What is Digital Marketing?

What is Digital Marketing?

Wherever I go, people ask me: What is Digital Marketing?

My answer is simple and clear: Digital Marketing is a new and essential marketing tool for today's businesses. It is not about the hard sell, it is about engaging with your customers, understanding their needs and building relationships with them.

Why so much talk about social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked IN and others? Because these are part of the digital marketing mix.

In order to understand your customers, it is advantageous to listen and engage and in the digital age, there is no better way than through Social Media interaction. By doing so provides a key new opportunity for business to research their target market, through both personalised engagement, and to enable the measurement of success of this interaction through quantification techniques, for example through real time numeric data on who has read and/or visited your site.

So why doesn't every business seek to utilise such a useful tool? Is it too complex? Too time consuming?

No. That is where we, at Red Idea, can help you.

But what to do?

Should I blog? Should I send a newsletter? Should I set RSS?

Yes, you should if you have something to say, and want your message to be out there. If you know your market and know your clientele, you will add value to your customer community by sharing knowledge and becoming recognised as THE specialist in your business sector.

How should I go about embedding this in my marketing strategy?

This is only a brief introduction to digital marketing. In developing a digital marketing strategy, full utilisation of the range of digital media should be considered, including the internet, television, radio and mobile platforms. Commentators agree that these technological developments and opportunities are key in driving business growth in today's marketplace.

Save both time and money by employing us to advise, guide, and set up the necessary tools for you to fully benefit from our expertise in designing and implementing digital marketing strategy.

If you have more questions, we are here at Red idea to help you.

Pitch your business in minutes

Potential investors and customers don't have time for lengthy presentations - they want to know what you're offering, fast. Pitching your business in a snappy, confident way can be the difference between a sale and a snub.

1. Be confident: confidence makes it easier for people to believe in you. Smile, make eye contact, use relaxed gestures and be enthusiastic without being over the top.

2. Practice your pitch in front of the mirror, family, friends, colleagues and anyone who will listen. Take note of their feedback.

3. Keep it brief: listeners lose interest in long presentations. Give them the essentials and invite further questions after your pitch.

4. Vary your pitch according to your audience: investors will be interested in how you plan to make money, customers will be more concerned with the benefits to them.

5. Clarify your unique selling proposition: your audience needs to understand why your business is different from others in your sector. When you introduce yourself, say what makes you special.

6. Focus on your solution: what are you proposing with your pitch? What problem will you solve? Why should they invest or buy from you?

7. Stick to headline points: outline your key messages swiftly and avoid lengthy explanations. You can fill in the detail later.
8. Simplify: make your product accessible by describing it in layman's terms. Don't use technical terminology unless your audience has specialist knowledge.

9. Show awareness of your market and acknowledge competitors. Demonstrate that you know what they're up to and how your offer compares.

10. Invite questions: after your initial pitch, invite questions from your audience. Be prepared to prompt them by asking some of your own - about their needs in particular.

11. Anticipate: knowing your audience will enable you to have ready answers to hand to likely questions.

12. Listen: listen to what they have to say and answer their questions clearly and calmly. Don't be defensive if you feel you are being quizzed or pretend to know what you don't - if you don't have an answer, admit you don't know and offer to find out.

13. Thank your audience for their time and hand out business cards and marketing material. Invite your audience to contact you if they think of something else they want to know or if they would like to meet you again.

14. Make notes afterwards and learn for next time: what worked well? What didn't? What questions were asked? Be prepared to adapt or even completely change your pitch in order to make it work better each time you deliver it.

Cardinal rules

Do:

* show confidence in yourself and in your business
* encourage a two-way dialogue
* be brief, clear and to the point
* differentiate your business

Don't:

* be aggressive or pushy
* use industry jargon
* talk over people
* get defensive under questioning

Distribution and Channel Strategy

A good distribution strategy will identify the best sales channels for your firm and tell you how to exploit them. It can open up new opportunities, fuel growth and dramatically boost your takings and profits.

Your distribution channel requirements

If you sell food, the chances are you sell it face to face, either through a shop or delivery service. Customers want perishable goods quickly and they usually want to see what they're getting.

But selling face to face can be expensive and it might not be the most efficient or profitable way to reach your customers. If you sell software, for instance, you probably sell via online downloads.

Many firms find it more cost-effective to sell through other companies rather than direct to the end-user. A stapler manufacturer will probably sell through an office supplies wholesaler rather than individual stationery retailers. Even service providers use partnering strategies - a carpet-fitter working alongside a carpet retailer, for example.

Your choice of sales channel will also be influenced by what you want it to do. You might need a channel that showcases your product, for instance, or provides installation and customer support. If you want to build relationships with end-users, you'll need a sales channel that gives you direct control.
Distribution strategy preferences

The right distribution strategy will fuel your business growth. Working with sales agents and companies with established customers, for example, is an excellent way to expand into new markets where the cost would otherwise limit your ability to reach customers.

The degree of control you want to retain is important, too. By working with a sales agent you can control your pricing and perhaps establish a direct relationship with the customer. If branding matters to you, work closely with a small number of distributors rather than selling through too many different intermediaries. The same selective approach applies if you need to invest in your distribution channels - by giving sales agents product training, for example.

Distribution channel management

An effective distribution strategy will enable you to use your sales channels effectively and maximise profits. Focusing on a small number of sales channels lets you invest in each one and build strong relationships with key intermediaries.

A strategic approach to distribution will also identify conflicts and minimise them. For example, if you sell your product directly online and through other offline retailers, you will find yourself in competition with your own distributors.