Digital Marketing Basics : 7 Strategies Every Beginner Should Learn

Sharing is caring!

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my full Affiliate Disclosure for more information.

What you need to understand about successful digital marketing strategies.

If you are a new (or even regular) user of digital marketing, you may be wondering what exactly you need to use, learn, and begin implementing onto your websites and social media platforms.

For that very reason, I have put together a list of digital marketing basics throughout this post.

As you go through each one, remember that you don’t necessarily need to focus on every aspect of digital marketing. Instead, choose one to two different elements and learn them as in-depth as you can.

Once you are comfortable with them, then begin implementing another one.

By slowly adding in each of these tools, you’ll be able to maximize them to the best of your ability, rather than burning out by trying to learn them all at one time.

What is Digital Marketing?

Since you are already here, I am assuming you know a little bit about digital marketing.

But, just in case, let’s run back through.

Digital marketing is exactly what it sounds like: marketing your knowledge, service, or products completely online (digitally).

There are many different components to digital marketing correctly and efficiently, but today we are going to be looking at the top 7 fundamental tools and tips you need when working with digital marketing.

7 Fundamental Elements of Digital Marketing

Even though there are many different ways to use digital marketing, there are a few that you should consider beginning with that you should keep in mind while growing your business.

1. Identify your Audience
2. Search Engine Optimization
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Mobile Optimization
5. Email Marketing
6. Pay Per Click Advertising
7. Content Strategy

I have listed these in the order that I would personally begin learning. But, you may already be using some of these tools, so focus on whichever you need for your business right now.

Identify Your Audience

I hate to break it to you, but it is very safe to assume that not everyone will want what you provide. 

Before even beginning to market your product or service, you have to first know who you are trying to reach. Instead of focusing on how you will begin marketing, ask yourself who you want to market to.

Here are 3 questions to ask when identifying your audience:

• What exactly is my product/ service?
• Who does my product/ service help?
• Why does my product/ service help?

Once you have answered these questions, you should be able to narrow down your audience quite a bit.

After you have a good grasp on who your audience is, you can then begin diving into the world of digital marketing.

Search Engine Optimization

If you aren’t already familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), I suggest you start learning.

SEO is how Google and all other search engines determine how credible you, your services/ products, and information are. Without it, you most likely won’t get seen by as many people as you need to.

To begin practicing SEO, there are a few things to consider.

• Research your keywords by using a tool like this to make sure you are able to rank for your topics. This will give you short and long-tail keyword options. If you are a new website with a low domain authority, I recommend looking for options with a score lower than 30.
• Study the top-ranking articles for your topic and keywords. Look for things you can add, take away, or reference to, in order to make your post the best.
• Share your posts and content after you publish it. You want to get as many eyes on your work as you can, right? Well, lucky for you, this will also help SEO! So, after you finish creating content, share it on your social media, emails, and with your friends.

I will warn you, though, that SEO is a waiting game. Even if you are doing everything correctly, it can take a few months and on for Google to reward you with a top ranking post. Regardless, it is worth the effort (and the wait) for the amount of people, customers, and readers that it will bring you.

Social Media Marketing 

Although social media algorithms can be a pain, they are proving to be a great way to work on digital marketing.

Since many platforms are beginning to provide ecommerce options, they can be very useful in easily showing your audience and ideal clientele what products and services you can offer.

Especially if you already have a variety of social media platforms, this option can work very well for you.

But, I don’t recommend spending too much time on a plethora of platforms, as learning the algorithms can be quite draining.

Instead, pick one to two social media platforms that you already know or are willing to work on. Focus on growing these pages in a way that puts you directly in front of your preferred audience. Then, after you have solidified these accounts, you can add in another one if you desire.

Ultimately, the more options you have for people to find you, the better. But, only if you are providing quality rather than quantity.

Check out this free Social Media Crash Course for Marketers

Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization is a huge component of digital marketing… and many people don’t pay it enough attention.

Have you ever clicked on an article, website, or course on your phone and gotten frustrated because the text was too small, options weren’t clickable, and the screen didn’t fit your phone?

Well, you aren’t alone.

There are 6.4 billion people that have smartphones in the world today. Out of those people, roughly 69% prefer to use their phone for reviews, shopping, and gaining information. 

For that very reason, we have to make sure our websites, products, and services are easily accessible through a mobile device.

If you are curious as to if your platforms are optimized for mobile devices, you can find out pretty quickly. 

Use your own phone to click through your website or services. If you have a hard time reading or navigating through, you need to assume everyone else struggles with this too.

In order to fix this, you may need to change your theme, fonts, colors, or platforms.

If you want me to help you figure this out, check out my services here.

Email Marketing

Ah, the dreaded email list. There are so many people that think email marketing is too much work to focus on.

But, if you have an email list, you have a curated space of people who genuinely want to hear from you. Whether they want to read updates on your life, stay in tune to your newest content, or potentially purchase one of your services, this is a space for you to have their full attention.

Did you know that the average RIO (return on investment) for email marketing is 42:1? Broken down, this means that email marketing has a higher return than nearly any other aspect of digital marketing.

If you’re not sure how much you can make from email marketing, check out this free ROI calculator.

And, it’s really not that hard to build your email list!

Check out this post on how to start an email list.

I recommend creating a freebie, related to your niche, to reward your readers for signing up your email list. Instead of just asking for their email, create a product that they need. Once they realize that this free product can benefit them, they will sign up and download the product.

But, the best part about email marketing is that you can set all of it up automatically. Meaning, you can create a variety of funnels that target certain people or send the correct emails to particular subscribers, without having to do any extra work.

Then, as time goes on and they read your emails, they will be more likely to buy your product or invest in your services!

Pay Per Click Advertising

Using ad marketing has become significantly popular over the last few years.

I’m sure you have seen a variety of ad pop-ups on Instagram, Facebook, and even the top of Google searches.

This is because people and businesses pay for these platforms to show their content and products above others.

…And, it works.

If you haven’t worked with ads before, I recommend setting a small budget to play around with before investing a significant amount of money.

You can even invest something as small as $20 for an ad on social media. When you are creating your ad, there are a few things to ask yourself:

• Who do I want this ad to reach?
• Where do I want this ad to take the reader?

Then, pay attention to the analytics of the advertisement. That way, you will know if you want to continue running the ad, based on its performance.

*As a tip, I don’t recommend running ads until you have a product or service to provide.

Create Your Content Strategy

Now that you have a very good understanding of different digital marketing tools, begin creating your content strategy based on the tools you want to begin using.

A content strategy will help you not only stay on track, but also stay away from burnout.

You can create this for social media, website content, emails, and even advertisements.

When creating your content strategy plan, keep in mind things like…

• How often do I want to post/publish?
• Who am I trying to reach with this content?
• How much content can I batch for this time frame?
• How can I repurpose this content?

Overall, you want to have a content strategy so that you are not stuck in the moment, day of, trying to decide what to post.

Basics of Digital Marketing in Conclusion

Even though these digital marketing trends may change throughout years to come, the main theme will stay the same. In order to reach as many people as you can, focus on putting out high-quality content.

By doing this, search engines and consumers will gain trust within you, your brand, and your business! 

Ultimately, using digital marketing to skyrocket your business is only in your best interest.

But, don’t be overwhelmed with the options in this article. Instead, choose a couple that you want to learn more about and begin implementing. Then, get to it!

Sharing is caring!