The new digital world - trends that are driving shifts from traditional marketing

practices to digital marketing practices.

Many small businesses struggle with deciding which kind of marketing to do, because
their budget will only stretch to one or the other, not both. The decisions that must be
made are not easy: which method of marketing will give me the most bang for my buck?
How do I know if my marketing is working? Who should I trust with my marketing?
Should I do it myself? The answers may surprise you.

To clarify the terms, the use of print ads on newspapers and magazines is a simple
example of traditional marketing. Other examples include flyers that are put in
mailboxes, commercials both on TV and radio and billboards. On the other hand, when
a business invests on building a website, advertising the brand name through different
social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, this kind strategy is called digital
marketing.

Benefits of Traditional Marketing

You can easily reach your target local audience. For example, a radio ad might play
in one location: your city or region. Or mailbox flyers will go to households in a select
number of suburbs.

The materials can be kept. The audience can have a hard copy of materials of which
they can read or browse through over and over again.

It's easy to understand. It can be easily understood by most people because they are
already exposed to this kind of strategy.

Neuroscience seems to support the benefits of hard copy marketing. A study sponsored
by Canada Post and performed by Canadian neuro-marketing
firm TrueImpact compared the effects of paper marketing (direct mail pieces, in this
case) with digital media (email and display ads).

The technologies used in this study were eye-tracking and high resolution EEG brain
wave measurement. The three key metrics evaluated in the study were cognitive load
(ease of understanding), motivation (persuasiveness), and attention (how long subjects
looked at the content).

Direct mail was easier to process mentally and tested better for brand recall. According
to the report,

Direct mail requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than digital media (5.15 vs.
6.37), suggesting that it is both easier to understand and more memorable. Post-
exposure memory tests validated what the cognitive load test revealed about direct
mail’s memory encoding capabilities. When asked to cite the brand (company name) of
an advertisement they had just seen, recall was 70% higher among participants who
were exposed to a direct mail piece (75%) than a digital ad (44%).

The Downside to Traditional Marketing

There is very little interaction between the medium used and the customers. It is
more of providing information to the public that the brand exists with the hope of these
people patronizing the brand.

Print or radio advertisements can be very costly. Printing materials can be

expensive and you need to hire people to distribute these.

Results on this marketing strategy cannot easily be measured. Was the campaign
successful?

Benefits of Digital Marketing

You can target a local audience, but also an international one. Further, you
can tailor a campaign to specific audience demographics, such as gender, location, age
and interests. This means your campaign will be more effective.

Your audience can choose how they want to receive your content. While one
person likes to read a blog post, another person likes to watch a YouTube video.
Traditional marketing doesn't give the audience a choice. Most people hate receiving
sales flyers in their mailbox or phone calls at inconvenient times on stuff that they have
little interest in. Online people get the choice to opt in or out of communications and
often it is relevant because they were the ones searching for it in the first place. Don’t
underestimate the power of market segmentation and tailored marketing.

Interaction with your audience is possible with the use of social media networks. In
fact, interaction is encouraged. Traditional marketing methods don't allow for audience
interaction. You can encourage your prospects, clients and followers to take action, visit
your website, read about your products and services, rate them, buy them and provide
feedback which is visible to your market.

Digital marketing is cost-efficient. Though some invest on paid ads online; however,
the cost is still cheaper compared to traditional marketing.

Data and results are easily recorded. With Google Analytics and the insights tools
offered by most social media channels, you can check on your campaigns at any
time. Unlike traditional marketing methods, you can see in real time what is or is not
working for your business online and you can adapt very quickly to improve your results.

Level playing field: Any business can compete with any competitor regardless of size
with a solid digital marketing strategy. Traditionally a smaller retailer would struggle to
match the finesse of the fixtures and fittings of its larger competitors. Online, a crisp
 well thought out site with a smooth customer journey and fantastic service is king – not
size.

Real time results: you don’t have to wait weeks for a boost to your business like you
would have to waiting for a fax or form to be returned. You can see the numbers of
visitors to your site and its subscribers increase, peak trading times, conversion rates
and much more at the touch of a button.

Brand Development: A well maintained website with quality content targeting the
needs and adding value to your target audience can provide significant value and lead
generation opportunities. The same can be said for utilising social media channels and
personalised email marketing.

Viral: how often do your sales flyers get passed around instantly by your customers and
prospects? Online, using social media share buttons on your website, email and social
media channels enables your message to be shared incredibly quickly. If you consider
the average Facebook user has 190 friends of which an average of 12% see their liked
posts – your one message has actually been seen by 15 new prospects. Now imagine a
number of them also like and share your message and their friends do the same?
That's why high-quality content is so important.

So which kind of marketing is better?

Well, we would recommend both. Obviously, we are passionate about digital marketing,
because we know that it works. But we do use traditional marketing materials, too.

A 2009 study conducted by Bangor University and branding agency Millward Brown
also used fMRI to study the different effects of paper and digital media.

