An e-tool is a computer or web based application intended to make a task or job easier. E-tools are used to achieve your online marketing objectives. E-tools are used in everyday life in both work or education.
Social media marketing
In this article I'm going to talk about the different social medias we and businesses use in an effective way.
Facebook
Some advantages of Facebook include:
Social media marketing
In this article I'm going to talk about the different social medias we and businesses use in an effective way.
Some advantages of Facebook include:
- Inexpensive to use
- Accessed easily worldwide
- Scheduling of posts can be easily done
- Can target specific audiences, based on location, age, gender etc.
- Increase Inbound Traffic
Some disadvantages can include:
- Privacy Issues
- Internet connection and access is needed to use. Eg. Wifi
- Can be expensive to promote or boost specific posts and advertisements.
- Negative content can be published about your business.
- Time consuming
Facebook has more than 1 billion users worldwide from the start of 2016 and constantly growing. It's more than just the number of likes your business or company has. It's a great way to build brand recognition and make people aware of your business. May it be through updates, contests, and sharing photos and videos. It's used to showcase your company's vision. The advantages and disadvantages should be looked at before using Facebook for your digital marketing needs.
Twitter
Twitter began as a means of seeing whats happening quickly and posts kept to a minimum or 140 characters. In recent years it has grown into a powerful and essential marketing tool when used right. Twitter is useful for finding out whats current, by searching for specific hashtags or to see what people are talking about. People will always follow there favourite businesses and brands. Can also be used to share deals and discounts. Also for introducing new products or services.
Some advantages can include:
- Twitter is direct, compact and simple to use. With 140 characters, you have to be concise.
- Tweets spread quickly and easily. A tweet can be made a favourite be someone or re-tweeted, which posts directly to their timelines/ newsfeed.
- Hashtags offers a simple index of content. If you click on a hashtag you will see every tweet related to it, and the list will be updated in real time.
Some disadvantages can include:
- The limited 140 character count can make it difficult to spread links or information.
- Users can be hesitant to click links, even from brands they trust.
- Tweets may be unseen by your followers
- Direct messaging in twitter allows you to message only one other user at a time.
Instagram
Instagram is a social media platform made for sharing photos and videos, from a smartphone. It is similar to facebook and twitter where the user sets up a profile and has a newsfeed. Other users who follow you will see your updates on the newsfeed, and likewise you'll see posts from other users you follow.
Some advantages of Instagram:
- Instagram has the most engaged users compared to other social medias.
- Posts on Instagram remain there forever, as long as the user does not remove them.
- It's great for visually representing your business. It's a powerful tool to create your brand, and build an interactive following.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Images posted to Instagram are usually square in format, so posting non-square images can mean part are your images will not show in the feed.
- It's only available on a Iphone or Android app. If you had a windows phone, blackberry etc, it wont work.
- Can be more difficult to target local markets compared to Facebook or Twitter. It's better suited to targeting a niche worldwide audience.
Blogging in Digital Marketing
Blogging on a frequent basis can be an easy and inexpensive way to enhance your digital marketing strategy. It can drive traffic to your site, increase sales and attract more potential customers. It has many advantages and some disadvantages also. There are many blog platforms which can be used in today's digital era. Blogger, wordpress and Tumblr are just a few to mention.
Blogger
Some advantages of Blogger can include.
- It is completely free to set up and use. As it's owned by Google a Gmail account may be set up, or a previous email account can be used.
- Easy interface for complete beginners. It takes a few simple steps to set up the blog, without needing to download and tedious software.
- You can monetize your blog with Google ads. Google ads are one of the most profitable website ads out there, helping you to maximize profits.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Blogger owns your blog site. Google owns the site as it decides on what ads you are allowed to post. Content you post on Blogger could disappear at any time, if Google decides to shut down the platform. You should back up your content regulary.
- It lacks plugins. You do not have full liberty to customize your blog site.
- Limited templates for your blog. Because there are only quite a few available templates, it can be a challenge to create a professional looking blog.
Wordpress
Wordpress is an online, open source website creation tool. It's probably the most effective and easiest blogging platform and website content management system today.
Some advantages can include:
- It's easy to operate. You can easily make changes yourself without having to know any HTML coding. Adding pages, images, blog posts and editing content is easy on wordpress.
- Cheaper to build. A huge variety of themes is on offer. When you begin with a theme, you cut down on the amount of time it takes to build a website.
- It offers more paid and unpaid themes and plugins. Lets say if you wanted to feature added to your website, there is a good chance that you will be able to find a plugin that exists for it.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Updates are made frequently. Updates to software are needed to keep up to date with current platforms and browsers and also mobile devices. Also to keep safe against malware and viruses.
