Did you know that over 60% of the global population is online ?

 Did you know that over 60% ofthe global population is online, and more people are joining them every day? That's why every business, big or small, needs an online presence to be competitive. Butit's not enough just to have a website. There may be a lot of people online, but there's also a lot of companies that want their attention and their business. Your target audience needs to know you exist, how you can help them, and what makes you different from the competition. Breaking through this crowded field and actually reaching potential customers— that's where digital marketing comes in. Now, you might have noticed,I haven't mentioned anything about selling products yet. That's becaused igital marketing is bigger than sales. It's not that selling products or services isn't important, but it's only one piece of what digital marketing can do for companies. Individual sales are easy to measure, but they don't mean much if your targetaudience doesn't trust your brand or your customers don't come back fora second, third, or fourth purchase. A successful digital marketing effortguides all of the company's customer interactions. It allows companies to think strategicallyabout how to reach customers through digital channels before,during, and after a purchase. It can be harder to measurehe value of these activities, but a well-coordinated strategy allowsbusinesses to thrive online and even grow. Let's think through an example: Imagine a company that makes running shoesdecides to invest in digital marketing. They create some video ads and place them on a popular news site. They create accounts for several socialmedia platforms and start posting content. But their posts don'tget much engagement, and their ads don't attractmany new customers. What's worse, they don't even knowwhy they aren't getting results. They've wasted time, money, and resourceson a digital campaign that doesn't work. Now, let's think about what could havehappened if that same company made an effort to learn about their audience. Instead of posting ads on a news website, they targeted sites that\focused on running. Because they did research, they knewwhere to find their new customers online. That knowledge also let themcreate tailored content for their social media accountsthat reach the right audience. And, because theyresearched their audience, they were able to set meaningful goals fortheir strategy. With clear goals in place, they knewexactly how to measure their success. The information they measured allowed themto adjust their customer communication and improve their video,social, and email campaigns. They were able to recognize opportunitiesto reach potential customers and engage with them effectively. Yes, sales went up, but their well-planned digital strategyalso built awareness, trust, and loyalty. You'll learn more abouthow marketers create and execute strategies like thisone throughout the program. For now, let's recap: Digital marketingis more than running ads to drive sales. It's a set of practices that can affecta company's customer interactions at all levels and during every stageof the purchase journey. By learning about their customers,digital marketing teams can reach their target audience in a crowdedonline marketplace and nurture customer relationships over time. Coming up, you'll learn more aboutthe value digital marketing creates for businesses and some of the challenges marketingteams face when planning and executing strategies foronline engagement.