Some of their key conclusions were:

 Physical material is more “real” to the brain. It has a meaning, and a place. It is better
connected to memory because it engages with its spatial memory networks.
 Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for memory
and brand associations.
 Physical materials produced more brain responses connected with internal feelings,
suggesting greater “internalization” of the ads.

How We Use Both Digital & Traditional Marketing

Our traditional marketing methods support our digital marketing efforts. The two do not
operate in exclusion from each other. But we only use hard copy marketing materials to
further strengthen a relationship with a contact, referral partner or client. We don't invest
in television or radio ads, for example, but we will give brochures to someone who is
interested in our services.
Rather than taking an all or nothing approach, it appears that a multi-channel approach
that leverages the unique benefits of paper with the convenience and accessibility of
digital will perform best.

Over the past three decades, marketing has had to keep up and contend with leaps in
technology and our relation to it ever since. While the Sales Era witnessed the invention
of the telephone, swiftly followed by the rise of television and the Marketing Department
Era. The industry evolution of the Marketing Company Era saw arguably the biggest
change in the history of marketing: the first commercially available personal computers.

The advent of the internet

The mass adoption of the internet into everyday life is the single biggest event that has
affected marketing over the last three decades. Although early desktop publishing
software in the first PCs caused a surge in print marketing in the 1980s, the computers
were little more than a glorified typewriter. Launched by Tim Berners-Lee and his team
in 1991, the World Wide Web project didn’t really take off until the first successful mass-
market browser, Netscape, was released in 1994. In the following two years, the
number of people using the web soared from 16 million to 70.
As users increased, the landscape evolved, from email to search engines like Yahoo!
(1994) and Google (1997) and e-commerce sites like Amazon (1994) and eBay (1995).
For marketing, this was a goldmine. Email became a new outbound marketing tool,
joining the traditional arsenal of TV, radio and print advertisements and telephone sales.
While search engines cataloged the new websites that were being created and allowed
users to find the information, products and services they desired from the comfort of
their own home.

Smartphones

Where would we be without smartphones and tablets? These new devices have
exploded in the last decade and marketing departments are still catching up. Today,
smartphones have overtaken personal computers as the primary digital device for going
online with the daily time U.S. adults spend with mobile media on the increase from 46
minutes in 2011 to 258 minutes in 2017.
Transparency

Information is everywhere. According to Unilever’s Senior Vice-President of Marketing,

Marc Mathieu, marketing used to be about creating a myth and selling it and is now
about finding a truth and sharing it.

Customers are now smarter and able to research products in seconds, easily comparing
competitors and reviews and unearthing any myths along the way. For sales
professionals, this shift is proving a challenge as 70% of the buyer’s journey is complete
before a buyer even reaches out to sales. SEO improvements have made keyword
stuffing and spammy backlinks a thing of the past, paving the way for real value and
good content to become the new marketing style
The need for transparency is obvious when you look into customer perception of
brands.

Personalization

Sharing is everything. It is a huge part of the new internet landscape and the upcoming
generation of digital natives is changing the way information is viewed and shared. As
the first truly mobile-first generation, Gen Zers as they are known, place a big emphasis
on personalization and relevance. Their habits have also evolved compared to Millenials
who currently interact with three screens on average, compared to Gen Zers who use
five: a smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, and iPod/iPad.

Agile marketing

Agile marketing is a measure of how efficient an organization is at achieving its

marketing goals. A marketing team that is agile provides a lot of strategy and
theoretical results to their stakeholders with a view to executing it quickly. ROI is also a
key factor, with agile marketers realizing that new business is more important than new
material. In essence, it's about the speed in which new products can be developed or
finessed to capitalize on an opportunity and drive a business forward.
One of the reasons for agile marketing being on the rise is social media, where brands
have spent the last few years figuring out how to communicate on platforms such as
Facebook and Twitter.
Influencing factors which defines Online Purchasing decisions.

People research products. They compare competitors. Some 87% of buying

decisions begin with research conducted online, usually on Amazon or Google.

Product quality and seller reputation matter, of course. But what about when the product
matches the customer’s needs and they trust the seller? What influences a purchase
decision once those fundamentals are in place?

Here are 9 things you should know if you want to win over customers as they make a
decision to buy.

1. Reviews matter for deciding on products and companies.

Many studies in recent years have confirmed what we already know: People read
reviews and decide what to buy based on them.

Some 88% say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and
39% read reviews on a regular basis. In fact, only 12% of those surveyed don’t read
reviews at all. (And that was a few years ago.) We’ve written at length on the impact of
user-generated reviews.

So start gathering reviews on your site. If you sell commodity products, you might
want to pull reviews from an external site so that you can display more of them. Use
structured data to get review stars from highly reviewed products into search results.
Our internal study on the impact review stars showed that they can increase click-
through-rates by as much as 35%.

