Digital Marketing - it's not a stand alone item

The term 'Digital Marketing" is used to refer to both inbound and outbound marketing that takes place online.  There is a bunch of acronyms like SEO and PPC to describe what you have to do; and terminology like engagement and subscribes to measure the effectiveness of what you did.  I'm here to tell you that digital marketing does not stand alone - it is the distribution channel or mechanism for your marketing message and content.  

So- do I do digital marketing? - of course, but first you need to know what your message is, have a strategy, create content and get the word out using an assortment of digital marketing methods.

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Practical application

Outbound programs

This is how you entice everyone to look and promote your message/content. For example:

• Send emails to promote your new ebook
• Place a LinkedIn ad to invite people to your webinar series
• Run a Facebook contest
• Tweet the headline of your new blog post

Inbound Programs

This is how you get found and get people to stay on the site.

• Make sure your content is relevant- and easy to navigate
• Figure out the keywords that are important to you and use them in proper context
• Blog about new things in your industry

Bricks and Mortar

Sometimes it's good to get out from behind the screen.

• Host a user group meeting 
• Offer an after work seminar
• Get a table at a local networking meetup