146 Vipul’s™ E-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) ting MODULE - IV: Digital Marketing Chapter 4 Digital Marketing 4.2 43 4.4 45 4.6 47 48 49 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Introduction to Digital Marketing Objectives of Digital Marketing Advantages of Digital Marketing Disadvantages / Limitations of Digital Marketing Various Activities of Digital Marketing Digital Marketing on various Social Media Platforms Online Advertising Online Marketing Research Online Public Relations Web Analytics Promoting Web Traffic Latest Development and Strategie? in Digital Marketing Questionsgtal Marketing row dy .1.. INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL MARKETING: (Nov. 16, 17) » Digital marketing has become an important component of the arketing strategy of any company. Digital marketing is the use f digital tools to market the. company’s products to the end onsumer. It has helped companies to reach their customer in a juick and hassle free manner and made complete information vailable to the seekers at their fingertips. Digital marketing involves. the promotion of a company’s rand or products using digital channels such as emails, social “media, pay per click (PPC), search. engine optimisation (SEO), search engine. marketing (SEM), websites, mobile applications, "digital billboards, SMS etc. Internet marketing is the most important and widely used tool “of digital marketing. A majority of the digital marketing activities if a company are:done using the internet. The internet provides a _ wide variety of tools that can be used to market the products and “services of the company to the right customer at. the right time. The number of people using the online medium are continuously creasing and therefore, it is important for companies to target hese customers. Internet marketing is an integral part of digital arketing, however, digital marketing goes. beyond the internet fo reach customers effectively. DEFINITION OF DIGITAL MARKETING: “Digital. marketing is a form of direct marketing which, links “consumers with sellers electronically using interactive technologies like B “emails, websites, online forums and newsgroups, interactive television, b “mobile communications etc.” (Kotler and Armstrong, 2009) | |18 ror Vipul’s™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (8043) tr, EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL MARKETING: The term digital marketing was used in the 1990s for the very first time. Web 1.0 marked the beginning of the digital era wit “ Archie” as the first search tool available to users. However, thi; tool only provided search facility to customers and marketers were unable to contact customers online. Until this time, the use cf internet for marketing was also very limited. The year 1993, witnessed the introduction of first clickable banner which was the very first form of advertising on the internet. The first digital banner advertisements were sold by a company named Hot\WVired to AT&T and other companies. This introduction, completely changed the landscape of digital marketing forever and sowed the seeds of the modern digital media marketing that we see today. Yahoo was launched in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo, as a directory of websites available on the World Wide: Web, listed in an alphabetical order. It was earlier known as “Jerry and David’s Guide to the world wide web.” Yahoo got 1 million visitors in its first year itself, which encouraged companies to optimise their | websites to be more visible to potential customers. Yahoo introduced its search engine in 1995. In 1997, Yahoo mail was Jaunched, which paved the way for advertising on the site. In 1998, Google was born. The first keyword auction on search ° engine was created by GoTo.com in the same year. Google Adwords was introduced in 2000, as a search advertising, programme, which was later renamed to GoogleAds. The introduction . of web 2.0. in early 2000s allowed communications and interactions among users as well as between users and businesses.449 2] Marketing ~The first mobile marketing campaign was done by universal music in 2001. In 2003, LinkedIn was launched as a professional ommunication network for professional networking. The year 004, saw the emergence of Gmail and Facebook. In 2905, ‘ouTube changed the. future of digital entertainment. This year also saw the birth of Google analytics and SEO. Twitter was started in 2006. Marketing automation was also introduced during is time. Digital marketing grew many folds after 2606 when ch engine users grew by 6.4 billion in a single month. In the “year 2007, the first iPhone was introduced along with the app poe. This year also redefined Geotargeting with GPS facility in ‘Smartphones. Facebook ads and YouTube ads were introduced in 2008, which were later.expanded to 7 formats in 2009. By 2010, 3 more and more people started using smart phones and internet | usage surpassed newspapers. In 2011, Google+, Instagram and | Snapchat changed the way users and marketers communicated | with each other. Infographics and visual content marketing added. a fresh dimension to content consumption. The introduction of blogs by companies to target potential consumers by providing | information at: the right time, increased visibility of companies. | Technological