| Digital media is becoming the biggest arena for | | | | their brand reputation, advertise to potential customers |
| businesses to advertise themselves to the rest of the | | | | and give consumers a forum to share their |
| world, with television adverts, websites and social | | | | experiences of the company with each other. This can |
| media advertising increasingly used by the in-house or | | | | have a negative effect if the company is involved in a |
| external marketing departments of big companies. | | | | harmful public news story and receives a high level of |
| There are two approaches to digital marketing and | | | | criticism however brand reputation is a vital factor of |
| which one you take depends on how big your brand is. | | | | every business' online success. So long as you |
| Firms like Pepsi, Tesco and Hi Tech are internationally | | | | respond to criticism in a positive way, the evidence |
| known so they can afford to focus on television | | | | suggests that allowing consumers to talk about you in |
| advertising and direct sales through their websites. If a | | | | a forum of your making is good for business. |
| company has a less well known brand reputation, they | | | | Search Engine Optimization or SEO is arguably THE |
| need to really push their name into the public eye and | | | | most important factor in the online success of any |
| actively target customers who will actually want to | | | | company without a national reputation as it helps a |
| buy their products. | | | | company's website to appear as high as possible in |
| For most businesses who want to build themselves an | | | | the search results when items or words are searched |
| online presence, the first step is a good website design. | | | | for with a connection to the products the company |
| Leeds is becoming one of the most professional and | | | | sells. For example, if I was looking to buy children's |
| advanced centres in the UK for website design and | | | | clothing on the internet I would type into the search |
| digital marketing with international brands choosing | | | | box "children's clothing" and a list of websites would |
| agencies from the region to design them a user | | | | appear which sold or talked about children's clothing. |
| friendly website which will service their original | | | | SEO would help a client's website to reach the top 10 |
| customers and attract new ones. As internet users, | | | | search results, gaining maximum exposure to the |
| consumers like to be able to find what they are looking | | | | consumers who are actually looking to buy their |
| for and make a purchase; they do not want to work | | | | products. |
| through ten forms at a checkout or be asked to fill in a | | | | In today's world, businesses cannot afford to miss their |
| survey on every page. Websites with the intention of | | | | chance with social media. There are hundreds of |
| selling products will lose thousands if not millions of | | | | companies with a presence on the internet that have |
| pounds of profits every year if their website has been | | | | been advertising themselves to your clients for years. |
| poorly designed with no attention paid to user | | | | Unless you start to develop a website, advertise |
| experience. | | | | yourself to your consumers and optimize your online |
| Social media has quickly become one of the most | | | | presence for maximum publicity, you will find yourself |
| popular activities of young and old alike, with Twitter, | | | | losing out to the companies that have been on the |
| Facebook and MySpace becoming the main channel | | | | internet for longer than you, simply because they show |
| of communication for some people. These social | | | | up first in the search results. |
| media sites offer businesses the chance to increase | | | | |