What does the term digital marketing mean exactly?

Oh you are so sure you know the answer, don’t you?

But what if I told you that the definition of digital marketing strategy is actually something completely different from what most “social media gurus” will tell you?

Ok, doctor smarty-pockets, tell me what digital marketing strategy really means

The main error that people make is that they don’t approach the concept from the right direction.

Social media, for example is only a tool, or a channel. There is no “Social media strategy” just as there is no “TV strategy” or “Radio Strategy”.

An amazing article by Samuel Scott (@samueljscott) talks about this concept very profoundly, where Samuel explains how the concept of Channels has ruined the way marketers are looking at their digital marketing efforts.

There are so many places where digital marketing can help a business have people come to its website and convert into clients:

• digital marketing strategy for banks
• digital marketing strategy for hotels
• digital marketing strategy for startups
• digital marketing strategy for restaurants
• digital marketing strategy for small business
• digital marketing strategy for real estate
• digital marketing strategy for b2b
• digital marketing strategy for schools
• digital marketing strategy for tourism

And the list goes on, but the issue is: there are exactly 5 marketing strategies, and these are exactly the same in the digital marketing playground, as they are in the traditional marketing world.

What are the 5 traditional marketing strategies?

1. Direct marketing
2. Advertising
3. Sales promotion
4. Personal selling
5. Publicity

This means that even for social media, each and everyone of these marketing strategies can be applied, using the instruments social media gives us, just like Samuel says in his article:

1. Direct marketing campaigns (that are inaccurately called “advertising campaigns”) get direct responses from a specific set of people on social media based on their demographics and what they “like”
2. Advertising campaigns put paid media published by an identified sponsor in front of a mass audience on social media
3. Publicity campaigns gain mass exposure through earned or owned media that is spread on social media
4. Personal selling campaigns have salespeople contact prospects and leads over social media
5. Sales promotion campaigns circulate coupons, discounts and codes on social media to generate immediate sales

What this means is that according to your needs and goals, your marketing strategy will fit somewhere in your digital marketing plan, creating an inbound flow to your website (preferably – Dustin Stout  explains why in this article).

Author: Shay Stibelman

Digital marketing consultant in Milan, Italy. Born in Israel, raised in Germany by Russian parents. I help small and medium businesses get their digital marketing game on point. Perfect their website, landing pages, funnel marketing and social media strategies, in order to increase ROI and optimize that ever elusive marketing budget. View all posts by Shay Stibelman