enhancements like introduction of AR, VR and | chatbots paved the way for the new age digital marketing. Day by day, companies are using newer and newer means of digital marketing to target customers. Mobile marketing spends of companies are’ increasing by the day and availability at the right time to the right customer is what companies are aiming at. (1) Di randing: One of the most important objectives of arketing is to create a strong brand awareness on the latform. Customers seek information online before i & i iVipul's™ E-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BM3) (fF buying a product, and hence a strong brand presence over digital platforms can help create a positive attitude towards the brand. (2) Better understanding of customer's needs and wants: Understanding the needs and wants of customers is a very { important objective of any business. Digital marketing facilitates a company to interact directly with the customer through various channels, and get more accurate information about its target audience. (3) Increase revenue: By giving access to a large number of customers at the same time, digital marketing provides ample opportunities to marketers to increase their revenues. (4) Targeting potential buyers: The internet acts as a good source of targeting potential buyers through digital | marketing campaigns, as most buyers today resort to the internet for offers before making a purchase. (5) Conversion of leads to customers: Through the database available with companies, offers and information can be sent to interested buyers using the digital medium, to convert them into customers. (6) Customer engagement: Digital marketing platforms help companies to improve their engagement with the customers as it offers a variety of channels to connect to the customers directly. (7) Customer satisfaction: Companies aim to create customer satisfaction buy studying the customer preferences through their digital footprints, and providing them with the desired products promptly. @ Customer feedback: Digital marketing tools like social media | act as a great source of customer feedback, and can help”“3 sal Marketing re ist company gain considerable insight into its product performance. )} Introduction of new products or services: Digital media act as an important tool for giving out information abouf new products and services of the company to customers in a i timely manner. (10) Better customer relations: Social media platforms can be | effectively used to address customer queries and concerns promptly and build better relations with them. 4.3 ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL MARKETING: | (Nov. 16, 17) 1) Helps in promoting word of mouth: Digital marketing platforms offer interactive communication channels which help the company to promote positive word of mouth, with the help of customer reviews and customer interaction forums. (2) Faster and effective mode of communication: Digital platforms help in communicating in a much faster manner than the traditional forms of communication. The production and consumption of information over the digital platforms is almost instant. (3) Personalisation of communication: Digital media makes it easier. to alter communications as per the characteristics of the target audience and provides instant information as per their requirements. (4) Two way communication: Digital platforms provide an opportunity to get feedback from customers, and communicate with them based on the feedback. Thus, it helps to make the communication more effective. Bie as esi: i182 Vipul’s™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) (; (5) Cost effective: The cost of communication over digital media is far lesser than that incurred in traditional media. Some digital media sources are also available free. The range of advantages offered by digital media compared to its low c makes it a very cost effective medium of communication. 6 Helps in brand building: Digital media helps to create a strong brand identity when used appropriately. Brand engagement and content création helps, to connect the customers with the brand and spread positive word of mouth. (7) Helps to create a better relationship with customers: Digital marketing helps in identifying customers’ needs and preferences, and providing them with relevant offerings, thus creating a strong bond between the company, and its customers. (8) Helps in monitoring customer responses: Whether a customer receives a communication, or chooses to ignore it, can easily be analysed on digital media. Therefore, communications can be made more relevant. to generate customer interest. 9) Improved reach: Digital platforms provide global access at a low cost and therefore, a business'can improve its reach and target newer customers. (10) Results can be measured: A lot of parameters can be used to measure the results of digital marketing, like online sales, website visits, page views, time spent on websites, ad clicks, bounce rates etc. (11) Performance tracking: Each digital marketing campaign’s performance can be tracked in real time and results can be generated from time to time during a campaign.fegital Marketing 7 12 153 2) Helps to cater to the right audience: Digital marketing tools help in understanding and analysing online consumer * behaviour and help the company to cater to the right kind of audience for their business. 