Last Updated on Dec 21, 2019 by James W

Make the Most of Reports by Understanding New Terms in Digital Marketing

The digital marketing industry is constantly evolving as new technologies and concepts are used to capture the attention of customers and increase business revenues.  This means new terms and buzzwords are included in progress reports and analytics of digital marketing campaigns.  Business owners need to understand new terms to make the most of the information.  It can be confusing for some marketing professionals, let alone business owners. 

Some Familiar Terms

There are nine common buzzwords of which four will seem a bit familiar to most business owners who have had experience working with marketing professionals.  By now an algorithm is something that most people have heard of before while most people cannot define this term.  Basically, it is a formula allowing computers to follow calculations for problem-solving applications.  The use of algorithms in marketing is how search engines calculate website rankings.  CRM, or customer relationship management, refers to software that tracks customer interactions with the business and helps identify targeted audiences.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of attending to key ranking factors to increase traffic to the business website.  This is crucial because most people do not go past the first page of results when they are searching for a business or service on the internet.  The more exposure the website enjoys, the higher the rankings become.  Another familiar term is analytics which is the measuring and assessing of key performance indicators during a marketing campaign of any type.  Some of these factors include the open rate of emails sent, the conversion rate of visitors to the website, and the click rate for advertisements placed on other websites. 

New Terms

When marketing professionals begin using digital buzzwords, micro-moment will be one of them.  It refers to the fact that most people use mobile devices to search for something in the middle of a task.  When asked about an appointment on Thursday, for example, an executive uses his smartphone to check scheduled meetings for that day on the company website.  The buzzword reminds marketers that the website must have content that is useful in real time. 

Marketing automation is the use of a software program designed to provide marketing functions and connect processes to ensure that business interactions with customers are personalized and relevant.  An example is an email automatically sent to thank a customer for her recent purchase of three dresses on the same day the order was placed.  AI, which stands for artificial intelligence, is being used more and more in digital marketing.  It is mostly used to streamline marketing to cut costs, make data processing more efficient, and boost productivity with minimal human effort. 

A virtual assistant sends out emails and notifies salespeople of hot leads based on the responses from customers.  This process saves the business time and money because salespeople are not going through thousands of emails and responses to discover which ones are serious about the product or service the business has to offer.  The use of an automated voice system that interacts with customers based on their verbal responses to specific survey questions is also an example of how AI is used in marketing.

A New Approach to Attracting Customers

The last two buzzwords are used in relation to increasing traffic by approaching marketing from the point of view of the customer.  Omni-Channel is a marketing approach that focuses on carrying a seamless brand experience for customers while they are browsing the website.  The landing page, the navigational tabs, each page that displays products, the checkout process, and even the blog page connects to the branding.  This will keep the visual of the branding in mind even of purchase is not made during that visit to the website. 

The customer journey is the path of touchpoints taken by a visitor before making the decision to purchase a product.  The business owner and marketer think like customers to better target them and lead them to that website.  This helps create strong keywords for internet searches, develop campaign ideas, and consider new ways to increase lead generation.  The goal is to explore the steps it takes for a person to go from needing or wanting a product to buying that product from the business website instead of the site of a competitor.

Keeping abreast of digital marketing buzzwords translates to business owners understanding reports without the need to read them more than once.  There is no need to get on the phone and ask the marketing company what half a dozen words mean before the crux of the information is absorbed.  The purpose of reports and analytics is to let owners what is working and what is not.  That will be difficult if the terms are not familiar.

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Founder and chief editor of makemoneyinlife.com Blogger, Affiliate Marketer, Tech and SEO geek. Started this blog in 2011 to help others learn how to work from home, make money online or anything related to business and finances. You can contact me at makemoneyinlife@gmail.com