More reviews can help insulate your reputation from the inevitable impossible-to-please
customer. That said, don’t delete negative reviews. They actually help sales if there are
only a few of them and they’re politely worded.

If there are tons of negative reviews, most people are naturally turned off and look
elsewhere.

2. People gather buying recommendations from mixed sources.

Even though social media and the Internet rule, customers make purchase decisions
using a combination of old media, new media, and conversations with friends and
family.

According to a 2009 study by Harris Interactive, the most common methods for
gathering information prior to making a purchase are:

 using a company website (36%);

  face-to-face conversation with a salesperson or other company representative
(22%);

 face-to-face conversation with a person not associated with the company (21%).

Another, slightly more recent, study claims that 59% of people still consult friends and
family for help with a purchase decision.

Even in the modern era, the influence of friends and family on purchasing decisions
remains strong.

Asking people around us for recommendations remains commonplace. This means

the experience you provide to your customers matters a great deal.

Omni channel journeys are on the rise as well. Customers are no longer relying on
single sources. According to recent research, 73% of retailers say omni channel is
important to them, but only 38% say they are beyond the beginning stages of an omni
channel journey.

3. People don’t often know why they like something.

There’s a famous study about jam tasting. Scientists asked a big sample of consumers
to rank jams on taste, ordering them from top to bottom.

Then the scientists re-did the study with a different, but still statistically representative,
group. This time, they asked the sampler to put the jams in order of taste and explain
their thinking. The order flipped. The jams that the first group ranked as the best tasting
were judged to as the worst by the second group.

The reason is that the conscious brain suddenly got involved in a task it didn’t really
understand. Suddenly, there were social pressures (i.e. what they should choose),
leading answers away from what people actually liked.

People make instant decisions with their subconscious. When they have to explain the
choice, the choice may change completely because the rational mind is involved.

Takeaway: Don’t trust people when they explain why they bought something. They
might not know themselves.

4. The crowd leads the way to buyer preferences.

Most of our preferences are learned and formed by social norms and expectations.

Your buying habits may depend more on crowd behavior than you think.
An old Washington Post column uses the example of clam chowder. Decades ago, it
was thin. But now, it’s almost uniformly thick. What happened? At some point,
restaurateurs got in the habit of adding flour to make chowder thicker and thicker. Now,
this is what consumers have come to consider a bowl of “authentic” clam chowder.

These learned preferences can just as easily involve characteristics that, from an
objective standpoint, don’t make a product any better—and might even make them
worse, especially when it comes to texture.

Ravi Dhar, a marketing professor at the Yale School of Management, notes that
although Heinz ketchup does not reliably win in blind taste tests, it has established itself
as the gold standard in its category because it’s thicker. In the marketing world, Dhar
says, “meaningless attributes often lead to meaningful differentiation.”

Ever wondered why so many products on store shelves are so similar? Wouldn’t it be
better to make them different? Not necessarily.

“There are huge incentives in consumer markets, even for competing companies, to
make everything the same, ” says Dan McGinn, president of a research and strategy
consultancy in Arlington, Virginia.

Yes, our preferences evolve as society evolves. That impacts our purchasing decisions.
A “family car” used to mean a station wagon. Then it was a minivan. Now, it’s an SUV.

If you’re interested in this concept, we’ve written an article on the idea of familiarity as a
marketing tactic. Essentially, the more we’re exposed to something, the more likely it is
that we’ll develop a preference for it and decide to buy it.

Takeaway: In markets where people have a lot of experience with the product category,
it pays to mimic the market standard.

5. Simplicity always wins for decision-making.

Cognitive fluency is the human tendency to prefer things that are not only familiar, but
also easy to understand.

For marketers, this means that the easier it is to understand an offer, the more likely
people are to buy it.

Psychologists have determined, for example, that shares in companies with easy-to-
pronounce names significantly outperform those with hard-to-pronounce names.
Coincidence? Nope.

Why people love to buy unlimited plans.

Understanding and comparing different cell-phone plans is a pain. It takes time to
identify the best option. Who wants to spend 20 minutes comparing monthly minutes
and text limits? So what do people do? They buy the unlimited plan. It’s often not the
best value, but it’s easy to understand.

Consumers often decide to buy unlimited plans because they’re simple to understand,
not because they make the most financial sense.

Cell phone companies make the most money from unlimited plans, and they have an
extra incentive to make other plans confusing. Plans with a fixed number of minutes
charge high fees for going over your allotted minutes. It’s designed to cause you
enough pain that you switch to a plan with a higher regular fee.

Previous positive experiences matter.

Cognitive fluency also explains

 Why you continue to buy from brands and service providers you’ve used before

 Why you often order the same thing from the menu.

It’s just easy. You’ve tried it, it worked, and you don’t want to spend a bunch of time
researching alternatives. You don’t want to risk a bad purchase.

As a marketer, this means it’s super important to get a customer to decide on

that first purchase. Pack your first offer with value and make it as easy as possible to
buy. Once consumers have their first positive buying experience, it’s much easier to get
repeat purchases.

