In today’s technologically advanced world, digital marketing is the new way to promote and sell products. Compared to traditional marketing, it is cost-effective, easily managed, and simple to analyze and learn. Campaigns can almost immediately be changed to do better and sell more. But due to data mining, it has also become dangerous and more than a tool. It is almost as if the customer can become the product due to information sold. Let’s explore both sides of that in this essay.
Importance of Digital Marketing
As already mentioned, today we live in a technologically advanced world where anything is possible through the internet. Digital marketing functions and is possible only because of the internet and nothing else. It is the core of what digital marketing is.
In a society where we struggle with scarcity and rising prices, digital marketing is the way to turn that around. The internet is easily accessible by everyone in any part of the globe. It is no longer only for a specific class of society. It is easier to connect with people and without even having to meet them. Digital marketing is an advantage for businesses in this era.
It is incredibly convenient for people to buy anything required from the internet without taking a foot outside of their homes. It saves time and shows a person the various reviews people have left. A person can easily compare prices on multiple websites and pick what is best suited to their needs. It is beneficial to those who are disabled and can help them get their work done and live a life of independence.
It also helps businesses themselves, big or small. The traders can advertise for less money, or even for free if one knows how to do it well. Products can often go viral without any money being invested in marketing. It helps small businesses majorly and helps them get traction.
Types of Digital Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization or SEO: This medium helps place your website right at the top of the results that search engines bring. This increases the number of visitors and therefore helps in marketing. This works when certain SEO words are used in the content that is put up on the website.
- Social Media Marketing: This is one of the most effective forms of marketing and also helps engage with people and form a relationship of trust with them. It is incredibly effective and cost-effective. It helps a business read a wider but targeted audience as compared to traditional forms of advertising. One meme or one viral video can make the products of any business famous. One example is the Bernie Sanders meme of him sitting on a chair with mittens. The person who made those mittens got thousands of orders, and her business took off.
- Email Marketing: Email marketing is advertising done through emails. It brings advertisements right to the person’s inbox unobtrusively. This mainly happens when people log in to shopping websites and such with their emails.
- YouTube Channel: This is also a form of marketing that comes under social media but has another side to it. Often people make videos reviewing products and services to a large fanbase. If the reviews are good, many people flood in to buy the product or service.
The Problem With Digital Marketing
One main problem with digital marketing is data mining. No rules or laws have been put in place to curb the buying of users’ data. It is used to such an extent that it has been said that the user has become a product.
It is spoken as a conspiracy theory that we are being spied upon. But that is not far from the truth. Former employees of Google, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc., have spoken of how much data is stored by websites of users that use social media sites. This information is sold to marketers so they can target specific audiences with their products. These sites are designed to keep the person coming back and engaging with the sites. Almost like an addiction. Proof of this is how much the rates of online shopping increased during the lockdown. This means that social media is unsafe and has become more than a tool.
Conclusion on Digital Marketing Essay
Digital marketing majorly helps all businesses, big and small, take off. It is vital in this day and age and even helps with the employment problem. This form of marketing is how one can take advantage of technology and further their business. But it is also crucial for users to be careful of what information is put out on the internet to stay safe. There must be a balance of both, and companies should be taxed on the amount of data they have.
