What is Digital Marketing? Digital Marketing Explained for Beginners

Marketing is all about getting more visibility - and this is where it all started. But when everyone started marketing their products and services for more visibility, the competition increased.

And now, everyone started craving to get more attention. So marketing shifted from getting more visibility to getting more attention.

But wait, now it’s not all about getting more attention. Instead, the new competition has shifted to getting more retention. In fact, I believe, retention is the new core principle for marketing.

If you only put your marketing efforts in getting more visibility and attention, you’ll lose. But when you start putting your efforts in retaining those audiences, leads, or customers whatever it is, you’ll win.

And that’s the new secret to winning in digital marketing.

Well, more on that coming up in this episode.

So keep listening.

Hey Digital Learners! Welcome back to another episode of Digital Marketing Made Easy podcast. I’m your host Rahul and I blog at LearnDigitalwithRahul.com.

In this episode of Digital Marketing Made Easy podcast, I’m going to talk about what is digital marketing in general.

There are many digital marketing beginners who find digital marketing a complex term. But since the name of this podcast show is Digital Marketing Made Easy, therefore I'm going to keep it simple and easy. Today, you’ll learn what Digital Marketing is? I’ll explain Digital Marketing for Beginners.

So let’s get started!

Digital Marketing can be defined as the marketing of products or services delivered through digital platforms like websites, social media, email, search engines, mobile applications or any new digital channel.

But if you are a complete beginner, you might even not be knowing many of these terms, right?

So in order to make it simple to understand Digital Marketing, let’s talk about the history and traditional form of marketing where it all started!

When you have got products or services that you want to sell, you need people who will be interested in buying your stuff.

If people don’t know whether you exist, no one will buy. The converse of this statement is also true, people will buy from you only if they know you exist, or you sell this particular product.

So the biggest question is: how do you get more people to know about you, your brand, your products, and services that you are selling?

And this question is not new. In the past decade, when business owners wanted to get more people to know about their products or services, they approached traditional marketing methods like flyers, pamphlets, billboards, print advertisements, newspaper ads, etc. And these were quite effective during the past decades.

But over time, people started ignoring banners, and the traditional form of marketing like these started becoming less effective. That’s when digital marketing became a new priority for business owners.

Why?

It’s because it is highly effective right now. And listen, I said, right now. That means there is no guarantee that it’ll continue to be effective in the future as well.

Because I’m a firm believer in change and evolution. If you have read Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, you must be knowing that all human beings including mine and your ancestors started as a monkey before they finally became human.

So take my words, everything is changeable including the marketing patterns.

In the past, it was traditional marketing, now it’s digital marketing. And that’s quite understandable because digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc. are the places where people hang out these days.

And mark my words, even though everything is changeable, digital marketing is not going to be less effective any time soon as long as people don’t stop using their digital devices like smartphones, computers, and smartwatches, etc.

So far, you must have understood that digital marketing is basically a digital form of marketing. The marketing of products or services using digital technologies on the internet is called digital marketing.

If you are reading a blog, that’s a form of digital marketing because the blogger behind the blog article is trying to market some products or services to you being a reader or consumer.

If you are scrolling on Facebook, and suddenly an advertisement caught your attention in your newsfeed. That’s also a form of digital marketing because the advertiser is trying to market products and services to you, the consumer.

How many times, you were watching a video on YouTube or any other platform and then you ended up buying something or taking some action like subscribing to the channel, opting to join their email list and things like that?

That’s digital marketing! Since the person in the video convinced you to take a certain action, and you ended up taking the action.

So, you may measure the effectiveness of digital marketing delivered through video-based digital channels.

Now, you must be getting this. Digital marketing is just a form of marketing and it is digital because people are choosing digital channels like websites or blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, email, paid advertisements and many more.

So it’s pretty obvious that marketing done through the internet is digital marketing or online marketing.

But I want you to walk away from this episode with 2 lessons about digital marketing, that will sum up everything.

1. Everything is Changeable, including Marketing - and the change from the traditional form of marketing like flyers, pamphlets, billboards, print ads, etc. to digital form of marketing like blog or website, search engine, email, social media, ads, etc. are the best example.

2. Everything is marketing - If you are reading blogs, that’s also marketing. If you are watching videos on YouTube, that’s also marketing. If you are scrolling through your Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media news feed, that’s marketing. In fact, if you are listening to this podcast show right now, this is also marketing.

Even though some might argue: * How Facebook is marketing if I’m not a marketer?

* How YouTube is marketing when I’m not a marketer? I’m just a viewer.

* How is this podcast marketing when I’m not a marketer? I’m just a listener.

Well, whether you know it or not, you are a part of the marketing process. Sometimes, you might not be a marketer and just a consumer in this process.

And that’s totally up to you, whether you choose to be a marketer or a consumer. But you can’t deny the fact that you are a part of the marketing process and everything is marketing.

So now the question is: How to start digital marketing and how can you become a digital marketer?

The answer is quite easy. You don’t need to become a digital marketer because you are already a digital marketer.

If you are posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and any other digital platform, then you are already a digital marketer. You just have to focus on your target audience to make your existing marketing meaningful.

Because every digital marketing campaign starts with defining a target audience. If you just post anything randomly, that’s not meaningful marketing. You can’t just market anything to everyone.

Marketing starts when you define your target audience, and deliver exactly what it takes to get visibility and attention from your target audience.

People often ask me, should I enroll in digital marketing courses to learn digital marketing?

My answer is: If you only want to learn it, then you may enroll. But learning is nothing if you don’t bring it into practice. And in my opinion, the only way to learn digital marketing or become a digital marketer is to do it yourself.

For example, you may learn hundreds of search engine optimization strategies but until or unless you optimize your website to rank in the search engine, you can’t confidently call yourself SEO.

So, the only way to learn digital marketing is to start implementing yourself. No doubt, there are courses, tutorials, and training that’ll help you learn the skills, but you may only hone your skill by applying it yourself.

Therefore choose any digital platform and start digital marketing, that’s the best way to learn digital marketing.

In the next episode, I’ll discuss the different types of digital marketing and which one should you choose. So if that’s something interesting to you, please hit the subscribe button so that you don’t miss it.

There you have it. You have learned what is digital marketing, how marketing evolved from traditional forms of marketing to digital form of marketing, how to start digital marketing, how can you become a digital marketer, and how to learn digital marketing the right way.

You also learned two key takeaways: 1) Everything including marketing is changeable and 2) Everything is marketing.

You may find more information, including the transcript, and all other resources in the show notes below. The show notes for this episode which happens to be the 3rd episode of Digital Marketing Made Easy podcast, can also be found on LearnDigitalwithRahul.com/003

And hey, if you enjoyed listening to this episode or you found any value out of this, be sure to take a screenshot and post it on Instagram tagging me @LearnDigitalwithRahul - I would love to reshare it and feature you on my profile.

Also, let me know your thoughts and suggestions about this podcast by 5-star ratings and leaving an honest review on iTunes or other platforms wherever you are listening to it.

Your ratings and reviews will mean a world for me and in return, you’ll also get a listener shout out in my next episode or the next YouTube video.

With that being said, I’m Rahul signing off and I’ll talk to you in the next one, until then stay motivated, stay creative, and feel proud to be #DigitalLearner.