Hard to read, hard to buy.

Make your website easy to read. When people read something in a difficult-to-read font,
they transfer that sense of difficulty onto the topic they’re reading about.

The same goes for products and purchases. We’ve conducted a number of original
studies on ecommerce product pages. In one of those studies, we found that the way
products are described matters. The format of text descriptions influences how people
perceive the products themselves.

Takeaway: Make every aspect of the decision to purchase as simple as possible.

Optimize your site to improve the buying experience and influence customers. Get the
complete guide to conversion optimization
6. For retail stores, even flooring influences purchasing decisions.

Research by Joan Meyers-Levy suggests that the way people judge products may be
influenced by the ground beneath them.

“When a person stands on carpeted flooring, it feels comforting,” says Meyers-Levy.

“But the irony is that when people stand on carpet, they will judge products that are
close to them as less comforting.”

If you’re trying to persuade your retail customers to buy, even elements like your store
flooring can impact their purchasing decision.

When people were standing on soft carpet and viewed a product that was moderately
far away, they judged that item’s appearance to be comforting. However, people who
examined products while standing on the same plush carpet judged items that were
close by as less comforting.

This translates online as well. The way things are presented and emotional
factors come into play. It’s your responsibility to be aware of them and manage them
accordingly. Seemingly unimportant details can affect consumers’ decision to buy or
click away.

Takeaway: Cover walking areas in your retail store with soft carpet, but use hard
flooring next to products.

7. The jury is out on social media’s influence on buying decisions.

There’s conflicting research on the influence of social media on purchase

decisions. One study found that consumers are 67% more likely to buy from brands
they follow on Twitter.

Another report showed that social media rarely leads directly to online purchases. Data
indicated that less than 2% of orders resulted from shoppers coming from a social
network. The report found that email and search advertising were much more effective
vehicles for turning browsers into buyers.

The difference between these two studies is that the first was based on what
people said, but the second was based on what people actually did. (However, they
were tracking direct click-throughs from social media, not taking into account the
positive influence it may have over time.)
The real answer is that social media probably impacts purchase decisions, but it’s a
slow, relationship-building process. Just shouting “buy this” works on a very small
number of people.

Even as social media purchases continue to increase—nearly half of survey

respondents in 2017 had made a purchase directly through Facebook—a full third of the
market had yet to buy via social media. Less than one in ten bought from any social
channel other than Facebook.

Social media links have an influence, too.

A study examined how the presence of a Facebook “Like” button and the Twitter logo
might affect online purchase decisions.

The findings:

 When the product was one for which public consumption is desirable
(sportswear, fragrance), the presence of the Facebook and Twitter icons made
people 25% more likely to purchase.

 When the product was more private in nature (Spanx, Clearasil), the presence of
Facebook and Twitter icons made participants 25% less likely to purchase.

Does buying your product make your customer seem more or less cool? Place the
Facebook and Twitter icons accordingly.

8. When it comes to buying, we make emotional decisions and rational

justifications.

Do people make decisions based on emotions or logic? It shows that comparative

features are important but mostly as a justification for after a buyer makes an emotional
decision.

The story of two loaves of bread

Research participants were shown two photos. One was a nice-looking loaf of bread.
The other looked thin and sickly. Participants were told that the first one was a naturally
made and that the thin one was genetically engineered.

Do we make rational buying decisions? A study with two loaves of bread suggested
otherwise.

Researchers informed half the participants that naturally made was healthy (but less
tasty) and genetically engineered loaf was tasty (but less healthy). The other half were
told the opposite.
Overwhelmingly, participants preferred the naturally made, but their reasoning was
different:

 The first group claimed that it was because they valued health above taste.

 The second group said it was because taste was more important.

Neither group justified their choice based on how they felt about the loaf’s looks. They
felt compelled to justify their emotional choices with rational reasons—to the point that
the two groups gave opposing accounts to justify the same “purchase” decision.

Emotions rule in all areas of buying behavior.

The scientists replicated the results in other areas, including marketing, politics, religion,
etc.

“This process seems to be happening somewhat unconsciously, people are not really
aware they’re coming up with these justifications. What is even more interesting is that
people who claim that emotions are not that important, who consider themselves to be
really rational, are actually more prone to fall into this trap.”

What does this mean for marketers? From the earlier suggestions you can make an
emotional connection, the better. Once consumers have decided that they like a
particular option, it’s difficult for them to back pedal. Rational thinking will only justify
their emotional choice.

9. The subconscious drives purchase decisions.

For the last 50 or 60 years, market research, as an industry, has believed that people
make decisions based on rational, conscious thought processes. Science tells a
different story, one that turns that fundamental belief on its head. Most decision-making
happens at the subconscious level.

We may focus on facts and numbers, but in many cases, it’s the subliminal that makes
people decide one way or another.