113) Reach: Digital marketing can help a company make its presence in many markets at the same time. It can create a great platform for the company to cater to many customers in different markets simultaneously, without using a lot of resources. 4.4 DISADVANTAGES / LIMITATIONS OF DIGITAL MARKETING: (Nov. 16, 17) (1) Reliance on: technology: ‘The biggest drawback of digital marketing is reliance on technology. It is therefore difficult for companies to rely on digital marketing completely, either due to customers not being ‘tech savvy or lack of access to technology in many markets. (2) Dynamic environment: The digital environment is very dynamic and therefore, needs constant attention and upgradation. Information in the online environment becomes outdated very fast and therefore needs to be constantly updated. A little lapse in this, and the company stands to lose alot. | 3) Increased competition: With greater accessibility, the digital environment also brings greater competition. So, as a business is able to acquire more customers, its own business is "also threatened by the other players. Global: players compete with each other on the online platform and it is indeed. only the fittest, who can survive. ‘Y Bs y ei t | |154 @) 6 6 (7) (8) (9) (10) Trust issues: Due.to a lot of scams that happen online, (01) Marketing strategies can be copied: Strategies have a very Vipul's™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) (10) Greater access to information for customers: Customers have a lot of information at their fingertips and therefore, comparisons become easier. Customers can easily validate claims made by sellers, and find the best deal,. thereby reducing the bargaining power of sellers. Reduction in margins: As the competition in the digital world is higher, customers enjoy the best products at the best prices and therefore, in order to gain customers, companies have to offer discounts and competitive prices. This in, turn, puts pressure on their margins. Complaints and feedback in open domain: The complaints and feedback of customers on thé online platform are open to everyone and therefore, a small complaint can lead to a snowball effect and affect the company’s reputation. Threat of negative word of mouth: Negative feedback gets more publicity than positive feedback and therefore, negative word of mouth can travel far to hamper the brand image. Privacy issues: Customers may view frequent promotional messages as a disturbance and intrusion of privacy, especially when firms resort to cookie based direct marketing and track customer searches. Security issues: Security of information on the internet is a major concern for customers. Customers are reluctant to interact online with brands as they fear loss of information. customers find it difficult to trust content on the digital medium. Genuine brands lose customers because of this lack of trust. low shelf life in the online environment, and are also are155 Dial Marketing susceptible to being copied by competitors. A company, therefore, has to constantly create newer and newer strategies to lure its customers. (4.5 VARIOUS ACTIVITIES OF DIGITAL MARKETING: (1) SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO): i (Nov. 17, 18; May 19) SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, it is the process by which websites are ranked, when a search is done, on a search ‘engine. Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to techniques that help to improve the visibility of a website in organic (unpaid) search results, on the search engine results page (SERP), thus making a website more visible to people who are looking for a product or service via search engines. In short, SEO can be defined as a digital marketing strategy that helps to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a site. The optimization part of SEO comprises of a series of steps that a site can take to rank higher on a search engine and thus get free organic traffic. FACTORS AFFECTING SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION: (a). Keywords: SEO begins with picking the right keywords. If a website has the keywords that a user is looking for, then it searches for whether the keywords appear in the URL, title or on the page. (b) Number of times the keywords appear on the site: One of the important factors in SEO is the number of times the keywords are repeated on the website. (c) Synonyms: SEO also looks for whether synonyms of the keywords appear on the site. Tt will show up even those pages where synonyms of the searched keyword are used. % ee ss156 Vipul’s™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (8MS) (10) (d) Relevance and context: Search engines scan through various websites in a matter of seconds, to find out whether the content there in is relevant to a search and fits in that context. (el Quality of website: The search engine assesses the quality of website by checking how many external. references ‘provide links to the page and how many external links does the page provide. ‘ (f) Page rank: It is similar to quality of website. It rates the importance of the webpage by exploring’ how many. outside links point to the website and how important those links are. (g)_ Site speed: The search engine always aims at providing