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Understanding Digital Marketing in Accelerating Business Sales Growth

           A business that does not use digital marketing is like a fisherman without a net. It is in this era wherein prospect customers could be anywhere in the world. The internet revolutionized the way how the business operates. A business located on a remote island can now possibly edge out its brick and mortar competitors. Almost everything is digital. Individuals are stuck on their phone tirelessly browsing for the latest fashion, needed services, and most delicious food nearby. In a forecast made by Clement (2019), over 2.14 billion people worldwide are expected to buy goods and services online. This staggering number of prospect consumers is a good indication that digital marketing can accelerate sales growth for the business.            Marketing is an activity or process in which a certain product or service of value is communicated to its end-users (Kurtz, 2016). It is where the producer influences the consumer to buy products and services offered. In a study of marketing history by Ryan and Jones (2019), it was found that even with limited resources, ancient people influence others using available materials they have at that time. It started with the use of human voice and word of mouth, followed by etching images on stone or cave wall. Ryan and Jones (2009) summarized the progress of marketing from the 15thto the 20thcentury as follows:  a significant milestone achieved in the 15thand 16th centuries through the development of printing which minimizes the cost and maximizes profits. As a result, marketers used this to expand their prospective consumers. Then, the use of adverts in the early newspaper became popular during the 17thcentury, which escalated rapidly. It all started in England and eventually spread across the world. Moreover, in the 18thand 19thcenturies, newspaper advertising was expanded along with the inception of mail-order advertising. The 20thcentury entered a new advertising age, which is the use of radio offering and television advertising.  As digital technology continues to dominate the purchasing habit of consumers, marketers explore other possibilities in the digital realm. Thus, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and email marketing were introduced to reach prospects that will lead to sales. These three types of digital marketing are the most widely used by digital marketers to increase site traffic and user engagement.           The first is social media marketing. It is a digital tool used to spread information using the Internet and Web-based technologies in a more personal connection and promotes social interaction among its users from a one-to-many conversation to many-to-many (Close, 2012). Some of the most popular social media platforms people use today are Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Linkedin. Individuals always want to connect and to be updated with the latest feeds. According to Ewing (2019),  if consumers have a positive experience of a product through social media, 71%  of them will possibly recommend the brand to others. Consumers bank on a brand’s rapport and shared expertise. Nowadays, if a consumer wants to search for the reputation of a particular company, people look at social media reviews and testimonials. The comments or suggestions written on it build an impression on the service or products a brand offers. One way to leverage the power of social media marketing is through aiming for positive customer testimonials. It is about the customers telling why a particular business is performing well. Testimonials can go a long way since this will bridge the gap of uncertainties. When consumers browse for a product, they often look at the profile of the company and read the reviews and testimonials. Positive reviews attract more consumers, which will result in more sales. At the backbone of good testimonial is a combination of excellent service and great product. Entrepreneurs should not compromise quality over efficiency. They should consistently produce quality products and improve for negative feedback because one unsatisfied customer can pull the sales to dwindle.            Second is Search engine optimization or SEO. SEO is marketing efforts that focus on increasing the site visibility on the search engines by making some content improvements and making it user-friendly (David, 2011). Ramos and Cota (2009) simplify it as making changes to a web page so that visitors can find it in a search engine. The leading search engines that people commonly used today are Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. People use search engines to find a specific blog or content, looking for a company’s website, searching for a recipe, and even buying for available products. Internet users have become dependent on the use of these search engines. Companies are taking leverage with this technology to be the next big thing. The goal should be to arrange a website to hit the proper keywords going into the mind of a searcher or prospect customer. In this way, chances that a website can rank on the top spot of the first-page search. The typical behavior noticed is that people only click websites on the first and second page of a search engine. To understand better how individuals search, Ramos and Cota (2009) wrote that people search in three types; navigational, informational, and transactional. They highlighted that navigational search is about searching for the official website of an organization, a company, an office, or a person. Informational searches as to the search for information, learn about a subject, or how to perform a task. While a transactional search is about users searching to get something either buying a product, service, hear a song, watch a video, or download a PDF.  Search Engine Optimization is now advancing at a rapid pace through the use of Google Analytics to identify users’ purchasing patterns. An item or a product searched is being integrated to pop-up in digital devices.            The last one is email marketing. Email seems to be an outdated marketing platform for modern business since the rise of the modern project management system and new-age communication applications. However, the effectivity of using email for the formality of communication and delivering a sincere message cannot be replaced. In a recent study, Jeshurun (2018) showed that email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to advertise on the internet. The goal of email marketing is to get the receiver open up the email in order to increase the chance of opening up a transaction. Email marketing is the method wherein a sales pitch or a call to action message is sent to a customer list via email (Ryan and Jones, 2009). Examples could be a hotel promotion, free seminars, a money-off code for gadget purchase, free membership for gym referrals, or invitation to download a mobile game for user interaction.  Email is still a universally accepted medium in sending vital information and allowing for almost real-time status updates.  Its versatility makes it unique and does not grow old. Since email is a low cost set up, a user can sign up for free email providers such as Gmail and Yahoo. Once, email is activated, marketing flyers and promotions can now be sent to a business email list with an added personal touch. Email marketers focus mainly on these three things; subject line, story-why, and sell-click content. The subject line is about getting consumers’ attention. Story-why includes the body of the email that builds on providing relatable personal stories and explanations about the reason for sending an email. Sell-click content includes the link that directs the consumer to the details of the product being sold. Once the consumer is engaged, it could lead to more sales.            In a nutshell, digital marketing provided numerous benefits that level the playing field for business of all sizes. Every business is now given equal access to mass markets at any price budget. Small and medium enterprises can take a chance of competing against big businesses. For example, a successful email or social media campaign is only a fraction of a cost as compared to TV advertisements spent by established brands but still reach a broader audience. The interaction also played a role in the effectiveness of digital marketing — the ability of a business to interact with targeted audiences in real-time increases brand loyalty. A targeted approach also adds up in the success of these tools by dissecting a broad demographics into specifics which position the marketers to increase the conversion rate of ad campaigns by narrowing down a particular type of audience the ad will show. Marketers can now identify which particular audiences they want to reach. The system analytically read the common ground to connect the product or service such as goal, profession, education level, and buying behavior of consumers. New technology is released every month, and the goal of tech companies to reach the global ecosystem of "internet of things" is coming. It is where every service and product will be interconnected to devices such as tablets, smartphones, appliances, cars, and other gadgets through the internet. The majority of businesses aspire for growth and stability. Digital marketing methods, mainly social media marketing, search engine optimization, and email marketing, are among the new methods that can accelerate the sales growth of a business.

References Clements, J. (2019). Number of digital buyers worldwide from 2014 to 2021 in billions. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/ Close, A. G. (Ed.).(2012). Online Consumer Behavior. New York, NY: Routledge. David, M. M. (2011). WordPress3 Search Engine Optimization. Birmingham, United Kingdom: Packt Publishing Ltd. Ewing, M. (2019, June 28). 71%. More Likely to Purchase Based Social Media Referrals [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30239/71-More-Likely-to-Purchase-Based-on-Social-Media-Referrals-Infographic.aspx Jeshurun, S.B. (2018). A Study on Effectiveness of Email Marketing. Shanlax International Journal of Management Vol. 6 pp 84-86. Kurtz, D.L. (2016). Contemporary Marketing. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning Ramos, A., & Cota, S. (2009) Search Engine Marketing. USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies Ryan, D., & Jones C. (2009). Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page.

The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of his Final Extended Definition Essay in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Advance Technical Writing 1. Visit his blog at http://jakezofficial.tumblr.com/The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.