Digital Marketing - An Ocean of Possibilities

How often do you scroll through your Instagram feed? Have you noticed that on average, every fourth post you see in a sponsored advertisement?

That is an example of social media marketing which is a part of a larger umbrella term, known as Digital Marketing.

Marketing is all about understanding your audience and reaching out to them. When this process takes via an electronic device, it’s called digital marketing. Contrary to popular belief that Digital Marketing is a new age practice, it’s actually not and has been present for decades now. It’s just that, with the widespread usage of the internet, Digital Marketing has become more profound as more and more people shift online.

We largely tend to associate Digital Marketing with just Social Media Marketing, but there’s more to it. Just to clear some mind blocks about Digital Marketing, let’s take a look at HUL’s missed call campaign for rural India.

In December 2011, HUL’s detergent brand Wheel actively advertised a toll-free number. Every time a user gave a missed call on it, they would get 20 minutes of voice entertainment in their regional language for free.

How did this help HUL?

In the 20 minute clip, there were a few snippets of wheel detergent advertisements. While they used print media to spread the toll-free number, it can be considered a digital marketing technique.

The campaign was a huge success with over 5 million missed calls from 7.7 lakh people. It helped them increase their brand awareness by a great deal.

There are various niche segments within Digital Marketing which are employed by brands to cater to different needs of the target audience. Each type has its specific purpose each of which deserves a write up of their own.

In essence, Digital Marketing is much more than what meets the eye and the first step is to look beyond the purview of just Social Media. Innovation and Discovery of various possibilities in an endless ocean of what we call Digital Marketing is what brands need to leverage and differentiate themselves from the competition.