Conclusion

People are complex. We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what they
really want.
Digital technology is enabling a radically altered consumer journey. It is important for a
brand to be present and engage with consumers during all steps of this modern
customer journey. Research is necessary to help create the right strategy and
supporting tactics needed to reach customers at the key points off this journey.

Modern Customer Journey

“Now that digital technology is enabling a radically altered consumer journey,

marketers must toss aside the old models: old models for understanding the

journey but also old models for planning media, allocating budgets, big idea

generation and agency engagement. It’s a new era of consumer experience

creation and the winners will be the marketers that master the new journey.” –

Kelly Mooney
The Pillars of the updated Customer Journey
Awareness
Awareness is increasingly controlled by the consumer and not generated by mass
media. During the first step of the journey, people either search or discover based on a
want or a need.
It is important to be there when consumers search for your products or services and be
in the right place to ensure people discover you. Discovery is the most complex to plan
for because it’s about showing up in the right place at the right time, via paid media,
owned content, earned conversations, location-based alerts, etc.
 Search – Are people having a hard time finding your brand?
 Discover – Do enough people know about your brand?
Assessment
As consumers assess options they immerse themselves in all available media (videos,
images, product specs, comparisons, reviews, etc). They want to have all their
questions answered right away. They will also reach out to confer with friends & family
to seek opinions of users or experts. Consumers also turn to social media to discuss
potential purchases.
 Assess – Is there enough information to help people make the decision to buy your
product?
Buying
The buying step in the consumer journey initially seems very simple, but with the
increasing number of ways to pay (PayPal, Square, Google Wallet, Bitcoin, Credit
Cards, NFC, etc.) and acquire merchandise (same day delivery, lockers, drones,
download, etc.) brands that meet consumers ever-changing needs and wants are
rewarded. In addition, this can be a huge bottleneck for a brand and a flawless UX/UI is
imperative to success.
 Buy – Is it simple for someone to complete the transaction? Are all call to actions
clear?
Loyalty
One of the most critical and overlooked opportunities is what happens next. In the new
digital economy buying is no longer the end of the journey. It’s often just the beginning
as digital tools allow users to both share consumption and influence others to not only
also buy, but also to assess.
Do you know if your product/service is being used and enjoyed? Are you set up to know
and monitor this? Brands need to be very vigilant in inviting consumers to connect post-
purchase beyond sharing feedback. A simple step is to enable easy re-purchase, or
provide access to special content and events, or add value in new ways that bridge the
physical and digital realms.
 Connect – Are a number of people buying the product but not advocating it?
 Consume – Is there lost opportunities to connect with your consumers to make
them aware of other or new products?
 Influence – Post purchase social engagement now drives pre-purchase decisions of
friends and family. In this way, social media is closing the customer journey loop.
Clearly, loyalty is the optimal outcome for every brand. But, there are active and passive
forms of loyalty, and the opens a brand up to competitive vulnerability.
Bottom-line: The key insight is that in the digital economy you can longer just force
your brand upon people. Rather, you have to
earn awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty by being ready to engage with
consumers. Your brand will dictate which pillar is the most important to invest in.

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

In today's tech landscape, a solid digital marketing strategy has become the CMO's new
bread and butter; the only question now is how to best serve it up. Your business's
success depends on the right type of strategy, and the right type of strategy can in turn
lead to higher sales, new customers, and long-term growth.

Traditional online advertising is a thing of the past. Why? Bottom line, it's more annoying
than effective. One study found that 18- to 34-year-olds are likely to ignore online
banner and digital ads more than those on TV and radio or in newspapers. What's
more, 54 percent of internet users don't click on banner ads simply because they don't
trust them.

It's now a CMO's job to stay ahead of the digital marketing curve, keep up-to-date on
trends, and break through the clutter. Here are seven tips to optimize your digital
marketing strategy.

1. Prioritize customer needs over bells and whistles.

While your team is consumed with building your web presence and developing your
product or service, it's easy to lose sight of the customer you want to target. "When
building a brand online, too many people rush to buy ads and acquire traffic to drive
revenues by brute force," says Tony Delmercado, co-founder and COO of Hawke
Media. "Small efficiency improvements in conversion rates, email capture, and
retargeting can pay huge dividends -- tighten up the mouse trap first, then buy eyeballs.
You'll acquire and retain customers more cost-efficiently and keep money in your coffers
for higher-risk marketing strategies."

2. Audit and update your SEO more frequently.

You may know your product or service is great, but is it reaching all the people it could
be? Search engine optimization can significantly help your brand reach the people who
want what you're offering. Industry experts recommend updating your SEO once a
quarter; after all, Google updates its algorithm more than 500 times a year. Find the
keywords that are making your business gain or lose traction in the search engine cycle
in order to make your brand as discoverable and searchable as possible.

3. Prioritize blogging as a lead generation tool.

Speaking of SEO: Posting relevant and valuable content drives traffic to your website
and social media pages, while also increasing your ranking in search engines. In fact,
marketers who blog are 13 times more likely to experience positive return on
investment, and companies that blog generate 67 percent more leads than those who
don't.

