Digital Marketing as a new form of art? Are you for real?
What is Digital Marketing?
Many of us may (or may not) know that Digital Marketing has everything to do with all types of online marketing efforts and strategies. Whether you engage in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media marketing, or email marketing, you’re basically curating your own digital strategy. A strategy directed at gaining potential leads throughout the customer journey.
Digital Marketing may sound too technical to grasp, but seeing Digital Marketing as a New Form of Art allows us to understand this concept further.
So, how exactly is Digital Marketing a new form of art?
Whether you’re on Facebook, Instagram, or building your business’ website, you need to play around with different types of marketing assets in order to convey your marketing message (or key message). We liken this mix and match of elements to art because it’s important to have your online content and social advertising delight customers, just as how viewers of art delight in a painting they see.
Think of the strokes of a sketch as the marketing assets you have at your business’ disposal. Imagine the colors of an artwork as the marketing tools you can use to reinforce your digital marketing plan and campaign. Liken the shape of a sculpture to the valuable content that you put out for your digital presence to be felt by prospective customers.
As a digital marketer, it is absolutely vital to learn how to use these assets to execute beautiful marketing strategies, whether it be for display advertising, search advertising, affiliate marketing, or any other type of digital marketing strategy.
Okay, so what are the forms of art I can use in Digital Marketing?
To create marketing content that attracts potential customers, it is important to know the different digital marketing assets that you have available for use.
Here are some examples of digital tools:
- Branded assets (i.e. icons, logos, tone of voice, color palette, fonts, etc)
- Images (i.e. product shots, memes and gifs, slideshows, infographics, etc.)
- Written content (i.e. newsletters, blog posts, testimonials, company websites, etc.)
- Video content (i.e. tutorials for a complete beginner, digital video ads, etc.)
- Others (i.e. complementary courses, online degrees, webinars, audio, etc.)
Learning how to combine these different elements to create your very own online marketing tactic and integrated strategy will help your business’ social platforms build the organic traffic it needs. Because ultimately, digital marketing is a form of art that needs to look beautiful in the eyes of your viewers.
Matching your "art" to delight customers in Digital Marketing
It’s important to note that not everyone would be appealed to a single work of art. This means the same for digital marketing campaigns in the sense that not everyone can be your target market.
Thus, there is a need for you to understand the customer behavior specific to your business. This includes the digital channels they use, their buying cycle, and the buying decision one faces. Furthermore, identifying the type of business you’re in is essential to matching your approach to marketing with your strategic approach. Whether it’s dealing with B2C customers or running B2B companies, matching your strategy counts.
Although we know art to be a free form of expression, the reality is that if your art does not appeal to anyone, then your art will never be given the chance to reach a bigger audience.
This is exactly what challenges marketers today: finding the digital marketing strategy that fits both the needs of the business owner and the customers.
Here’s a classic example. Publishing social media posts that do not contain digital marketing assets that delight customers.
Although the social media marketer believes that the digital tools used are aligned with the overall digital marketing campaign, the marketing efforts would have been put to waste because the posts do not help bring in organic traffic. This does no good for social media presence.
In other words, putting out online content that doesn’t match the social media accounts you want to target, squanders the marketing budgets allocated for your social media strategy.
Creating a fit between your content strategy and customer behavior would then mean curating digital touchpoints that meet your consumers wherever they are.
This entails looking into the digital marketing assets that your consumers are into and also knowing where they are most likely to be found.
Everything leads us to the question:
What Digital Marketing Strategy is for me and my "art"?
To address current issues, the art industry has adapted by creating online art expos, art blogs, and online art auctions. The rise of digital artists has also been a trend within the world of art. If something as traditional as art learns how to evolve, this only reinforces the need to do the same.
Every digital marketer must ask themselves, “What types of content do my customers enjoy most?”
Living in the digital age, the majority of people are on a mobile device and are part of vast digital networks. They can be scrolling through search engines or social media channels, watching online courses, or answering their emails.
Being able to curate your digital marketing efforts to fit your customers means selecting the right medium or type of marketing to place your content in. Just like how artists can choose to paint on canvas, chisel on marble, or draw on paper, your digital marketing activities should reinforce your reach and campaign.
An example of a digital marketing tactic that you can employ is content marketing. Here, one must be able to create and distribute content that is valuable, relevant, and consistent. This is to be able to attract and retain a defined market, as to drive purchase and thus revenue. There is a wide range of mediums that you can choose from to engage in.
Other examples are:
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Search Engine Marketing
- Pay-per-click
- Internet Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- App Marketing
- Viral Marketing
- Business Marketing, and many more!
You literally have all the blank canvases you can choose from in order to match your digital content to where your target audience are most seen.
Knowing the type of exclusive content your potential customers enjoy and unravelling customer behavior will lead you to significant engagement with audiences that you wish to reach.
How do I know where to "display my art" on digital?
With art, independent artists and digital artists know where enthusiasts and collectors (AKA their target audience) spend their time looking for new pieces. Gone are the days when traditional marketing channels were the only forms of reaching their desired arts audiences. (i.e. direct marketing and word-of-mouth marketing)
The rise of digital channels, such as social media platforms, have enabled independent artists to touch base with their loyal customers, fan base, and creative commons. With the vast majority present on social channels, artists are able to use these digital marketing platforms. Such avenues have become powerful tools in creating audience anticipation and audience engagement.
Just like these digital artists, internalizing the customer journey of your target market is an essential step to creating relevant content. By doing so, potential customers can fully enjoy the online channels you are present in.
Some questions you can ask yourself and your customers are:
- What social networks are they engaged in?
- Which digital platforms do they use on a regular basis?
- Do they notice specific consumer behavior, such as the time of the day they are on these online platforms?
- How long do they spend on such digital marketing channels?
Discovering the answers to these questions will give you consumer insights. Examples being the digital marketing platform to best use and when to be present in real-time.
The usual spaces where businesses foster audience engagement are Facebook and their very own website. Other digital platforms can include Instagram and Twitter.
However…
It’s important to note that while you’re trying to land new clients, retaining current customers should also be a priority. Continuous engagement with audiences both old and new is a necessary aspect of customer care and customer relationship management.
Just like how artists continuously create pieces that make current customers fall in love all over again, digital marketers must release content that fosters audience anticipation for their current followers and consumers.
All Our Exclusive Marketing Tips, Wrapped Up
1. Treat your content like art.
Use different medleys of your digital marketing assets. This helps create beautiful marketing collaterals and campaigns that are able to feed the eyes of your target customers.
2. Be sure your art matches the audience you’ve set your eyes on, while achieving your business goals.
It’s important to be creative. Additionally, a marketer must curate content to feed the eyes and capture the heart of prospective audiences. At the end of the day, you are creating collaterals that are meant to elicit profitable customer actions.
3. Select the best medium to convey your art on digital.
Try out different digital marketing strategies. See what works best for you and your audience. Once you’ve found the type of content and marketing that your customers best interact with, you’ve hit gold.
4. Find the perfect place to display your art where both new and old audiences can enjoy it.
Unravel where customers spend their hours and meet them there. Be at the right place at the right time, whether it be on Facebook or Instagram. Focus your efforts on platforms where you can hone audience engagement and anticipation for both current and future customers.
