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Overview of Digital Marketing: A Beginner’s Guide

HT Vũ Ngọc 19 Jan, 2025 Facebook Marketing

Welcome, and thank you for being here,

If you’re a beginner, this article will help you understand the foundational knowledge of Digital Marketing. The content of this article focuses on explaining the most important aspects of Digital Marketing, such as:

  • Definition of Digital Marketing
  • Why is Digital Marketing important?
  • Popular types of Digital Marketing
  • What do Digital Marketers do?
  • The difference between Digital Marketing and Online Marketing
  • Strategies for implementing Digital Marketing

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, encompasses marketing activities on all digital platforms such as electronic devices or the internet.

In simpler terms, any marketing campaign that takes place in a digital environment is considered digital marketing.

Why is Digital Marketing Important?

Over the years, digital marketing has become an essential part of businesses’ marketing strategies.

Compared to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing allows you to reach potential customers faster and target them more precisely. Additionally, allocating the budget for digital marketing is very flexible, allowing adjustments at various stages of the marketing campaign.

Here are some reasons why digital marketing is crucial:

The ability to target precisely results in higher conversion rates.

Think back to television ads, outdoor billboards, or magazine ads. These marketing methods make it very difficult to measure the exact number of viewers or readers. However, digital marketing works differently.

Digital marketing allows you to specifically target your audience, while providing personalized content that leads to higher conversion rates.

For example, you can use Google AdWords or SEO to reach people who are interested in your products or services by targeting specific keywords related to your field.

Or, with advertising platforms on social media like Facebook, you can target an audience based on demographics such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors.

The use of machine learning technology and big data analytics helps advertising platforms in the digital space accurately reach customers who are more likely to have a need for your product.

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Optimized Advertising Costs

With digital marketing, you can fully customize your daily budget, and this can vary at different times. You can increase your budget if you see that the ad is performing well, or you can reduce spending if you notice the advertising channel has a low return on investment (ROI).

Fast Reach and Large Coverage

One of the great advantages of digital marketing is its incredibly fast reach. Through distribution platforms, advertising channels, and social media, businesses can disseminate their information rapidly.

For example, with just a few steps, you can send your brand message to thousands of target customers. Or, with just a few clicks, you can send emails to thousands of people on your list.

Large Coverage: Digital platforms have massive user data, gathered from user-submitted information or activity history. As a result, when running a digital marketing campaign, you can reach virtually any location around the world.

Ability to Measure Effectiveness

Digital marketing provides an easy and effective way to measure success using digital analytics tools. Through these measurement tools, you can accurately gauge customer interest through metrics such as video views, clicks, shares, website traffic, post reach, and associated costs.

In addition, digital marketing gives you real-time data, allowing you to estimate ROI through detailed reports at any time you check.

Variety of Marketing Methods

Today, businesses and individuals selling products online have many options to get started. There are numerous digital marketing formats available to support your marketing efforts, and I will outline these methods in more detail below.

What Does Digital Marketing Include?

  1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
  2. PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising)
  3. Content marketing
  4. Social Media Marketing
  5. Affiliate Marketing
  6. Native Advertising
  7. Marketing Automation
  8. Email Marketing
  9. Online PR
  10. Sponsored Content
  11. Inbound Marketing

Below is basic information about the strategies and tactics of the most popular types of Digital marketing

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The goal of SEO is to improve the ranking of your website on search engine results pages (SERPs) to drive more organic traffic to your site. To achieve this, SEO professionals typically implement the following optimization strategies:

  • On-Page SEO: This strategy focuses on optimizing the content available on the website. Through keyword research and understanding user intent behind these keywords, SEO experts aim to provide the best answers for users’ queries.
  • Off-Page SEO: This method focuses on activities outside of the website itself. SEO experts primarily work on building backlinks to improve the website’s authority, which helps increase its ranking on search engine results pages.
  • Technical SEO: Also known as technical search engine optimization, this method focuses on improving the user experience when accessing the website. Some key aspects of Technical SEO include improving page load speed, optimizing image sizes (image compression), enhancing structured data, and optimizing CSS files.

2. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

PPC (Pay Per Click) is a method of attracting traffic by paying for each click on your ads. Typically, when people think of PPC, they think of Google Ads, which is a type of advertising on Google’s search engine. In addition to Google Ads, there are other platforms where you can run PPC campaigns:

  • Ads on CocCoc, Bing, Yahoo: Other search engines also offer advertising platforms, though not as popular as Google Ads. These platforms still have their own customer base and can be effective for specific audiences.
  • Facebook Ads: The Facebook advertising platform allows you to show ads in the form of videos, image posts, or slideshows. These ads can appear on the News Feed or other suitable placements to help you reach potential customers.
  • TikTok Ads: TikTok has become a popular video-sharing social media platform, and its advertising platform helps you reach a large audience of potential customers through engaging video ads.
  • Twitter Ads: Similar to Facebook, Twitter’s advertising system allows businesses to implement strategies to improve website traffic or attract more followers and interactions on Twitter.
  • Sponsored Messages on LinkedIn: This form of advertising allows you to send messages directly to users on LinkedIn, offering a unique way to engage with professionals and generate leads.

3. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a form of marketing that involves storytelling and sharing useful information to raise brand awareness. The goal is to engage the audience by delivering valuable and relevant content.

To succeed in content marketing, you need to understand what your readers are looking for. What type of content will make them lose interest and leave the site, and what content will keep them engaged and spending more time on your website?

Some common content marketing strategies include:

  • Blogging: Posting blog articles on your company’s website can attract a significant amount of organic traffic. This method is often combined with SEO optimization to maximize traffic.
  • Video and Podcasts: Creating videos and podcasts is an excellent way to promote knowledge and showcase your brand to your target audience.
  • Infographics: Infographics are visually appealing content types that engage viewers effectively. Platforms like Pinterest are popular for sharing infographics globally.
  • Ebooks and Whitepapers: Ebooks and whitepapers are in-depth content pieces packed with valuable information. Websites often use these to collect contact information from readers, which can then be used to convert them into potential customers.

4. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is the process of creating content tailored to different social media platforms to encourage engagement and promote your business.

Commonly used social media platforms in marketing include:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Snapchat
  • Pinterest

Social media marketing is all about connecting with your audience or customers and helping them better understand your brand. It is incredibly beneficial for the growth of your business by building relationships and fostering brand loyalty.

5. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the process in which an affiliate earns a commission for promoting another person’s or company’s products. The affiliate simply finds a product they like, promotes it, and earns a share of the profit for each sale they generate. Sales are tracked via affiliate links from one website to another.

In Vietnam, AccessTrade is considered a pioneer in the affiliate marketing industry.

6. Native Advertising

Native advertising, also known as contextual advertising, refers to the use of paid ads that match the look, feel, and function of the platform or medium they appear on.

Native ads are commonly found in social media feeds or as suggested content on websites. Unlike traditional display or banner ads, native ads do not appear as obvious advertisements. Instead, they blend seamlessly into the content stream, making them appear as a natural part of the editorial layout of the page.

The key to native advertising is that it is non-disruptive—allowing the audience to engage with the advertising content without feeling like they are being marketed to. This subtle approach increases user engagement as it aligns more closely with the user’s experience on the platform.

7. Marketing Automation

Marketing Automation refers to the use of software to automate marketing tasks. Many marketing departments automate repetitive tasks such as email marketing, social media posting, and even advertising campaigns. This is not only for efficiency but also to provide a more personalized experience for their customers. Marketing automation technology makes these tasks easier and more effective, helping businesses scale their marketing efforts while maintaining relevance and engagement.

8. Email Marketing

Email marketing involves sending commercial emails to “email subscribers”—those who have opted in to receive emails from you. It is used to inform, promote sales, and build a community around your brand (for example, through newsletters).

The modern approach to email marketing has moved away from spammy emails and now focuses on personalization, segmentation, and obtaining consent from recipients. It’s all about sending the right message, at the right time, to the right audience.

9. Online PR

Online PR (Public Relations) refers to managing a brand’s public image through online media channels. These channels include traditional online media outlets like e-newspapers and websites, but also extend to social media platforms, blogs, and websites.