Each post you create is one more indexed page on your website, making it more likely
customers will find you when searching online. It also indicates to search engines that
your website is active, which will help surface your content to the top of search engine
results. Further, blogging gives your brand a voice, and 91 percent of consumers say
they are more likely to buy from a brand that is authentic rather than generic.

4. Host high-quality webinars and live events.

There are a variety of digital marketing resources you can use to engage with your
audience, including webinars, podcasts, and online promotion of live events. To
streamline the process of event promotion, try using a third party to make the process
seamless. Event technology platforms like Eventbrite help brands create and market an
event, as well as promote ticket sales and manage their audience. By getting some
external help with the details, you can focus on the big picture and create an experience
your customers will remember long after it's over.

5. Expand and refine your email distribution efforts.

Email marketing is still one of the best ways to reach your audience, and the fact that it
costs nearly nothing to execute makes it one of the best tools to add to your toolkit.
Email open rates have increased 180 percent on mobile devices since 2014, and more
than half of all U.S. cellphone owners access their email on their phone rather than a
desktop.
Email works better than other mobile forms of notifications (like text messages) because
they don't cost the consumer anything, can be accessed on devices other than phones,
and have more space to deliver a message. Emails keep your audience engaged
across platforms, which in turn helps keep your brand top of mind.

6. Don't give social media short shrift.

Social media has become one of the biggest tools for marketing any brand. By first
finding out what platforms your audience uses, you can then target your posts to the
best times and dates to share. Engage with your audience on social media by starting
conversations and responding to both praise and grievances. Sixty-seven percent of
consumers use social media for customer service inquiries, so make sure that you
become a part of that narrative so that you can direct it to a positive outcome.

7. Make your marketing mobile.

Even if a desktop version of your marketing content looks great, be sure to check that it
translates across devices. Consumers expect cohesion across platforms, and the better
accessibility you provide your audience, the more likely they are to purchase.

Remember that authenticity reigns supreme in any of these strategies. Once you have
that, an online presence allows you to connect with your audience in ways previously
unknown and build a brand that they'll continuously want to engage with.

A website is a collection of interlinked web pages with a common domain name. The
website can be made by any individual, group, or company. All the websites together
constitute the world wide web. The website can be of several types, like an e-
commerce website, social media website, or a blog website, and every website has a
different role, but one thing is common that every website has several linked web
pages.
You can create a random website where on the first page you can add a picture of
your favorite dish and link that page to another web page where you can add or write
about yourself. Initially, the structure of a web page was made using HTML, a
hypertext markup language. The domain name categorizes the types of websites:
commercial websites used .com extension and non-profit organization
used .org extension.
Types of Websites

There are so many types of websites available and we cannot discuss each type, so
there we discuss some basic websites in detail:
Personal Website
These websites are used for sharing your personal information. Also, you can share
your philosophical thoughts and showcase your work. Many people use personal
websites to brand themselves.
Photo Sharing Website
This type of website enables you to store your photographs online and share them
with your family and friends. Here you can upload as much as you want, also manage
it as well as share it (private or public).
Blog
A blog is a website where people share information, ideas, and views. It is a place
where you can express your vision and your thoughts to the world. Earlier, blogs were
used as a journal, but now they are becoming one of the important mass
communication tools where people get to know about new things. WordPress and
Google blogger are famous blogging sites where you can write articles. Blogs include
a travel blog, news blog, cooking blog, etc.
Informational website
The term itself gives us the idea. This website provides information on various topics.
We very often get confused about many things and searching for them in a book is
very time-taking. These websites save our lives, as we get information about
everything. For example, Wikipedia is an information website where you can get
information about everything related to history, geography, science and technology,
cinema, famous people, etc.
E-commerce website
This website is a place for online shopping where a person can buy or sell a product.
Amazon, Flipkart, and Olx are some of the examples of an E-commerce website. E-
commerce has a lot of potentials to grow as nowadays, people tend to shop online
because of their hectic life.
Social Media website
This is the most popular website where people can connect with each other. Social
media websites enable the user to share their personal information, pictures, video
ideas, and opinion in real-time. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are some examples
of social media websites.
Educational Websites
Education websites include websites of colleges and schools and tuitions. The new
normal has changed the structure of educational institutions. Nowadays, people are
learning through online classes and the demands of educational websites also grow.
As people want to learn more than their college and schools. So there are platforms
like Coursera, GeeksforGeeks where people are learning more than their college and
school.
Portfolio Websites
These websites are used to showcase your best work to a professional. It is a more
personal website where creative people add their creativity to showcase their industry.
A portfolio website is a majorly creative one. For example, I am a writer and I want a
job in digital content writing. Then I can make a portfolio website where I can
showcase my different type of writing style on the website.
Non-Profit Websites
We all know marketing is the essence of the business and, more importantly, it is a
public presence. Likewise, non-profit organizations to need attention from the public
and thus, websites come into the picture. These days, every NGO has its own
website. They use them to inform their audience, raising funds, and also informing
about themselves what they are doing. For example, GateFoundation.org is a non-
profit website.
Magazine and News Websites
Many people got confused with a blog website and news websites. Basically, a news
website focused on journalism rather than personal interests. These days every media
house has a digital presence on the internet. News and magazine websites monetize
through advertisement and subscription models. For example, The Times of India
have their own website called timesofindia.indiatimes.com where you can read news
online.