faster and accurate results to users and therefore, the faster the site, the better are its chances of appearing on top. (h) URL: The simpler the URL, the faster it is for the search engine as well as the user to understand whether the webpage has relevant content in it. Keywords in the URL | improve the changes of the webpage appearing higher. i Content on the site: The more the content on the site, the more are its chances of appearing in an organic search. A website should have enough matter on the searched topic, at least 1500 to 2000 words in a given post, in order to get a higher ranking. The more the content, the more the time spent by the viewer on the page and thus, the better the rank | of the page. ADVANTAGES OF SEO: (a) SEO comes free: As SEO is concerned with organic search © results, appearing in the results doesn’t cost a website any money. It provides a free and continuous flow of traffic people search for relevant content through search engines.IpetlNorctne 157 a) Helps in improving the quality. of leads: Users of search engines are interested in the content they are searching for, and therefore, are more likely to buy the products/services _ they search for... Easy reach: Search engines make it easy for businesses to reach their target audiences. Even small businesses can reach out to their target audiences effectively, if they know how to |. use SEO. i } ‘(@) Trustworthy: Since the search results through SEO are organic (unpaid and natural), users trust the results and are _. more likely to visit websites that rank higher in a search. Therefore, a ‘website that organically appears in a search is more likely to generate higher traffic. (ec) Aids offline selling: Users often search online for information, even if the purchase is to be made offline. Ifan offline store: provides information through its website, it can help to improve the store:traffic as well. j () Searching may lead to buying: For brands selling online, if users are. searching for a specific product, there are high charices that they may actually end up making a purchase, and this helps companies: increase their sales through -appearing in search engine results page. ‘DISADVANTAGES OF SEO: +(a) Time consuming: Search engine optimisation needs a lot of dedication from the website. The website should have a lot of relevant content and should be constantly updated to match the‘ search algorithms of the search engine. It takes a lot of wait before SEO actually delivers results. ) Highly uncertain: Despite investing the necessary time, a website may not be able to generate the desired results. There158 Vipul’s™ E-Commerce and Digital Marketing (8MS) (% is no way a website can do anything to appear higher in the search results, apart from constantly updating itself based on the algorithms of the search engine. It is difficult for a company to know the algorithms of the search completely and therefore, the results aren’t guaranteed. (c Constant updation: Despite no guarantee of results, constant updation of website is required to match the constantly changing search environment and therefore, a website has to constantly meet newer requirements of the search engines. (@) Lack of control: A website has very little control over its | performance with respect to SEO and therefore, sometimes, all efforts by a website to. improve its visibility may go in vain. j {e) Visibility concerns: Users looking at search results rarely look beyond the first few pages of search and therefore, the visibility of a website on the search engine's initial pages is important. This a difficult task considering: the dynamic algorithms of the search engines. : (2) SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING (SEM): (Nov. 17) Search engine marketing is a tactic used in online marketing to make a website appear more prominently in search engine result pages, by using paid listings and paid advertisements. SEM traditionally is an umbrella term, used to describe a company’s marketing efforts on search engines, through both, SEO (organic/unpaid search) and pay per click or cost per click (paid search). However, people generally refer to paid advertising when they use the term SEM and unpaid organic results, when they use the term SEO. In SEM, the advertiser pays and buys certain. keywords, to gain higher visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), as against SEO, where the search engine's algorithms decide the position of the company’s website on the results page.| pital Marketing row is They are displayed either in the form of text and link to the advertiser's website, or as images of products searched for, with a {ink at the bottom of the image. These ads typically appear on the ‘op or the side of the organic search results (SEO results) on a search engine results page. SEM is especially important for digital (marketers as users search for online content and products through “search engines and are more likely to make purchases while | specifically looking for a product rather than seeing an ad on any other platform. IMPORTANCE OF KEYWORDS IN SEM: Keywords are those words that are used by users of search engines, while searching for specific information. The presence of keywords ona website, determines its appearance on the search “engine results page (SERP). Keywords are, what help searchers _ Teach websites on a search page. It is extremely essential for advertisers to do a research on what key words are usually associated with the kind of products they offer, in order to appear on the search engine results page of the users when they are looking for the advertiser's products. It is important on the part of | the advertiser, to find out the most popularly used keywords for a product, and then incorporate the keyword on the website. When an advertiser buys a paid search advertisement on a search engine, he is essentially paying for keywords. Keywords | determine whether the user is able to locate a particular website | while doing a search. Some keywords are very popular and many _ businesses compete to get those keywords for themselves ie. | when a user uses that keyword, the advertisers website would rank higher on the SERP. Keyword research tools help companies '. know about what keywords are commonly used for searching | what kind of products and the level of competition for a particular keyword. This can help marketers choose the right keywords for k +160 Vipul’s™ E-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) (Jo) their site in order to get better visibility: The. content on the website should be based on the keywords in order to get more traffic on it. Keywords are essentially of two types: Long tail | keywords and short tail keywords or head terms. Short tail keywords range anywhere between 1 to 3 words and long tail | keywords are more than 3 words. “Boat party organisers” is a | short tail key: word. It is a very broad term and -could also be vague at times. Short tail keywords generate a lot of traffic, however the traffic is less targeted as compared to long tail keywords. “Boat party organisers at Gateway of India” is.a long tail keyword and would generate lesser, but more targeted traffic. A long tail keyword has more specific detail about what a _ searcher is looking for. The volume of traffic génerated by short tail keyword is high, however, the conversion rate is low. E.g.: For a 1000 clicks, you may get only 20 customers. The cost of short tail keywords is also high, as the competition for them is high. E.g: Ice-cream. Alll sellers selling ice-cream would want to.purchase this keyword to rank higher on SERP and there are many sellers selling ice-cream, so, this keyword would be more expensive. How much a company is ready to pay for a keyword determines its rank on the search page. Companies pay the search engine only for the clicks on their link. The cost of a keyword is cost per click (CPC). For a long tail keyword, the traffic volume would be low, ive. comparatively lesser number of people would search. this keyword, however, the traffic is more targeted, therefore the > conversion is high. The cost of long tail keywords is low and_so is, the competition. E.g.: “Stone ice-cream in Mumbai”. Very few seller would be selling stone ice-cream in Mumbai and therefore competition and cost for this keyword would be low. Also, since i the keyword is specific, those searching for this specific information are more likely to convert into customers. ‘|| deta! Marketing = 161 | [ENERITS OF SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING: “t) Improves control: As opposed to SEO where the website has no control over its ranking on SERP, SEM gives more control to businesses as they have the option of paying for keywords and improving their ranking on SERP. Paid yet free: Since SEM works on the pay per click model, unless there is a click, the listing is free. Strategic positioning: Paid listings are strategically placed on the search page, either on the top or on the side. It is difficult for a user to miss seeing these places while seeing the results. : Helps to increase brand awareness: As visibility of a brand increases over the search platform, it also help to improve the brand awareness of that brand. Helps to increase.conversions: People looking for content on search engines, are usually ready to act. A user on a search engine is more likely to convert than on other platforms, as his purpose of using the search engine is to look for a specific thing. : (f) Ability to track results: Analytical tools help in tracking ; results of SEM in real time. They can track the traffic generated, the keywords that give a business a better ranking, the time visitors spend on‘the website and other indicators of success for a website. Trustworthy: Visitors on search engines don’t distinguish between paid and unpaid content and therefore, since the website is right up on SERP, visitors are likely to trust it as mich as they trust organic search results. : | @ % ee eer ere eT EET ete162 we Vipul’s™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) (1) | scot 38 0 wits OCS sacss) See buy lantop online terowldeapad | Sansug TSO ANIS(H lee. GdEceral Se | 3306 tel Cox.. F218 riage | 10550 ‘lease Uarovoinda Fight TeaLOeom | Amazon dia Fre devery Purchase Laptop Online | Dell.co.in Save Upto & 29,002 | dell.com GB woo set conDal_Laztep OFers + Cores Wty Beye Day LepopsW rl Core™ Preset Buy Ned # Shoo ta §.5t4 Hopes Contec Opa Dash Ning Heme, MG Road, Gaga). Laptop Prices in India: Buy Laptops Online at Low Prices | Windows ... tepestwww anazed nLaprops bas UTFBSnode=t 375424031 Shopiara de ge ct HP Del. Lencwo laptops, a app tom eer brands