CHAPTER00 The perfect resource for beginner to advanced digital marketers looking to learn new skills or hone existing ones The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing is full of insights and strategy for business owners marketing professionals students and anyone else looking to hone their current skills and get up to speed on the latest in digital marketing What is Digital Marketing Digital marketing is the act of promoting and selling products and services by leveraging online marketing tactics such as social media marketing search marketing and email marketing If you re new to digital marketing it may feel overwhelming We get that But in many ways digital marketing is no different than traditional marketing In both smart organizations seek to develop mutually beneficial relationships with prospects leads and customers Now think about the last important purchase you made Perhaps you purchased a home hired someone to fix your roof or changed paper suppliers at your office Regardless of what it was you probably began by searching the Internet to learn more and find your best options Your ultimate buying decision was then based on the reviews you read the friends and family you consulted with and the solutions features and pricing you researched Today most purchasing decisions begin online That being the case an online presence is absolutely necessary regardless of what you sell 2 The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing And having a strong digital presence will help you in multiple ways It will make it easier to create awareness and engagement both before and after the sale often You can convert new buyers into rabid fans who buy more and more You ll enjoy all the benefits of word of mouth and social sharing Be aware though the digital marketing scene is ever changing Gurus podcasts and bloggers declare a tool or tactic hot one week and dead the next The truth is today digital marketing is less about digital and more about marketing largely because digital marketing has come of age Its fundamentals have already been established At DigitalMarketer our objective is to clear the confusion about the tactics that work and how to use them to grow your business We stand against those so called gurus who promote the next shiny object that will reportedly kill email marketing digital advertising or search engine optimization Here we re all about the fundamentals As you ll see in this guide these core disciplines of digital marketing will be critical to your business growth today tomorrow and for years to come Each of these disciplines will be covered in a chapter of this Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing as shown below What You ll Learn Chapter 1 Your Digital Marketing Strategy Template The Customer Value Journey is the strategic foundation of everything we do here at DigitalMarketer It s the master template upon which every other digital marketing discipline and tactic is built Learn all 8 stages and how you ll use them to create a winning strategy for your business 3 The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing Chapter 2 Developing a Content Marketing Strategy Done right your content marketing will not only attract prospects but also move them through a marketing funnel to drive more sales and grow your business Learn how to plan your content marketing strategy and how to create perfect content Chapter 3 Crafting a Digital Advertising Plan The secret to powerful digital marketing is traffic If you can master traffic acquisition you can easily drive traffic sales and ultimately growth Here you ll learn the secrets to crafting a digital advertising plan that actually works Chapter 4 Understanding Social Media Marketing Going social isn t simply about being active on Facebook and Twitter Learn the Social Success Cycle and how you can use it to attract your fans and followers engage them and even sell to them Chapter 5 Following Email Marketing Best Practices Forget any rumors to the contrary Email is alive and well and if you know how to use it it will help you exponentially grow your business Learn the role of email in a growing business and how you can use it to quickly move prospects and customers through the Customer Value Journey Chapter 6 Designing Your Search Marketing Strategy Search marketing has radically changed in the last few years But we see that as good news Today it can boost your website s traffic and visitors trust while supporting your other digital marketing disciplines as well Learn the right way to do search engine optimization here Chapter 7 Applying Website Analytics to Your Digital Marketing If numbers aren t your thing we ve got you covered Website analytics are a powerful tool for helping you figure out what s working what s not and what to do next Learn the process we use here at DigitalMarketer an easy to understand approach anyone can use 4 The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing Chapter 8 Leveraging Conversion Rate Optimization to Drive Growth Conversion rate optimization may sound hard but it doesn t have to be And it s critical to your success as a digital marketer We ll show you how to implement a simple framework that will guide everything you do as a digital marketer In each chapter we ll cover 4 key aspects to the strategy being discussed The Methods the strategies and processes you ll use to create your plan and execute it in your own business This is the bulk of each chapter because in digital marketing how you execute a strategy is key And in this Guide we share the exact methods we use here at DigitalMarketer The Metrics the numbers you ll watch to measure your success and identify areas that need tweaking or are worth doubling down on The Lingo the terminology used by experts so you can communicate intelligently even if you don t consider yourself a pro The Roles the people in your organization who will likely have responsibility for planning and running each tactic We ve organized this Guide in a logical progression Though you can jump around learning the tactics in whatever order you feel you need them we recommend that you read through the chapters in order Take your time Read and study one chapter at a time Apply what you learn And when you feel you ve got the methods up and running move on to the next chapter You ll be surprised at how quickly you can implement these tactics if you focus on them one at a time Then when everything is up and running you can focus on optimizing and improving your processes for maximum growth Ready to start 5 The