- Content doesn't always look right. When you make updates to your site through the visual tab, it doesn't always look the way you expected in the actual browser. This can leave those not knowing HTML frustrated when they try to get images and text to appear the way they want.
- Customization can be costly. If you built your site using a specific theme, and you decide you want to make major changes, it can become time consuming.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a micro blogging site and a somewhat social media platform which is owned by Yahoo since 2013. It allows users to post multimedia and other content in short blog form.
Some advantages can include:
- It's a very popular platform. With over 180 million known blogs posted, it makes Tumblr the biggest blog hosting system worldwide. Opens businesses to a massive audience online.
- Great for reaching a younger audience. It capitalises on some with a short attention span. It's not as intrusive using advertisements like Facebook also. It's also ideal for business who rely on visual appeal.
- It's simple to use. A big part of it's attraction is how quick it is to set up and customize.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Can be time consuming.Many businesses may post or schedule one to two posts a day. So Tumblr can be somewhat overwhelming. Users should be committed to regular updates.
- It doesn't suit every target audience.
- Tumblr requires you to use the Tumblr platform and servers to host your blog. Wordpress and Blogger provide options for hosting a blog using the software on your own site, allowing greater control over the content uploaded.
Email Marketing
Email marketing in the broadest sense, every email sent to a new or current customer could be considered email marketing. Could be advertisements, sales or donations, discounts etc. It's used to build loyalty, trust and brand awareness. Some e- tools used can be Mailchimp, active campaign or get response to name a few.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing trading service founded in 2001. Sends over 10 billion emails per month on behalf of it's users.
Some advantages of mailchimp could be :
- You can import your own email templates. It has a number of effective templates once you have an account. Your also given permission to modify existing templates if you prefer.
- Access to analytics. It's good to see how your email campaigns are performing. You can also see how other users are performing also
- You can remove the mailchimp logo if you like. It's free up until 2000 contacts but thy will include the logo. You can upgrade the account if you prefer to have it removed.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Mailchimp can suspend or remove your account. If your getting to many unsubscribe notifications or spam complaints, mailchimp reserves the right to remove or suspend without any prior warning.
- You have to create your own templates. The templates provided are very basic and ready made. They are not very attractive from the readers point of view,
- The interface can feel awkward to use to some users. It can take lots more time and effort to design and organize a campaign to where you want it to be. It also restricts users to sending out emails to only one list at a time.
Active Campaign
Active campaign is a platform that you'll be able to design sophisticated, automated marketing processes.
Some advantages can include:
- Great user interface. The first thing you notice is how well designed and intuitive the interface is.
- Cheap to use. For the majority of businesses especially small business they don't have thousands to spend. Active campaign is a great option. The prices start at just 10-12 euro with no upfront setup fees
- Helpful Pointers.It helpfully identifies pointers an tips to ensure your workflow runs smoothly.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Sometimes low delivery rate and engagement.
SEO(Search Engine Optimization)
SEO refers to the methodology of strategies, techniques/tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website, by obtaining a high ranking in the search results pages of search engines like Google, Bing etc. To name a few are Google analytics, open site explorer, keywordtool.io, moz local listings score and many more.
Google Analytics
Some advantages of Goggle Analytics can be:
- It's free to use. can be used for any start up or existing business, or a simple blog.
- Easy to install. A tracking code is provided in the interface with a unique ID.
- Can be applied to website, mobile or other digital environments.
- Allows importing data from other sources
- It's been developed and updated constantly
Some disadvantages can be:
- Limited number of goals. There is a limit of how many goals you can create within it. The goals are limited to 20.
- Creating custom reports is limited. Reports are very rigid and comes down to customized data. Instead of creating one report at the end, there could be 5 different reports covering the same topic.
- Upgrading analytics premium is expensive. Premium is not for small businesses.
- Requires training. The changes can be big sometimes and can become quite confusing if you don't spend enough time with analytics.
Rich Media
Rich media includes an ad that has anything from video, audio, or other elements that encourages users to interact with with it's contents. Some platforms of rich media could be ads used on sites such as Youtube, Spotify or even snapchat.
Some strengths/advantages of which media are:
- Communicate more information easily by the means of user interaction. Can be a powerful way to convey your message. You can collect more information also.
- More likely to be clicked by viewers by grabbing there attention.
- Used as a branding tool. Even if the ad is not clicked on or into, viewers are still likely to see and remember the ad, more so than traditional advertising methods.
Some disadvantages could be:
- Slowing down browsers on your website, since the file sizes of these ads are huge, and it takes time to download even with a fast internet connection.
- Can be annoying and distracting to potential viewers. Sometimes when it comes through more often than it should. One example is ads that run before a Youtube video. We can indeed skip but only after 5 or 10 seconds have passed.