Sometimes, online PR involves collaborating with celebrities or influencers to share information with their target audience—be it fans or followers. This approach is effective for reaching wider, more engaged audiences and enhancing the credibility of the brand.

10. Sponsored Content

Sponsored content refers to a type of advertising where the publisher or influencers on social media create content that aligns with their usual style—whether it’s an article, photo, video, or other forms of media. Brands collaborate with these publishers or influencers to co-create content that sparks conversation about their product category or even a specific product. This form of content marketing blends promotional messaging with organic, trusted media formats.

11. Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is the process that helps potential customers find your company. This often happens even before the customer is ready to make a purchase, but by getting noticed early, you can create a positive relationship with the brand, which may ultimately lead them to become leads and drive revenue.

Inbound marketing is a strategy that uses various marketing methods—content marketing, blogging, events, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, etc.—to build brand awareness and attract interest from the community.

Inbound marketing focuses on visibility so that potential buyers can find you. Instead of “forcing attention,” companies using inbound marketing focus on newer methods aimed at building awareness, developing relationships, and generating leads.

Digital Marketer: Who Are They?

A digital marketer is a person responsible for utilizing digital channels to generate leads and build brand awareness.

Additionally, a digital marketer is tasked with using and analyzing data to measure and improve the performance across different channels.

In smaller companies, a digital marketer may handle all aspects of the digital marketing role. In larger organizations, these roles may be divided into different teams or departments.

Skills and Expertise for a Digital Marketer

  • Video Production: While you don’t need to be a professional video producer, you should understand how to write scripts, use platforms and apps to create videos, and enhance video appeal.
  • SEO & SEM: It’s important to understand the basic principles of SEO and SEM and the strategies for implementing them. Once you grasp the bigger picture, you can either handle the SEO yourself, build a team to do so, or hire an SEO agency for campaigns.
  • Content Marketing: You need to understand the various aspects of content and how to use it effectively. Basic concepts of viral content or storytelling are crucial for helping the company gain the most attention.
  • Data Analysis & Reading Reports: Tools like Google Analytics and ad platform reports contain valuable information. You need to understand the metrics in these reports to come up with solutions that improve conversion rates and attract more traffic.
  • Design Thinking: Design thinking is key to creating excellent user experiences. Understanding user psychology and behavior helps in developing better products and crafting effective marketing campaigns and websites.
  • Love for Technology: Technology is the foundation of the digital world. You must adapt to technological changes and have basic knowledge of security and content management systems to succeed in digital marketing.

What positions are there in Digital Marketing?

If you want to explore the digital world, you might start with one of the following positions:

SEO Manager

In this role, you will need the skills of an SEO expert to help direct content and improve the quality of content for the company. Setting clear goals with the content will help the website grow more sustainably on Google in the future.

Content Marketing Specialist

In this role, you are not just a content editor, but also responsible for planning and strategizing to help the website increase traffic and improve its ranking on Google.

You will need to collaborate with the SEO manager by using keywords and keyword groups from the SEO team to help improve the effectiveness of the content you have written.

Social Media Manager

The job of a social media manager is to focus on social media platforms to create posts with the goal of attracting the attention of readers.

In addition, developing content on social media also helps improve the SEO strategy for the website and can increase sales with advertising campaigns.

Marketing Automation Coordinator

This position focuses on technology. You will need to find the best software to analyze customer behavior, as well as systems that support sales/marketing automation. You will participate in measuring and tracking the performance of marketing campaigns.

Digital Marketing Manager

This is considered the highest position in digital marketing jobs. In this role, you will frequently oversee the overall content development process and update new technologies to optimize digital marketing strategies.

In addition, you need to focus more on communication plans to enhance brand recognition and increase traffic to boost customer conversions.

This position requires you to have extensive experience and it also requires the company to have a budget allocated for digital marketing investment.

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What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?

A digital marketing strategy is an action plan across digital channels aimed at achieving various objectives.

How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy

1. Build Customer Personas

Research your target audience and record demographic information such as location, age, occupation, income (if available), etc. Additionally, you can dive deeper into studying customer behavior and interests to understand potential customers better.

2. Set Goals

What do you want to achieve with digital marketing? Are your goals aligned with the business objectives? Goal-setting is critical—if you choose the wrong goals, your action plan will lead to an entirely different outcome.

