Digital marketing is the online commerce of products or services using digital technologies, such as social media, display advertising, and mobile devices. This is a very powerful marketing tool that all business owners should take advantage of. To utilize this tool, it is important to understand exactly what digital marketing is, as well as its importance. Getting involved with digital marketing will help to strengthen your business and provide more growth opportunities. Since our society has recently adopted high levels of digitization, digital marketing is gaining momentum very quickly.

Importance:

With the next generation of parents being more tech-savvy than ever before, it is important to stay caught up with the times. Millennials now make up more than 90% of new parents, meaning they are going to want and expect their child's education to be presented in an online forum. It also means that digital marketing will be much more effective when catering towards this generation. In business, you need to learn how to speak and connect with each demographic you serve, especially the demographic you will be relying on the most for business. Learning how to speak and sell to both millennials and the upcoming generations means gaining online proficiency.

Utilize each tool that is available to you and put your best foot forward. Be sure to do everything in your power to build a strong online presence that highlights your brand and company values. This includes more than a strong, detailed program website; it also includes developing a web presence, having a variety of social media channels, and even using messaging apps. When doing this, include appropriate content to get the best results. Whenever doing anything related to your business, representing your brand accurately and consistently is crucial to an effective presentation.

To present your brand in the best way possible, constantly be reflecting on your company values. Doing all these things should assist you greatly with bringing in new business for the incoming generations.

Types:

When thinking about digital marketing, you may not be aware of all the different options. There are three main types of digital marketing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Advertising (aka Pay Per Click Ads), and Display Advertising.

• Search Engine Optimization helps your website get ranked higher on search engines like Google so that you can generate more traffic from people searching for what you are selling.

• Social Media Advertising is likely where your mind goes when you think of Digital Marketing. In this forum you share content, connect and engage with clients, and learn new techniques. It is a very effective tool with today's generation. This can be very helpful, especially in the early stages of business. In this type of marketing, you can also pay for an advertisement to show up on other users' social media feeds, so you reach more than just your following.

• Display Advertising includes banner ads in sources such as email newsletters and online magazines, which help drive awareness of a product or service without requiring interaction with the viewer. There are so many different ways to market digitally, so try and find the method that resonates most with you. There is a best method for every business, so if one doesn't seem to be working, there are endless other options to try.

Assets:

As mentioned before, digital marketing can be a very powerful tool when used in a strategic way. With digital marketing, it is extremely important to keep your content up to date and attention-grabbing. When making a post or adding new content to your website, it is always a good idea to think about what you think will draw viewers' attention. Try to present your content in a clever way that gets the point across, but also entertains the client. The key to doing this is getting creative, being unique, and not being afraid to try something new. Taking advantage of the Search Engine Optimization tool is a great way to increase the traffic of your website. With creative, quality content and high levels of traffic, you are setting yourself up to find success.

Measure and Track:

One big concern that a lot of people have is, “How do I know if it’s working?” The best way to answer this question for yourself is to track your progress with analytic tools. You can track your levels of engagement, your enrollments, and your interested clients since beginning your digital marketing journey. A successful digital campaign will combine all three of the digital marketing tactics (Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Advertising, and Display Advertising) to maximize its ability to reach the largest number of leads possible. On social media, you can see which posts seem to be receiving the most engagement, including likes, follows, and views. By doing this you are able to see what content of yours seems to be the most popular amongst your client base.

In summary, Digital Marketing has the potential to expand and strengthen your business when used correctly. The world is evolving into a digital atmosphere, so businesses should follow the trend and not be left behind. Taking advantage of each tool available to you can be the difference between failure and success, and social media happens to be one of those very powerful tools. The new generations of people entering the world have given digital marketing a large amount of power, so don't hesitate to take advantage of that!