We live in a super-connected world these days and as such,

advertising and marketing are no longer the same animals

they once were.

This is especially true due to the rise of social media, which

has changed how businesses communicate with potential

and existing clients.

So what exactly is digital marketing and what does it

encompass? Basically, it’s a collective term which is used

where marketing meets internet technology and other forms

of new media.

Digital marketing is a form of direct marketing

which links consumers with sellers electronically

using interactive technologies like emails,

websites, online forums and newsgroups,

interactive television, mobile communications

etcetera ( Kotler and Armstrong, 2009 )

the term digital marketing has become popular

thanks to the inclusion of a wider range of digital

and network communication technologies,

including mobile phones and digital television, in

the pursuit of marketing

Social media is best understood as a group of new

kinds of online media, which share most or all of

the following characteristics:

Participation

social media encourages contributions and

feedback from everyone who is interested. It

blurs the line between media and audience.

Openness

most social media services are open to feedback and

participation. They encourage voting, comments and the

sharing of information. There are rarely any barriers to

accessing and making use of content – password-protected

content is frowned on.

Conversation

whereas traditional media is about “broadcast” (content

transmitted or distributed to an audience) social media is

better seen as a two-way conversation.

Community

social media allows communities to form quickly and

communicate effectively. Communities share common

interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue

or a favorite TV show.

Connectedness

Most kinds of social media thrive on their

connectedness, making use of links to other sites,

resources and people.

1: Social networks

these sites allow people to build personal web

pages and then connect with friends to share

content and communication. The biggest social

networks are MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.

2: Content communities

communities which organize and share

particular kinds of content. The most popular

content communities tend to form around photos

(Flickr), bookmarked links (del.icio.us) and

videos (YouTube).

3: Wikis

these websites allow people to add content to or

edit the information on them, acting as a

communal document or database. The best-

known wiki is Wikipedia4, the online

encyclopedia which has over 2 million English

language articles.

4: Blog and Forums

Online forums allow members to hold

conversations by posting messages. Blog

comments are similar except they are attached to

blogs and usually the discussion centers around

the topic of the blog post. There are MANY

popular blogs and forums

5: Micro blogging

social networking combined with bite-sized

blogging, where small amounts of content

(‘updates’) are distributed online and through the

mobile phone network. Twitter is the clear leader

in this field.

6: Social News

Services that allow people to post various news

items or links to outside articles and then allows it’s

users to "vote” on the items. The voting is the core

social aspect as the items that get the most votes are

displayed the most prominently. The community

decides which news items get seen by more people.

The most popular are Digg and Reddit.

7: Interest-based networks

One of the most wonderful opportunities presented by

social media is the ability to find people with common

interests, no matter how niche these hobbies may first

appear to be. In addition to Face book and LinkedIn

Groups and Google+ communities, there are whole

networks dedicated to exploration of interest such as

Last.fm for musicians and music lovers, and Good reads

for authors and avid readers

Podcasts

audio and video files that are available by

subscription, through services like Apple

Itunes, Tidal, Bbm, Whatsup, Imo.

PREPARED BY

DR JOHN HESHIMA –

+255655925556