Here are three important things to consider when setting goals:

  • What do you want to achieve?
  • When will you achieve it?
  • How will you measure the results?

3. Evaluate Current Strategies

To better understand this, you can use the Paid, Owned, Earned model to assess your digital marketing strategy.

  • Paid Media: You need to assess what results your current paid advertising channels are generating. Are these results helping you achieve your set objectives?
  • Owned Media: Evaluate your existing channels, such as blogs, websites, and social media pages. How are these channels impacting your online presence? 
  • Earned Media: You should track how much media coverage and online content is being shared related to your brand.

4. Set a Budget

You need to determine how much you can spend and allocate costs to each channel accordingly. Additionally, identify costs for the departments involved in executing the digital marketing campaign.

Difference Between Digital Marketing and Online Marketing

While digital marketing and online marketing are often used interchangeably, they are not the same thing.

  • Digital Marketing encompasses all marketing activities that use electronic devices or the internet. This includes online marketing but also includes other forms of digital marketing such as mobile apps, SMS marketing, and digital billboards.
  • Online Marketing, on the other hand, refers specifically to marketing efforts that are conducted over the internet. This includes activities such as social media marketing, SEO, PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising, email marketing, and content marketing.

Many people mistakenly believe that Digital Marketing is the same as Online Marketing. However, when viewed from a broader perspective, Digital Marketing encompasses the concept of Online Marketing. Digital Marketing refers to all forms of marketing in the digital environment, including:

  • TV
  • SMS
  • Radio
  • Billboards
  • Social Media
  • Content Marketing
  • Banner Ads
  • Email Marketing
  • Mobile Marketing
  • SEO
  • PPC

On the other hand, Online Marketing mainly refers to marketing through the Internet, including:

  • Social Media
  • Content Marketing
  • Banner Ads
  • Email Marketing
  • SEO
  • PPC

The difference also lies in the historical development of Digital Marketing and Online Marketing.

By using Google Trends to compare the two terms “digital marketing” and “online marketing,” you will clearly see the difference. See the image below.

Worldwide search trends about Digital marketing and Online marketing from 2010 to present

Since 2010, both Digital Marketing and Online Marketing have attracted attention. However, around 2012-2013, Online Marketing saw a surge in interest, but this interest quickly declined by the end of 2013.

Worldwide search trends about Digital marketing and Online marketing from 2014 to present

Since mid-2014, the trend of user interest in digital marketing has significantly surpassed that of online marketing.

Search trends in Vietnam about Digital marketing and Online marketing from 2014 to present

In Vietnam, Digital Marketing has only truly gained attention since 2018. The results from the graph clearly show that user interest in Digital Marketing has significantly surpassed Online Marketing.

This trend is entirely logical, as between 2006 and 2010, it was a golden era for forums and classified websites. Marketers in Vietnam did not have the tools available today to leverage digital strategies.

From around 2008 to 2015, marketers in Vietnam mainly used Search Engine Marketing and Social Media as their two primary tools for reaching customers. At that time, most users were only familiar with the concept of Online Marketing.

By 2016, when Online Marketing had already become commonplace through platforms like Google and Facebook, marketers realized the need for change. It was then that Digital Marketing started being applied more widely to drive more powerful marketing campaigns.

From the information above, I believe you can clearly see the distinct differences between Digital Marketing and Online Marketing.

Does digital marketing require strong technical skills?

Digital marketing does not necessarily require you to be technically skilled, but it does demand creativity and sharp thinking. You need to have a broad perspective to effectively collaborate with execution teams like SEO, content, and advertising teams (Facebook, Google). Sometimes, you might even be directly involved in creating media plans for the business.

Where should you start with Digital Marketing?

There are many paths you can take to get started with Digital Marketing. You can begin by familiarizing yourself with the primary tools of digital marketing. Once you are proficient with these tools, you can dive deeper into fields like communication and content marketing. Of course, you can also apply for internships at companies working in digital marketing to gain hands-on experience.

Another option is to join digital marketing courses, where you can receive detailed guidance and shorten the time it would take to learn on your own.

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