Sample Questions

Question 1: What do you mean by website?

Solution:
The website is a collection of interlinked web pages, with a common domain name.
The website can be made by any individual, group, or company. All the websites
together constitute the world wide web.
Question 2: What is the worldwide web? When it was discovered?
Solution:
Timothy Berners-Lee has invented the world wide web in the year 1989. Basically, the
world wide web is an interconnected system of all public web pages which can be
enabled through an internet connection.
Question 3: What are the languages need for Web development?
Solution:
For developing a website, a developer should know many languages, like HTML, CSS,
JavaScript etc. But, initially, a developer needs to command over HTML, which is the
basic requirement to develop a website.
Question 4: What is an e-commerce website? Give an example of it.
Solution:
The E-commerce website is a place for online shopping where a person can buy or
sell a product. Amazon, Flipkart and Olx are some of the examples of an E-commerce
website.
Question 5: Write any 4 types of websites with examples.
Solution:
There are many websites present on the internet. Let’s discuss some of them:
The blog is a website where people share information, their ideas and views. It is a
place where you can express your vision and your thoughts to the world. Earlier, Blogs
were used as a journal, but now they are becoming one of the important mass
communication tools where people get to know about new things. WordPress and
Google blogger are one of the famous blogging sites where you can write articles.
The informational website provides information on various topics. For example,
Wikipedia is an information website where you can get information about everything.
Social media websites are the most popular websites that enable the user to share
their personal information, pictures, video opinions and opinion in real-time. Facebook
and Twitter are examples of social media websites.
Educational websites include websites of colleges and schools and institutions. The
new normal has changed the structure of educational institutions. Nowadays, people
are learning through online classes and the demands of educational websites are also
growing. As people want to learn more than their college and schools.

What is a Blog? – The Definition of Blog, Blogging, and Blogger

In the beginning, a blog was more of a personal diary that people shared online, and it
goes back to 1994. In this online journal, you could talk about your daily life or share
things you do. But, people saw an opportunity to communicate any information in a new
way. So began the beautiful world of blogging.

What is a Blog?

Definition of blog
A blog (shortening of “weblog”) is an online journal or informational website displaying
information in the reverse chronological order, with latest posts appearing first. It is a
platform where a writer or even a group of writers share their views on an individual
subject.

What is the purpose of a blog?

There are many reasons for starting a personal blog and only a handful of strong ones
for business blogging. Blogging for business, projects, or anything else that might bring
you money has a very straightforward purpose – to rank your website higher in Google
SERPs, a.k.a. increase your visibility.

As a business, you rely on consumers to keep buying your products and services. As a
new business, you rely on blogging to help you get to these consumers and grab their
attention. Without blogging, your website would remain invisible, whereas running a
blog makes you searchable and competitive.

So, the main purpose of a blog is to connect you to the relevant audience.

Another one is to boost your traffic and send quality leads to your website.

The more frequent and better your blog posts are, the higher the chances for your
website to get discovered and visited by your target audience. Which means, a blog is
an effective lead generation tool. Add a great call to action (CTA), and it will convert
your website traffic into high-quality leads.

But a blog also allows you to showcase your authority and build a brand.

When you use your niche knowledge for creating informative and engaging posts, it
builds trust with your audience. Great blogging makes your business looks more
credible, which is especially important if your brand is still young and fairly unknown. It
ensures presence and authority at the same time.

Blog structure
The appearance of blogs changed over time, and nowadays blogs include different
items. But, most blogs include some standard features and structure. Here are common
features that a typical blog will include:

 Header with the menu or navigation bar

 Main content area with highlighted or latest blog posts
 Sidebar with social profiles, favorite content, or call-to-action
 Footer with relevant links like a disclaimer, privacy policy, contact page, etc.
Above example is the basic structure of the blog. Each item has its own importance and
helps visitors to navigate through your blog.
Blogs and websites
A majority of people still wonder whether there is any difference between a blog and a
website. What is a blog and what is a website? It’s even more challenging to
differentiate between the two today. Many companies are integrating blogs into their
sites to perform the same function.

What differentiates blogs from websites?

Blogs need frequent updates. Good examples include a food blog sharing meal recipes
or a company writing about their industry news.
Blogs promote perfect reader engagement. Readers get a chance to comment and
voice their different concerns to the viewer. Static websites, on the other hand, consists
of the content presented on static pages. Static websites owners rarely update their
pages. Blog owners update their site with new blog posts on a regular basis.

