What are the basics of online marketing and how to get started as a beginner?
Most people think running an online business is only about posting on social media, running ads and making money while you sleep and those are the only digital marketing basics they need.
But after working in the marketing industry for nearly 2 decades, building a 7-figure brand, and being named Digital Marketer of the Year, I can tell you that’s definitely not entirely true.
But trust me… I wish it was that simple too.
The truth is, there is a lot more to marketing an online business than simply posting on social media a few times a week and throwing money at ads. But the good news is, great marketing does not have to be complicated or confusing.
And today I’m going to teach you everything you need to know about the digital marketing basics in the simplest way possible.
And hey – if you’re new around here, welcome! I’m Alex. Founder of the Copy Posse, where I teach over half a million rad marketers, copywriters and small business owners how to make more money with better messaging. And right here on my blog, I share a new post with copywriting, marketing and branding tips for your online business every single week!
What the Online Marketing of Business Actually is (& What It’s Not)
So the very first thing we need to talk about is what marketing actually is…
But a real quick PSA first, every time you hear me say “marketing” in this video, I am referring to digital marketing. In other words, any and all forms of marketing that happen online.
There are also, of course, other forms of “offline” marketing, like print ads, billboards, radio commercials and things like that. And while great marketing is great marketing, no matter the medium, this post is specifically referring to digital, online, internet, marketing.
Now, here is what else you need to understand…
Marketing is not just advertising.
Marketing is everything that happens before, during, and after someone buys from you. From the very first touchpoint a new lead has with your brand all the way through the nurture process and hopefully, the buying decision.
Think of it this way… ads are the sandwich board you put up on the sidewalk asking people to come into your boutique clothing store.
Marketing is how you great people once they walk in the door, it’s the service you provide, it’s how you help your customers find the right item for them, it’s how you check in on them in the change room to see if they need any other sizes, it’s the way you offer them earrings, a necklace and a belt to go with that new dress they just tried on and love.
It’s the conversation you have with them at check out, the loyalty program you offer and the email you send afterwards to thank them for their purchase. It’s the whole dang experience. How can you tell I used to work retail?!
So sure, ads are definitely a part of that, you need to get the attention and eyeballs of passerbys, but that’s just one small piece.
Marketing also includes:
- Properly communicating who you are and what you do.
- Really understanding your audience – who they are, what they want, their desires, fears, and deepest goals.
- The messaging you put out into the world
- Your positioning strategy and how you choose to communicate with your audience.
- The channels you show up on, the emails you send, the content you put out, and of course…
- Your sales funnel – your ads, your lead magnets and your sales pages.
I know, I know… This is all sounding like the opposite of “not complicated” – right?!
But when you zoom out, you realize that marketing is simply how you show up and communicate online across all customer touchpoints. That’s really it.
Now, if you want a video where I get into the DETAILS of a digital marketing funnel and how you can map out all of the things I just listed out, you’ll want to check out this video.
But for now, let’s keep talking about what marketing is because there’s a lot more to cover starting with…
Marketing Strategy Components vs Tactics
The next thing you need to understand is the difference between marketing strategy and marketing tactics. These terms are often used interchangeably, but they are actually very different.
Strategy is the big picture stuff.
What is your offer? Who does it serve? What problem do you solve? How will you communicate with your audience? And where will you communicate with them?
Tactics are the specific actions you take to do all of those things, and ways you try to do them better or more effectively, like how you’re going to bring in new leads.
For example…
- Will it be a free checklist download or a quiz funnel?
- Or maybe both?
- I should be on TikTok – right?
- I need to be running Facebook ads.
- Posting 3x/day on Instagram.
- Should I start a YouTube channel too?
- I heard Podcasting is the best way to get content out there…
You see where I’m going with this. Most business owners jump straight to tactics. But tactics without strategy is like building a house without a foundation. Always start by building your strategy first.
Now, there really are only…
Marketing Campaign Format Types
First, you have direct response marketing campaigns. This type of marketing is all about getting your audience to take direct – or immediate – action.
Click here, buy now, call now, sign up today.
It’s something you can measure instantly. Either someone buys, or they don’t. Simple. And when most people think about digital marketing, this is the type of marketing they think of.
But there is also another, arguably more important type of marketing campaign… brand awareness campaigns.
This is the type of digital marketing that builds trust and recognition with your audience over time. Unlike Direct Response Marketing, this is really about the long game, and it’s one that the smartest brands and businesses are playing all of the time.
Here you’re building relationships, putting your values out there, showing the type of brand you are, what you stand for. You focus on attracting qualified leads and nurturing them over time until those leads turn into customers. It’s definitely not linear, and it’s not as easy to track because there is such a whole mess of touchpoints that happen in the process.
They’re watching your content here, there, back here again. They’re reading your emails. And, they’re clicking ads. Plus, they’re signing up for every lead magnet you have, and then back to your website, then they finally read an email and that is when they buy.
This type of marketing is really hard to measure, but it is so so important, which means we need to start looking at micro-conversions like audience engagement, attendance rates, consumption of our content and email opens/clicks to know if we’re hitting the mark.
