What is digital marketing mix: When it comes to digital marketing, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The right mix of marketing channels and strategies will vary depending on your business goals, target audience, and budget. However, there are a few essential channels that most businesses should consider when developing their digital marketing plan.
One of the most important channels for any online business is search engine optimization (SEO). This involves optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), making it more visible to potential customers. SEO can be a complex and time-consuming process, but it can be well worth the effort if done correctly.
Another essential channel is social media. Having an active presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can help you reach a wider audience and build brand awareness. In addition, social media can be used to drive traffic back to your website or blog, giving you another opportunity to convert prospects into customers.
Finally, email marketing should also be a key part of your digital marketing mix. Email allows you to stay in touch with your existing customers and reach out to new leads in a personal way. When used effectively, email can be a powerful tool for building relationships
How to select the right digital marketing mix?
Your online marketing and promotional effort must be multi-dimensional. To cover the vast area of the internet, you will have to work on different and varied channels of internet marketing to reach out to potential customers. But creating a right digital marketing mix is a challenge and it needs expertise.
These different channels or platforms of online marketing that you make use of to communicate with customers and promote your products, services and brands, are referred to as profit channels.
For example, most online businesses make use of social media networks, PPC campaigns and SEO. These are called profit channels. To hit optimum online sales, you need the perfect recipe of these profit channels in correct percentages into a digital marketing mix that works best for your business. Now we will see how to create an effective digital marketing mix.
Digital Marketing Mix Selection: Segregation of Customers
Before working on your digital marketing mix, you will have to identify your customer base and then segregate them according to the kind of customers that they are. In broad heads, the first group of customers are those who spend some time in planning to buy a product or service.
These are usually high priced items like a TV or a foreign holiday package. These is considerable discussion, debating and then comes the decision making. The second customer group is of instant and instinctive purchases. Businesses selling clothes or watches must target this group.
The third group consists of customers who need to be engaged and entertained before they plan to buy a product or service. Social media networking is necessary for this group of consumers.
Factors Affecting Digital Marketing Mix
Other than the segregation of customers into broad categories, there are some factors of the company itself that affects composition of profit channels in the digital marketing mix. These factors are:
Investment:
How much is your company willing to invest at this stage of your online business marketing mix? Campaigns like PPC cost some serious money while SEO takes time to throw up results, which means you have to keep plugging money before finally breaking even after some time. You have to decide on your profit channels keeping the cost factor in mind.
Brand Value:
Social media networks bring in results only when your brand value is of some substantial worth. A largely unknown brand will not have the kind of impact on social media that demands it to be the leading profit channel. On the other hand, a popular brand will find it easier to reach out to customers on social media platforms.
Competitors:
The profit channels used by your competitors will be crucial in your own choice of digital marketing mix. You cannot allow your competitors to monopolize a particular profit channel because you are focusing on others. In the same vein, you have to think beyond the profit channels being used by your competitors as that will give you a first movers’ advantage.
Future Plans:
Some profit channels, like SEO rankings, take some time to show results but if you have a long term goal in mind, dominating the search engine rankings will do a world of good to your online business. If that is the goal of your company in the long run, you can spend time investing in profit channels like SEO that are more durable and stable.
Digital Marketing Mix: ROI, Effort & Cost by Channel
Choosing the Right Channel for your digital marketing mix
The Four Ps of the Marketing Mix
The classical formula of building a marketing mix (developed in an offline context) originated from E. J. McCarthy in 1960. It called the Four Ps of Marketing: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. These factors are very much in vogue in the world of internet marketing as well.
The profit channels that you choose to build up a formidable digital marketing mix has a lot to do with these four Ps. As mentioned above, the kind of Products or services that you sell will affect your marketing mix and choice of profit channels.
Similarly, the Place where the customers buy from, an online destination or an offline store, is integral. The Price of the product and service will have a bearing on which profit channel you will pick to engage and convince the customers. The kind of Promotion you want for your products and services equally important in the formulation of the digital marketing mix.
Digital Marketing Mix (PDF Handbook)
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