that the message did not get through due to being considered spam by the subscriber’s ISP. This may be due to being on a blacklist or because the message contains a domain that is already being blocked.
Blog
Blog is a shortened version of the phrase “web log” and is found on a user-generated Web site where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Campaign
A campaign is a specific message being sent to a specific group of recipients.
CAN SPAM Act (USA Only)
The CAN SPAM ACT is a series of US federal laws that must be followed by all email marketers. Those found in violation of the laws can be subjected to major penalties. For more information, go to http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/index.shtml
Click Through
The number of times people clicked on the links in your message. This is often referred to as CTR. Note: you must have enabled click through tracking in the campaign in order for this to be recorded.
Digital Brand Engagement
Brand and consumer interaction through the Internet. This includes all aspects of dialogue through the social web and on the brand’s own website.
DMA Market
DMA stands for Designated Market Area, which is often associated with the entertainment industry. DMAs are usually counties (or sometimes split counties) that contain a large population that can be targeted, such as New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago.
Email Service Provider (ESP)
Outside companies like mobileStorm that send bulk emails on behalf of their clients to prevent their messages as being labeled as spam or blocked entirely.
False Positives
Legitimate messages being labeled as “spam” Can cost companies potentially millions in potential lost revenue if not dealt with correctly.
GPRL
The Global Permanent Removal List consists of records that are automatically removed from a particular database. Almost all ESP or multi-channel messaging companies maintain these lists for their clients.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging (often shortened to IM) is a type of communications service that enables you to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the Internet.
Keywords
Used in conjunction with SMS. A user types a short code and matching keyword in order to be added to a mobile club or database.
Microsite
A mini Web site design to promote a specific portion or brand from a larger corporate site. Used often with contests or as a landing page for a specific promotion.
Open Rate
This is a ratio determined by the number of people who opened your email against the total number of people to whom you sent the message. Typically, this number will be low for large campaigns and higher for more targeted campaigns.
Opt-In List
Email marketers have databases of subscribers to their newsletters, featuring these subscribers’ email addresses and names. Such a list is known as an opt-in list (and is thus CAN-SPAM compliant; see above for info on the CAN-SPAM act) because users choose to receive the emails. This is in contrast to spam email, which is unsolicited.
Personalization
Personalization gives you the ability to create a customized message for each person in your database. Can be addressed by first/last name, city, state, zip, etc.
RSS
RSS is technology designed to allow users to subscribe to a specific content feed and be automatically alerted when new updates are available.
RSS Reader
Application used to subscribe and monitor selected RSS content feeds.
Short Code
A short code is a 5 digit number that is used to send and respond to text messages. They can either be a random set of numbers or a “vanity” number tied to a specific brand or number pattern.
SMS
SMS is a one-way text message sent via a cell phone. It is usually received via the subscribers’ text message inbox on their cell phone and can be a maximum of 160 characters per message.
Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking is a popular way to store, classify, share and search links that are combined into a single site for easy access.
Spam
An email message that is unwanted by the recipient. Legitimate emails can sometimes be incorrectly identified as spam and is a growing problem.
Streaming Technologies
Communication channel such as video and audio that is accessed online. Can be a pre-stored clip to access as well as a live feed that is streamed like an online broadcast.
Subscriber
A person who signs up to receive messages from a particular company or entity.
Targeting
Targeting allows you to send a message to people based on specific criteria from your subscriber database.
Voice Broadcast
Sending a pre-recorded voice messages to a large set of phone numbers at the time same. Can either be a voice call (meaning the recipient must answer the call for the message to play) or voice mail (meaning the message will play only if the recipient doesn’t answer )
Widget
A small graphical device that does a highly focused, often single, specific task. Web widgets can be embedded in web pages or run on the desktop of a PC (Windows or Mac) using software such as Apple’s Dashboard software or Yahoo! Widgets Engine.
