You are a spa business owner and someone walks up to you and asks “can you explain digital marketing to me?”… and then you start crying.
WAIT…That’s not funny! Yet, it might not be far from the truth for some of us.
Fear not, I am here to give you the “digital marketing in 5 minutes or less” overview!
In general, marketing is an umbrella term that covers many areas (all of the ones listed above and more!). It refers to any efforts that you are making to promote your business. First, let’s divide that into 2 main categories: traditional (non-digital) marketing and digital marketing.
Traditional (non-digital) marketing is composed of 5 main areas: print, phone calls, mailers, radio, and billboards. Basically, anything that isn’t digital (aka, before the internet).
And then there is digital marketing! It is also composed of 5 main areas: social media, advertising, website, SEO, and email/text. Under each of these areas, there are hundreds of ways to do it, so right now, let’s just focus on WHAT they are and not HOW we do them.
First up, social media! It is often referred to as “organic” because you are not directly paying the platform to help you find qualified potential clients (i.e. you don’t have to pay anything to set up a Facebook page and create posts). This includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, just to name a few.
On the other side of marketing, there is advertising! And it is just what you think it is– paying for potential clients! This can be done through social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram, but you can also advertise on Google, Youtube, and pretty much anywhere on the web these days.
Next, you have your website, which usually ties in closely with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Your website isn’t like advertising where it works to generate new clients for you, but rather a consistent place where people can come to get more information about your spa business and take actions if they are ready to take them.
This is where SEO comes in actually! The whole goal of SEO is to make search engines (like Google and Bing) know the who, what, when, where, and why of your spa business. So when people search for you or your services in your area, these platforms show them relevant results. The better your website explains the ins-and-outs of your business (through information on pages, blogs, correct address and phone listings, etc), the more these platforms trust you and will show you higher in the search results.
And last, but certainly not least, email and texting are both digital forms of communication that are used in marketing and can be very effective and powerful tools! Unlike advertising, where you are searching for new information, these communications can only be sent to email addresses and phone numbers that you already have, so the foundation of this type of digital marketing has a lot to do with checking for accurate information, creating eye-catching content, and developing a strategy that focuses on the people who are engaging the most.
Now that you are up-to-speed on digital marketing, it’s joke time again!
Where is the best place to hide something?…The second page of Google.
WAIT…That’s not funny! Yet, it might not be far from the truth for some of us.
Fear not, I am here to give you the “digital marketing in 5 minutes or less” overview!
In general, marketing is an umbrella term that covers many areas (all of the ones listed above and more!). It refers to any efforts that you are making to promote your business. First, let’s divide that into 2 main categories: traditional (non-digital) marketing and digital marketing.
Traditional (non-digital) marketing is composed of 5 main areas: print, phone calls, mailers, radio, and billboards. Basically, anything that isn’t digital (aka, before the internet).
And then there is digital marketing! It is also composed of 5 main areas: social media, advertising, website, SEO, and email/text. Under each of these areas, there are hundreds of ways to do it, so right now, let’s just focus on WHAT they are and not HOW we do them.
First up, social media! It is often referred to as “organic” because you are not directly paying the platform to help you find qualified potential clients (i.e. you don’t have to pay anything to set up a Facebook page and create posts). This includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, just to name a few.
On the other side of marketing, there is advertising! And it is just what you think it is– paying for potential clients! This can be done through social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram, but you can also advertise on Google, Youtube, and pretty much anywhere on the web these days.
Next, you have your website, which usually ties in closely with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Your website isn’t like advertising where it works to generate new clients for you, but rather a consistent place where people can come to get more information about your spa business and take actions if they are ready to take them.
This is where SEO comes in actually! The whole goal of SEO is to make search engines (like Google and Bing) know the who, what, when, where, and why of your spa business. So when people search for you or your services in your area, these platforms show them relevant results. The better your website explains the ins-and-outs of your business (through information on pages, blogs, correct address and phone listings, etc), the more these platforms trust you and will show you higher in the search results.
And last, but certainly not least, email and texting are both digital forms of communication that are used in marketing and can be very effective and powerful tools! Unlike advertising, where you are searching for new information, these communications can only be sent to email addresses and phone numbers that you already have, so the foundation of this type of digital marketing has a lot to do with checking for accurate information, creating eye-catching content, and developing a strategy that focuses on the people who are engaging the most.
Now that you are up-to-speed on digital marketing, it’s joke time again!
Where is the best place to hide something?…The second page of Google.
