Digital Marketing Concepts
Strategy, objectives and tactics
Digital marketing uses internet-connected channels to attract, convert and keep customers. Candidates must separate three levels of planning: the strategy (the overall approach to a business goal), the objective (a measurable target), and the tactic (a concrete action such as a paid search campaign or a newsletter). Objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Each objective needs a KPI that reflects a business outcome rather than a vanity number.
Media, audience and journey
Classify activity by who controls the channel: owned (website, blog, email list), paid (search ads, sponsored posts, display), and earned (reviews, shares, press mentions). Outbound marketing pushes a message to a broad audience; inbound marketing attracts people who are already searching for an answer. A buyer persona is a research-based profile of a representative customer. The customer journey - awareness, consideration, conversion, retention, advocacy - tells you which content and channel suits each stage. Every message needs a clear value proposition and unique selling point.
Traps in questions
- Segmentation divides a market; targeting selects which segments to serve; positioning is the place you want to occupy in the customer's mind.
- Reach counts unique people; impressions count total views, so impressions are usually higher.
- ROI compares profit with cost; ROAS compares revenue with ad spend, so ROAS is the larger figure.
- Likes and follower counts are effort metrics; they are only KPIs if they are explicitly tied to an objective.
Rule of thumb
Conversion rate = conversions ÷ visitors × 100. If 1,500 visitors produced 45 orders, the rate is 3%. Judge that figure against the target written into the SMART objective, not against a competitor's headline number.