Last Updated on 07/10/2025
Quick Questions
Are you a business owner, marketing executive, or student looking to understand what digital marketing is?
Do you know some of the essential digital touchpoints and how to amplify them for optimal performance?
Have you looked at Digital Marketing Guides, references, and research, only to be confused by their scale?
Introduction
If you want to understand Digital Marketing in the most straightforward manner possible, congratulations, you have come to the right place.
In simple terms, Digital Marketing involves marketing and selling a range of products and services with a presence on any digital platform.
Some of them are websites on search engines, social media profiles, email marketing campaigns, or app-based promotions and sales.
In this article, we consult with leading experts and ask them to help us create a straightforward guide for digital marketing.
Digital Marketing: How does it work?
Let us begin with a common scenario-
Imagine you are in the plumbing business. You must reach new customers, promote your business, and increase sales and revenue.
You can create a business website for your plumbing services, use social media to promote your business and run ads on search engines so that people can click and come to your website.
Over the past few years, the avenues through which consumers seek information, make purchases, or opt for services have undergone significant changes. Every time we need something, we use Google, and its search results inform our decisions.
The same applies to social media platforms. You continue to browse and follow your favorite brands. They post a new product on their social media feed. You click on the link and are redirected to the brand’s e-commerce site, where you can make the purchase.
In a nutshell, digital marketing enables a brand to be present in front of its target audience on a digital platform where they are already active. The key to a successful digital marketing strategy is to communicate and engage with your potential target audiences.
Check out our review of Notions Marketing.
What are the 6 Main Touchpoints of Digital Marketing?
In this section, we are going to list the six significant touchpoints or digital platforms that form the core of a brand’s digital marketing efforts-
1. Website
A business website replicates a brand’s physical brick-and-mortar store, except it is open 24/7. Every brand needs a business website to establish credibility, promote its products and services, provide contact information, and effectively reach its target audience.
Having a business website is the foundation of an excellent digital marketing strategy. A landing page can also be effective, and it is somewhat debatable whether a website or a landing page is more suitable for this purpose. First, a landing page is a single page that includes all the necessary elements, such as product information, client testimonials, CTAs, and an enticing lead capture form.
Now, the question arises: should I create a website or a landing page?
To conclude, if you have short-term goals and want to promote your product or service to your target audience quickly, a landing page and a website are the best options at any time.
Is it possible to create a website or landing page without any coding skills or technical knowledge?
Ideally, you could do that with open-source content management systems like WordPress and Magento. Unbounce could be an excellent option for creating a landing page for individuals without prior coding or front-end language experience. These content management systems will enable you to create engaging websites for various businesses, thanks to their drag-and-drop functionality. You can also learn using these tools from Udemy and YouTube without spending a dime.
Is it compulsory to be a website developer to learn digital marketing?
Not at all, you could be a great marketer without developing a website. You could learn both, and that’s possible, but if you focus on one thing, you will be an expert in that area. Focusing on two different things could be suitable for some folks, but it’s not worth it in the long term. To become an expert, focus on one area and delve deeper to become a master in that field over time.
2. Social Media
No other platform has increased in scope, prominence, and membership as much as social media platforms have. With more than four billion active users, brands cannot ignore social media. A presence on social media pages enables brands to promote themselves to their target audiences.
It also enables direct communication, query answering, branding, and sales. With a staggering 4.8 billion users worldwide, social media has become an omnipresent force, shaping how individuals connect, share, and engage in the digital era.
How can I utilize social media channels?
You can use Social Media with ads and the Organic approach. Ads are simply money given to social media channels, which would present your content to your target audience. It is not rocket science and doesn’t require long-term efforts.
It’s just spending money on my honey.
Jokes apart! All you need to set up is a budget, and you’re good to go.
How can I use the Organic Social Media Approach?
To get started, follow these four steps and maintain consistency over an extended period. I am sure you will achieve your goals.
1) Optimise your channels: Create your profile by providing relevant information about your business, product, or service. A good display picture, an enticing banner, and a link to your website can earn you a plus point.
2) Content Sourcing/Scheduling: Stay consistent with the content schedule; don’t skip a day or a weekend. Content can be in data and information, statistics, infographics, videos, and GIFs. Many tools, such as Hootsuite and Buffer, allow you to schedule content in advance. Try their FREE version as well.
I recommend checking out some of the best Hootsuite alternatives, such as Recurpost and Social Bee.
3) Engage with the audience: If someone comments on your content, don’t miss the chance to respond. The ultimate goal is to keep engaging with the audience and invite them to visit your website.
4) Follower Management: You must follow people who are interested in consuming your content and potentially becoming your customers. You can find them by simply inspecting your competitors and seeing who these leads are.
What are the best social media platforms to start with?
I’d suggest starting to build a presence on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You need to stay active on forums like Reddit and Quora. Since Facebook’s organic reach is very minimal, you can start building a community group on Facebook. I’d create a group rather than an FB page. You can also establish a presence on other social media platforms, such as TikTok and Pinterest. Just make sure they make sense and are relevant to your business model.
Tip: Always use Hashtags, but don’t exceed the limits. For example, when tweeting, use no more than two hashtags, seven on Instagram, and four on LinkedIn.