Bea Acer, Ape. Asus Mares fel MS and move _ Cel aspzon 367 ltl Corel 7h Gen 18 Linch HD ero Wesosd 380 hel Coe 3S Gan 15 nch Ful, (Under #2000 De Lacs: Lanes ere attest pes. Apple apts Laptops - Buy Laptops (@ett) at Best Prices in India Online at... scammaficiatconapopestee Laps oes ang beeen Rs 100 ard Rs 200000. HP 159 Core 7H Ns Hane 15500 Blanes apes Big Gace: Gang Lazees Buy Laptops Online | Best Laptop Prices in india - Refance Digital pepecanmarstaced gel nttopstsSt01210 ~ (3) CONTENT MARKETING: Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing of content on the internet, that is usually available for free, which helps companies to establish a connect with the target audience } and generate interest in the company’s offerings, without explicitly promoting a brand. (Nov. 18) Content marketing helps a company to build a strong, long - term relationship with its target audience by providing them with relevant, quality content, consistently. The most important aspect of content marketing is constantly generating relevant informationstl Marketing- wo 163 forthe target audience, to keep them engaged. Content marketing icludes blogs, video, social media posts, images etc. ; ES OF CONTENT MARKETING: ) Blogs: Blogs are a popular method of content marketing. ~ Blogging is relatively cheap and helps to keep the readers engaged to the brand. It helps a company to advertise itself in a subtle manner through the information provided in the blog. Websites with blogs rank higher on search engine results page. Websites, with blogs, that provide valuable _ information to target audience about products, are preferred i while making a purchase. Companies should ensure that their blogs are updated regularly and the content should appeal the readers. Using blogs to address queries or popular i myths associates with products is a good way“of engaging with the audience. = Videos: Videos are very popular on the internet They provide information with visual appeal in a short period of time. People are more likely to share video content as compared to written content and therefore, videos can be a great, source of content marketing. YouTube is a very popular platform used for creating and sharing videos. Video content used for marketing can be in the form of educational content, information, testimonials, entertainment, demonstrations etc. “Videos provide an excellent way of connecting with the audiencé. The visual appeal of videos makes it the most liked form of content marketing. It is the most shared form of content marketing by the audience. (Infographics: Infographics ’are visual marketing content that contain a mix of information and imagery. They help in educating the audience using powerful visual information. Infographics make the information look more appealing to164 ror Vipul’s™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) (10) the audience, and therefore, they are more likely to remember it, They present statistical data’ in an interesting and | entertaining manner. Many companies have started using , infographics to provide useful information to customers that can be shared by nen An example of an infographic is given below. (Image credit: https:/howw.acquisio.com/blog/agency/21-ways- improve-sales-eshop-infographic/) (d) Case studies: Case studies are real life examples of how a company’s product or service has benefitted a customer. It | can help to understand what has helped the customers achieve the desired results using the products or’ services. Case studies are a great way of providing real examples of problems solved by a company’s offerings. These cases can\be very valuable to the company as it highlights the success ol 4 the company’s offerings. Also, they help clients to under: how the company’s offerings are useful in solving cert Kinds of problems and the unique uses of’ the company's offerings that differentiate it from other companies, They.“Dalal Marketing 165 be posted on a company’s website, social media posts, blogs, etc. to provide useful information to prospective customers. i are published by a. company to offer useful information, in return for information about target audience. E-Books do not sell products overtly, however, they help to sell products by creating awarenéss about the company and generating leads. In order to receive an e-book, one has to sign up with basic information and this helps in lead generation. An e-book | would generally be anywhere between 10 to 40 pages or more and would provide useful information that the audience is seeking, relevant, to their needs or problems. It attractively presents complex information and simplifies it for the reader. E-books with good content’ help to attract audiences and make them develop trust towards a brand. (f) White papers: White papers are similar to e-books but contain a lot more detailed information on subjects that are valuable to the target audience. White papers as a tool of content marketing, is more useful for B2B customers, as they could provide valuable detailed information related to the industry and the problems faced by certain players and the solutions available to them. The purpose of white papers is problem solving. They are persuasive, detailéd reports that E highlight problems and provide solutions. Similar to e-books, white papers do not aim at selling