- These ads are often more difficult to create rather than the other online ads. They often tend to be more expensive, and also may have the tendency to be blocked by the viewers.
- Updates are made frequently. Updates to software are needed to keep up to date with current platforms and browsers and also mobile devices. Also to keep safe against malware and viruses.
- Content doesn't always look right. When you make updates to your site through the visual tab, it doesn't always look the way you expected in the actual browser. This can leave those not knowing HTML frustrated when they try to get images and text to appear the way they want.
- Customization can be costly. If you built your site using a specific theme, and you decide you want to make major changes, it can become time consuming.
Tumblr
- It's a very popular platform. With over 180 million known blogs posted, it makes Tumblr the biggest blog hosting system worldwide. Opens businesses to a massive audience online.
- Great for reaching a younger audience. It capitalises on some with a short attention span. It's not as intrusive using advertisements like Facebook also. It's also ideal for business who rely on visual appeal.
- It's simple to use. A big part of it's attraction is how quick it is to set up and customize.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Can be time consuming.Many businesses may post or schedule one to two posts a day. So Tumblr can be somewhat overwhelming. Users should be committed to regular updates.
- It doesn't suit every target audience.
- Tumblr requires you to use the Tumblr platform and servers to host your blog. Wordpress and Blogger provide options for hosting a blog using the software on your own site, allowing greater control over the content uploaded.
Email Marketing
- You can import your own email templates. It has a number of effective templates once you have an account. Your also given permission to modify existing templates if you prefer.
- Access to analytics. It's good to see how your email campaigns are performing. You can also see how other users are performing also
- You can remove the mailchimp logo if you like. It's free up until 2000 contacts but thy will include the logo. You can upgrade the account if you prefer to have it removed.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Mailchimp can suspend or remove your account. If your getting to many unsubscribe notifications or spam complaints, mailchimp reserves the right to remove or suspend without any prior warning.
- You have to create your own templates. The templates provided are very basic and ready made. They are not very attractive from the readers point of view,
- The interface can feel awkward to use to some users. It can take lots more time and effort to design and organize a campaign to where you want it to be. It also restricts users to sending out emails to only one list at a time.
Active Campaign
Active campaign is a platform that you'll be able to design sophisticated, automated marketing processes.
Some advantages can include:
- Great user interface. The first thing you notice is how well designed and intuitive the interface is.
- Cheap to use. For the majority of businesses especially small business they don't have thousands to spend. Active campaign is a great option. The prices start at just 10-12 euro with no upfront setup fees
- Helpful Pointers.It helpfully identifies pointers an tips to ensure your workflow runs smoothly.
Some disadvantages can include:
- Sometimes low delivery rate and engagement.
SEO(Search Engine Optimization)
SEO refers to the methodology of strategies, techniques/tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website, by obtaining a high ranking in the search results pages of search engines like Google, Bing etc. To name a few are Google analytics, open site explorer, keywordtool.io, moz local listings score and many more.
Google Analytics
Some advantages of Goggle Analytics can be:
- It's free to use. can be used for any start up or existing business, or a simple blog.
- Easy to install. A tracking code is provided in the interface with a unique ID.
- Can be applied to website, mobile or other digital environments.
- Allows importing data from other sources
- It's been developed and updated constantly
Some disadvantages can be:
- Limited number of goals. There is a limit of how many goals you can create within it. The goals are limited to 20.
- Creating custom reports is limited. Reports are very rigid and comes down to customized data. Instead of creating one report at the end, there could be 5 different reports covering the same topic.
- Upgrading analytics premium is expensive. Premium is not for small businesses.
- Requires training. The changes can be big sometimes and can become quite confusing if you don't spend enough time with analytics.
Rich Media
Rich media includes an ad that has anything from video, audio, or other elements that encourages users to interact with with it's contents. Some platforms of rich media could be ads used on sites such as Youtube, Spotify or even snapchat.
Some strengths/advantages of which media are:
- Communicate more information easily by the means of user interaction. Can be a powerful way to convey your message. You can collect more information also.
- More likely to be clicked by viewers by grabbing there attention.
- Used as a branding tool. Even if the ad is not clicked on or into, viewers are still likely to see and remember the ad, more so than traditional advertising methods.
Some disadvantages could be:
- Slowing down browsers on your website, since the file sizes of these ads are huge, and it takes time to download even with a fast internet connection.
- Can be annoying and distracting to potential viewers. Sometimes when it comes through more often than it should. One example is ads that run before a Youtube video. We can indeed skip but only after 5 or 10 seconds have passed.
- These ads are often more difficult to create rather than the other online ads. They often tend to be more expensive, and also may have the tendency to be blocked by the viewers.
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