The Role of Digital Media and Social Networking in Marketing Communications

The 21^st century has seen the creation of a digitalised generation. When in the past print and broadcast medias’ were used to reach out to consumers that has now become the role of digital media. So much so that some print publications are converting to having a purely online presence.

So how does this digital generation use technology to reach consumers and sell products?

Well, Digital Marketing can be defined as all forms of marketing material that is delivered through electronic devices. To expand on this you can look at the Digital Marketing Mix:

• Email Marketing – Delivers personalised and targeted messages to a specific audience using data gathered from online purchases. 

•  Search Engine Optimisation – Figuring out what people type into a search engine when searching for your website, and adapting the site’s name/description so that it flags up when searched. 

•  Pay Per Click – Paid adverts on search results, usually placed above or to the sides and are highlighted. Can cost anything from £1-£50 per click. 

•  Online advertising – Buying banner space or advertising on a specific website. 

•  Affiliate Marketing – Similar to online advertising; however the site that’s hosting the advert will get commission based on how many sales are made through the ad. 

•  Text messaging – Promotional messages, targeted to a specific group gathered from past purchases on data given online. For example, Dominoes Pizza text-discount. 

• Blogging – Making a blog attractive, current and searchable through good use of search engine optimisation and design techniques. 

•  Viral marketing – Creating material that naturally spreads throughout your target market. Think of Social Media campaigns, videos, or blogs.  

Social Media is one of the main forms of digital marketing. According to eMarketer, 1.97billion people will be frequently using social media by the end of 2014, which is 27.6% of the global population.

S   Social media can help a brand to: 

•  Increase brand recognition – Twitter you can use hashtags and people can see a brands personality through their tweets. Brands can create Facebook pages. 

•  Improve brand loyalty 

•  Have a constant presence – the more a consumer sees of a brand the more likely they are to convert. 

•  Increase traffic – the more social media sites you have you are increasing your chances of a new customer seeing you. 

•  Analyse customers – Tools are available now where you can analyse the traffic to your site, finding out where your viewers are located, what route they took to your site, and at what point they left.

When looking at the Digital Marketing Mix and the benefits of Social Media, we can see that a lot of the benefits come from being able to target specific groups instantly and directly.
Brands can now speak with their consumers’ one on one via social media, which raises their online activity, allows them to find out what the consumer wants, and comforts and attracts the consumer as they receive instant feedback from what feels like an actual person as opposed to a voice on the phone or a letter. 

So what audience does digital media have?

According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm, 39.3% of the global population use the internet; this shows a growth of 676.3% over the past 4 years. And according to Business Insider, by the end of 2013 there were 2 smartphones for every 9 people in the world, showing an increase of 17% since 2009.
We can see from these figures that technology is rapidly becoming a permanent part of people’s lives. As a constantly changing and updating platform it’s essential for brands to keep up-to-date and to make the most of this invaluable marketing tool.