Digital marketing is all about driving traffic to a website. The more people visit a company’s website, the more people are likely to engage with the products or services on offer and therefore the more purchases are likely to be made. Digital advertising is the way digital marketers drive traffic to websites. The PDF attachment provides an overview of exactly what digital advertising is.

Razi Salih has worked on several successful digital marketing and advertising campaigns, using strategic tactics to promote his projects and leverage the ROI of his business goals. Like the foundations of any business venture, digital advertising works best when the marketers have an effective plan.

Paid Vs. Organic Traffic

There are two main types of traffic that can be driven to any website: paid and organic. Organic traffic is the ultimate goal of any company, as an organic traffic strategy is free to implement. However, paid traffic has its merits also.

One way to think about this in the way a gardener thinks about watering the plants, with the plants representing the website. Rain represents organic traffic – it doesn’t cost anything, but the gardener is at the mercy of the elements. Rain cannot be predicted, directed or switched off. Paid traffic is represented by a garden hose – the hose must be purchased, but the gardener has full control over when and where it is used, how fast the flow of water is, and when it is switched off.

Algorithm Changes

Another key advantage to paid traffic is that, once the pathways have been set up, they remain consistent. Conversely, organic traffic can be affected by all manner of factors. If Google or other search engines change their algorithms, for example, this can result in an immediate loss in organic traffic for many websites – and Google updates its algorithms regularly. Simple changes to the website can also affect organic traffic, such as introducing a new URL for the landing page. It is also easier to lose organic traffic to competitors if they happen to make a big push.

Paid Traffic Driving Organic Traffic

The good news is that an effective paid traffic digital advertising strategy can spiral upwards. As more and more customers are driven to the website in question through paid advertising, that website will automatically begin to rank higher in the search engine results. The higher the SERPs ranking, the more likely it is that organic traffic will begin to filter to the site. More information about the customer journey can be found in the embedded short video.

Traffic Temperature

The ‘temperature’ of the traffic that is being driven to the website will change depending where the customer is on their journey. When a customer is first made aware of a brand or product, they do not yet have a relationship with it, and therefore their temperature is cold.

The goal with ‘cold’ customers is to increase their brand awareness, let them know how a particular product or service can solve their problems, and entice them to keep coming back. Next, we have customers who are considering making a purchase. These customers are ‘warm’, so the goal here is to convert their desire to purchase into an actual purchase. Following this, we have customers who are ‘hot’ – these people are definitely going to make a purchase or have already done so. The goal with these customers is to add value to the sale and monetise the interest of the customer.

The infographic attachment looks at some of the top statistics for digital advertising and marketing.