A PRO TIP: If you are a new business with 1-3 staff members and want to explore social media as well. You should do it, but remember you can’t focus on all channels. The best practice is to start building a presence on a few channels, and once you have a good presence, then expand to other channels. This tip is not for you if you have a big team. Go ahead with multiple channels.
3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is one of the most important aspects of Digital Marketing. It is a long-term effort that helps businesses rank higher in search results. There are two types of search results: search results via ads, also known as Pay-per-Click (PPC), and Organic search results (SEO). Both are good, but achieving organic results is far better than paying search engines.
You can start SEO by doing On-Page optimization and Off-Page optimization.
What is On-page optimization, and what are the best practices?
Let’s start with the basics. Google offers webmasters specific guidelines and suggestions to ensure their sites are user-friendly.
On-page SEO is like a Checklist of Guidelines that informs webmasters about what works best and what doesn’t. This is why it is vital to revisit your On-Page metrics occasionally to see if they align perfectly with Google’s guidelines.
If your On-Page SEO is not optimized, Google will not show your web pages to audiences in its search results. Sounds interesting, right?
Check out my recent blog on 6 BEST ON-PAGE SEO TECHNIQUES IN 2022
What is Off-page optimization, and what are the best practices?
Off-page optimization refers to optimizing a website’s technical aspects, including its backlinks and external links. Now you must be wondering, I don’t have any technical knowledge, and how can I do it?
The answer is straightforward: Technical SEO should be primarily handled by developers, rather than marketers. As I said, focus on one thing at a time. If you want to become an SEO expert, you need to leave these tasks for the developers, but you can also learn them online.
Learning Link Building
Link building is a critical aspect of SEO that involves acquiring backlinks from other websites. Backlinks are links from external sites that point to your website. They are a key factor in determining a website’s authority and credibility in the eyes of search engines. For businesses targeting specific regions, working with a GEO agency can enhance localized SEO efforts by helping optimize your online presence in geo-specific searches.
The significance of backlinks lies in their role as endorsements from other websites. High-quality backlinks signal to search engines that your website is valuable and trustworthy. This can lead to higher search engine rankings and increased traffic.
You can enhance your SEO strategy and increase your website’s visibility by exploring proven link-building techniques and methods.
Effective link-building strategies include creating high-quality, shareable content that naturally attracts links. Outreach efforts, such as contacting industry influencers and bloggers, can also help acquire backlinks. Additionally, tools like Ahrefs and Moz can help identify and analyze backlink opportunities.
The vital part of off-page SEO is LINK BUILDING, which a developer should not focus on. Link building is a vast topic, and I have written a brief article explaining the best practices.
Here you go:
WHAT IS LINK BUILDING? A SIMPLE AND EXTENSIVE GUIDE FOR EVERYONE
ETHICAL LINK BUILDING STRATEGIES
I did SEO for 2 months but didn’t get the results.
Oh yeah, that’s a good observation!
My answer is that I did a workout (gymming) for two months and didn’t see any improvement. I hope you got the answer. If not, SEO should be a long-term goal, which will take your time and effort. You will see results when staying consistent. Looking good is not that easy.
A PRO TIP: Check out a complete SEO question-and-answer guide
4. Emails
Even though email marketing is one of the older digital marketing techniques, it continues to deliver the highest ROIs.
Maintaining contact, conveying information, and seeking feedback through email can help promote, market, and sell products and services in a cost-effective manner.
Businesses should always adhere to a robust email marketing strategy. To enhance email security, consider implementing an SPF checker and using a DKIM record checker for authentication in your email strategy to achieve better results.
5. Paid Advertising
In addition to the above organic digital marketing processes, brands should invest in paid advertising on search engines and social media. Google AdWords and social platform ads can provide timely boosts, especially when running campaigns around holidays and festivals. Many businesses also work with a paid search marketing agency to manage these campaigns effectively and maximize return on ad spend.
Using AI-powered ad creatives can make these ads more dynamic and targeted, boosting overall engagement. You can set the targeting and ensure your brand is only shown to your target audiences.
6. Content Marketing
Brands should realize they compete with thousands of similar brands vying for the same target audiences. This means that any content the brand produces should be of high quality. Content Marketing involves using the website’s blogs and other strategies, such as Guest Posting, Blogger Outreach, and others, to push and publicize branded content on digital platforms.
The Final Word
Transitioning from purely offline platforms to online or digital marketing is needed. The COVID-19 Pandemic has accelerated this transition, prompting brands to start using search engines and social media to enhance their marketing and sales efforts.
Digital Marketing has several benefits. Most notably, it allows brands and businesses to be present in front of target audiences when people are looking for similar products or services.
For example, social media marketing agencies in Dubai help businesses connect with their audience at the right moment, making it easier to build trust and drive engagement. This approach also effectively shortens the sales process and the buyer’s journey.
It also effectively shortens the sales process and the buyer’s journey.
Experts state that digital marketing enables businesses to deliver their message in the most comprehensive and 360-degree manner possible. It helps in branding, engagement, credibility building, exposure, visibility, and sales!
