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Digital marketing: what it is, and where to start when you sell to consumers
Digital marketing covers everything that gets you found or noticed online. The main levers, what each is for, and which to choose first.
Published on · Joh · 6 min read
Digital marketing means all the actions used to make a business known, persuade people and win customers through online channels: search engines, social networks, email, a website, advertising.
Put like that, it is a catch-all. It is more useful to take it apart into levers, because each answers a different question.
The five levers, and the question each one handles
| Lever | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Organic search | "Do people find me when they search?" |
| Paid advertising (Meta, Google) | "Am I shown now, to specific people?" |
| Social networks, without advertising | "Do people follow me and recognise me?" |
| Email and follow-ups | "Am I contacted again after a first exchange?" |
| The website and the Google listing | "Do people believe me when they arrive?" |
None is enough alone. They chain together: someone sees you in an ad, searches your name, lands on your site, asks for a quote, gets a follow-up.
Where to start when you sell projects to consumers
First the base: being findable and credible. An up-to-date Google listing, a clear site that says what you do, for whom, and where. Without it, a contact who looks for you does not find you, or does not believe you.
Then paid advertising, because it moves fast. Organic search takes months to produce (SEA and SEO, the difference). Advertising produces from the first weeks, provided you accept paying to learn. For a project, a kitchen, a pool, a renovation, Meta is often the first lever, because it reaches people who had not yet searched.
The rest comes after. Social networks without advertising and email take time and pay off mainly when there is already flow.
I am a media buyer: this ranking comes from my trade, and I do not claim it holds for every business. An emergency repair company will be better off going through Google first. Meta or Google, the comparison.
One common figure to judge everything
Each lever is judged on the same measure: the cost of a signed customer. Neither views, nor likes, nor visits pay the rent. The calculation is set out here.
What digital marketing does not replace
A clear offer, a good product and a contact called back quickly. No lever repairs a confused offer or an enquiry left unanswered for two days.
Further reading: How to generate qualified leads with Meta Ads and the Facebook advertising glossary.
Want to know where to start in your case? . We look at your business and choose the first lever that makes sense.