products but at establishing rapport with the target audience and building their trust in the brand. White papers are much more detailed as compared to e-books. ieee niece ahi (g)_ Social media posts: Social media posts in the form of articles, images, videos, blogs etc. play a great role in promoting the »company through content marketing. The more these postsVipul’s'™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) {23 166 a are shared on social media, the more the popularity of the company. According to a report by IBM, leads generated on social media are seven times more likely to close. Social media is a preferred source of online — business communication. Popular social media sites used for such posts are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. BENEFITS OF CONTENT MARKETING: (a) Improves brand awareness: Content marketing helps companies to increase their brand awareness. Whenever a company provides content on the internet, the brand gets visibility. The more the content, the more the visibility and the better the brand awareness. (b) Increases website traffic: A company that consistently provides interesting and informational content, will benefit from increased traffic on their website. Quality content published on a consistent basis through blogs on company’s website also helps to increase the traffic on a website. iC Builds trust: Good quality content that is useful to the reader and does not intend to sell the product, but assist the audience in overcoming a problem, helps to gain the trust of the audience. (d) Improved sales: Companies that deliver valuable content to their target audience are rewarded with trust that ultimately leads to sales. Content marketing can subtly promote a company’s products and services through the content by highlighting their problem solving applications, thereby helping the customer in making a purchase decision. (e) Improves SEO ranking: The more a company’s quality, _content, the better will be its rank on the search engine results. ‘[tat waketing row 167 | -page (SERP). People search for specific solutions to problems | on search engines and if a company has such blogs, the company will rank higher on the SERP. Blog titles should te well thought of, and should match the commonly searched key words for the topic addressed on the blog. gD Helps to target specific audience: Audience driven content helps to segment customers on’ the basis of the content - provided for them. Specific type of content can be created for specific type of customers. Customized content helps in better targeting of customers for generating leads. (g) Competitive advantage: When a company consistently creates content that is both useful and meaningful to its target audience, it helps in improving the quality of leads for the company. Good content pools in more traffic for a website and helps it gain more visibility as compared to competitors. th) Helps in building authority and credibility: Good content that is relied upon by customers seeking for information, help a company in building its authority and credibility. A customer is likely to visit the website again for problem solving, if he has been benefited by the information shared on it. This also helps in creating positive word of mouth. The more the number of people who share the content of a particular company, the more is its credibility and authority in the industry. (i) Helps in providing a channel of direct communication: Through the comment section, content marketing helps seek immediate customer feedback on the content and modify it on the basis of the needs of the customer. It helps to communicate with the customer directly and understand. them better. + ee a 2 et4) Vipul's™ €-Commerce and Digital Marketing (BMS) (/0) <| Helps in creating loyalty: Customers who like the content on a particular website, are more likely to visit it frequently for more content. This makes them loyal to the content and the website. LIMITATIONS OF CONTENT MARKETING: (Nov. 19) fa) ) ( (d) @ Time consuming: Content marketing requires a lot of time to be invested in curating the content to meet the needs of the audience. Lack of research renders the efforts of content | marketing meaningless. : Difficulty in measurement of results: Content marketing can | be used to establish a rapport with the audience but may not necessary reflect into immediate sales and therefore it is difficult to measure its success. ; Long term: Content marketing cannot be looked at as a short term campaign that will instantly yield benefits to the company. It's a long term process and requires a lot of patience and commitment in order to succeed. Complex process: Content marketing is a complex process as creating and delivering effective content requires a lot of research and brain storming. It requires dedicated long term efforts to understand the content requirements and deliver them effectively. High investment: Content marketing is not a one- time effort, neither can it be done by one person. It requires a lot of investment, both in terms of time and money to make content marketing powerful. Changes quickly: Content takes a lot of time to create but its life is very short. Content needs of consumers change very quickly and a company needs to develop newer and newer | content constantly to meet those needs. %