Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Marketing

4 Pillars Of Digital Marketing

The Dot-com bubble in the late 90s gave birth to a never before heard or seen form of marketing – Digital Marketing. As with any new technology or idea, the initial phase of going digital received a lot of backlash and ridicule from the traditional market. Business owners were not ready to change the way they have successfully run their businesses for decades. But in the end, it was digital marketing and advertising that revamped the whole business ecosystem. Over the years, digital marketers gave insights, reports and strategies that, when accumulated, formed the Pillars of Digital marketing

How many digital marketing pillars are there? It’s a valid question that we get asked a lot. 

There are 4 pillars of digital marketing that separate it from traditional marketing: Content, Communication, Community and Commerce. 

  1. Content

It is the subliminal and supraliminal messages that help a brand connect with its target audience and produce desired results. 

  1. Communication

It is the channel via which you share your message.

  1. Community

As a brand, you build a community to increase brand awareness and loyalty.

  1. Commerce

Digital commerce is the entry point for people to interact and reach the final stage of the buyer’s journey. 

Now that you know the four pillars of digital marketing, let us delve deeper into the pillars so that you can build a framework for your business. 

Content Pillar

Content marketing is the driving force behind a successful digital marketing strategy. In a world where information is power, people search for free information for research, entertainment and education. Quality content attracts your target audience and conveys your messages in an easy to consume format. 

Here are some interesting statistics about content marketing:

  • 97% of online businesses have content marketing as a part of their overall marketing strategy.
  • 57% of businesses have a documented content marketing strategy.
  • 36% of businesses are focused on generating leads through content marketing.

B2B companies are very committed to content marketing, and the image below shows why:

statistics about content marketing

When it comes to content marketing for B2B and B2C companies, most can achieve their desired results with the following types of content:

  1. Foundational
  2. FAQ
  3. Cyclical
  4. Crowd Pleaser
  5. Long Playing

Tip: When you create content, follow the “Thanksgiving Turkey Approach” to reuse the content across various platforms. 

Communication Pillar

There are only three ways to communicate your message, and they are:

One-to-Many Communications

One single medium in which information flows from one source to the target audience, or what we call traditional marketing. Examples include email marketing, sms marketing, whatsapp marketing, etc.

One-to-One Communications

In this form of marketing communication, the brand communicates with a specific individual and these communications are targeted. For example, personalised emails, personalised text messages, etc.

Many-to-Many Communications

In this model, information is shared on multiple channels and received by many sources. The most apt example of this is social media marketing. A key thing to note is that there is no singular core source for many to many communications. 

Community Pillar 

Creating a community for your brand is probably the most important and impactful aspect of marketing. Harley Davidson is a perfect example that highlights the importance of building a community that resonates with your brand. In 1983, the brand was on the verge of extinction, but two decades later, Harley Davidson was valued at 7.8 billion dollars. Harley built a community of ardent consumers that became the most reliable spokesperson for the brand.

Commerce Pillar

Commerce Pillar

A picture is worth a thousand words and the image above explains everything you need to know about the commerce pillar of digital marketing. According to a study, approximately 27% of people prefer to shop online and 40% of consumers start their journey of buying a product by searching for it on Amazon first.

There are various digital commerce entry points, including:

  • Website
  • Application
  • Social Media
  • Review websites
  • YouTube
  • Public Forums

Conclusion

Content, communications, community and commerce are the 4 pillars of digital marketing, and when used correctly, the pillars can help you in establishing your business online and developing a relationship with your customers.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Load More Posts Loading...No More Posts.