And good thing you’re here because this is the kind of stuff I talk about all the time here on my site.
Alright, next up…
Pull vs Push Marketing
Traditional marketing was very pushy. Have you ever seen that Disney movie, Ralph Breaks the Internet?
I laughed out loud at the part where Ralph and Vanellope are inside the internet and these pop up ads keep harassing them.
That’s a good way to think about push marketing. It’s very one way. Me to you. TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, facebook ads, instagram ads, any ad.
You’re pushing your message out to people, whether they want it or not.
Modern marketing is about pushing and pulling.
Being a real human, having real conversations with your audience, wanting to genuinely help people solve a problem and not being stingy with your value and keeping everything behind a pay wall.
This is about creating content so valuable that people seek you out. That’s how you found this blog post btw.
I didn’t advertise or boost this post. I simply created a post that was valuable and interesting to you.
Push marketing says “Buy my stuff”.
Pull marketing says “Let me help you solve this problem” And both are needed for effective modern marketing.
Alright, next up we’ve…
Features vs Benefits aka the Bennies
Almost all marketing talks about features! A feature is something that your product has or is. They are planned, built, and included in order to directly solve a common problem.
A feature answers the question: “what does it do?”
But the best marketing talks about features and benefits or “bennies”.
Benefits are why someone would buy your product. A benefit answers the question: “What’s in it for me?” What is the real reason a person might want these features in the first place?
It’s the outcome, the result and the transformation that a customer cares most about.
Here’s an example…
When I open doors to my flagship Copywriting Coaching Program: Copy Posse Launch Pad, every year, of course I talk about the features…
- It’s a 9-week program so I clearly outline everything you’re going to learn in week 1, week 2, week 3…
- Plus the individual features of the program, like
- 23 key psychological triggers…
- 8 proven storytelling formulas…
- 16 proven hook frameworks…
- Plus my complete collection of copywriting formulas, my sales page formula, landing page formula, email campaign formula… and so on.
- Then I also list out all the deliverables like the step-by-step training videos, live coaching and critiquing calls, workbooks, access to the Facebook group and more…
But I also talk about the benefits by highlighting some dream scenarios that represent the ultimate outcome of the program…
- Like quitting your 9-5, spending more time with those you love, and taking control of your schedule, time and income.
Because that’s what inspires people to buy. Sure, people want to know what’s included. But that’s the side dish – not the main event.
Remember, people don’t buy your product, they want the outcome or transformation.
Now let’s talk about…
Organic vs Paid Traffic
Now, in order for any marketing to work… you need traffic aka eyeballs on your stuff.
And everyone always wants to know, what’s better for getting traffic – organic social media content or paid ads?
The truth is, both are great, but both have their pros and cons. Organic marketing trades time for reach, it involves putting in time and effort.
This blog post is a form of organic marketing. Another is my YouTube Channel. In fact, that YouTube channel is my #1 source of traffic and how most of my customers initially discover me!
But, as you can imagine, it took time and effort to get my channel to where it is today!
And of course, YouTube is not the only organic traffic medium I use. Every time I post on this blog, or Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook – that’s all organic marketing too.
Paid traffic, on the other hand, trades money for reach – paying for views on advertising platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
Both work… if you’re just starting out, you may not have the budget to run paid ads. I know I sure didn’t!
In fact, for the first year of my business, I didn’t spend a single cent on paid ads.
I built my business 100% via my social media channels.
Ok, now we can finally talk about the elephant in the room…
AI Copywriting’s Role in Modern Marketing
Yessssss…. AI is here.
And it seems like everyone is either terrified of using AI or using it for absolutely everything under the sun (and getting extremely frustrated by the crappy results).
Both of those approaches are extreme and can hurt your marketing.
Think of it this way. AI is a tool that is here to assist you. Not replace you, not do your job for you. But to make you faster at what you do.
You shouldn’t be using AI for everything. But it can be an excellent tool to help you conduct research faster, brainstorm ideas, and analyze what’s working.
But, whatever you do, never let it replace your voice, your message or your humanity because that’s the fastest way to blend in with the rest of the AI slop crowding our feeds, which is the opposite of what you want your marketing to do.
And that, my friends, is digital marketing 101 in a nutshell – the fundamental concepts you need to understand before you dive into any tactics or tools.
Marketing really isn’t that complicated, but it is strategic and when you master these basics, you’ll be ahead of most of your competition.
Now, I mentioned AI and how it’s changing marketing forever. And honestly, this is something I’m really passionate about because I see so many people using it wrong.
That’s why I created BRAINSTORM, a mini-course that shows you exactly how to use AI the right way in your marketing. Not to replace your creativity, but to amplify it.
You’ll learn how to train AI to understand your audience better. Plus step-by-step guidance on how to turn AI into your personal brainstorming buddy without losing your voice or authenticity.
This isn’t about prompt hacking or trying to get AI to write everything for you. No no. This is about building a systematic approach that gets better over time and helps you create better content faster.
You can grab BRAINSTORM for just $27 by clicking the link here.
I hope this digital marketing basics breakdown was helpful.