Key elements that identify a blog post from a static page include a publishing date,
author reference, categories, and tags within a byline. While not all blog posts have all
those by line elements, static website pages do not have any of these items.

From a visitor perspective, the content on a static site will not change from one visit to
the next. The content on a blog, yet, has the potential to offer something new each day,
week, or month. Depending on the blog owner’s publishing schedule.

What is blogging?

In the early 2000s, blogging emerged in all different phases when several political blogs
were born. Also, blogs with how-to manuals began to appear. Established institutions
began to note the difference between journalism and blogging.

Definition of blogging
Blogging is the set of many skills that one needs to run and control a blog. Equipping
web page with tools to make the process of writing, posting, linking, and sharing content
easier on the internet.
Why is blogging so popular?
It’s important to mention that blogging grows with each passing day! Hence, to answer
the question ‘what is blogging’ we need to look at the factors behind its rise.

In the early stages, blogs became mainstream, as news services began using them as
tools for outreach and opinion forming. It became a new source of information.
Businesses saw a good way to improve the customer’s level of satisfaction. Through
blogging, companies keep clients and customers up to date. The more people visit your
blog, the more exposure and trust your brand gets.

Personal and niche bloggers, saw the potential to reach to more people interested in
specific topics. Through a blog, visitors can comment and interact with you or your
brand which helps you create a network of loyal followers.

Did you know you could earn money through blogging? Once your blog gets enough
attention and fans, you can look into ways of monetizing your blog. Through the blog,
you can offer your services and sell products.
Who is a blogger?

In recent times, bloggers have become famous for various reasons. An alternative
career or job to many, more people are choosing to join the ranks. So who are
bloggers? These are individuals who love sharing parts of their lives with you. They post
various topics from arts, home designs, carpentry, and finance articles. Bloggers are
mobile and don’t need to be in one place. They live on the internet!

Definition of blogger
A blogger is someone who runs and controls a blog. He or she shares his or her opinion
on different topics for a target audience.

Why are many people blogging today?

Would you want to have a blog of your own? Yes! Most people today are creating a blog
for various reasons. Every human being has its story to tell. Hence, through the internet,
bloggers can communicate to a larger group of people.

Why is blogging so popular? Blogs allow you to talk about any topics and express your
opinion. You’ll find some bloggers writing on every activity that took place during the
day. These may range from small issues such as waking up, to major issues like human
rights and climate changes! Remember that as a blogger running your own blog, you
need to rely on the topics that you love and strive to become one of the best blogs on
the web.
Are bloggers getting paid?
Bloggers do earn money, but this is not a get-rich-quick kind of profession.

Before you can start monetizing your blog, you need to build both your Google SERPs
ranking and your niche influence. And that takes plenty of time and quality content.
Money-making opportunities won’t present themselves until you’ve gained some
credibility in the field. So, get down to business.

Here’s how you can make good money as a top-ranked niche blogger:

 Selling ad space on your blog privately or via Google AdSense.

 Becoming an affiliate partner privately or through ad networks.
 Selling your own digital products such as eBooks and tutorials.
 Selling memberships for access to exclusive content or advice.
 Using your blog as a content marketing tool for your business.
If you’re starting a blog as a way to market and boost your existing business, you
probably won’t be selling ad space or memberships. But you can create and start
offering exclusive digital products such as eBooks, guides, or online courses as a lead
capturing tool in exchange for visitors’ email addresses.

That way, you’ll nudge them one step further down your sales funnel.

Guest blogging, also called “guest posting,” is the act of writing content for another
company’s website. Generally, guest bloggers write for similar blogs within their
industry in order to:

 Attract traffic back to their website

 Boost their domain authority using external links to high-authority domains

 Increase their brand credibility and awareness, and

 Build relationships with peers in their industry.

Almost always, guest blogging offers mutual benefits for both the guest blogger and
the website hosting the guest content. In other words, guest blogging is a two-way
street — so when you decide to hop on the guest blogging bandwagon, you should
consider featuring posts by guest bloggers on your own website, too.

Why Is Guest Blogging Important For Your Business?

Guest blogging offers a number of benefits for any business. By sharing your
expertise on other companies’ websites, you can establish yourself as an authority
figure within your market, build relationships with other thought leaders in your field
and expose your brand to an entirely new audience.

Additionally, featuring guest posts on your own blog will help you deliver new
perspectives and fresh content to your audience. We’re all guilty of falling victim to a
routine and growing tired of the same old stuff, so featuring guest posts is a great way
to keep readers engaged — not to mention the promotional boost that occurs when
your guest bloggers share their blogs with their personal network.

Some blogs, like OpenView, source the majority of their content from other leaders in
their industry. Even if you don’t have the resources to stick to a robust blogging
cadence, guest bloggers can help you offer new content to your readers without much
additional time and effort needed by your team.