Digital Marketing

I. Introduction:

We live in an industrialized world where every day there are new companies offering
similar products or services, in consequence has emerged the need to study the
consumer, to sell is not enough to develop the best possible service or product, you
need to learn how to offer it to the people and you need to offer it in the channel that
provides you the most diffusion.

In recent years the internet has become the biggest channel of distribution of
information, almost replacing traditional media, so digital marketing has been born,
which studies how to sell products and services of a company using the internet and
social media.

In this essay you will learn what digital marketing is, the strategies to apply it and we
will study the way in which big companies like Microsoft use it.

II. What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is essentially the use of the internet and digital media to promote a
service, product or good of a company to consumers.

One of the main advantages of digital marketing is that it provides a global reach,
once you publish your product on the internet it can be visualized by people anywhere
in the world.

In addition, digital marketing allows you to promote your product directly to your target
audience, since we can make use of services that have databases of internet users
allowing your advertising to reach people who want to see it, this makes it less
invasive for the consumer and helps you promote your service in a more friendly way.

III. Digital Marketing Strategies:

Digital marketing is a very extensive branch of marketing, so it can be applied in

different ways depending on the product or the market in which it will be offered, these
are some of the strategies to apply it:

• Search engine optimization (SEO): This strategy consists of optimizing your

website to position it in a high rank in the search engines, this way when
 someone searches for keywords related to your company your website will
appear in the first options.

• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising: in this strategy you pay to have your ads
appear as publicity when people search for keywords and it has the great
advantage that you only pay for the people who click on the ad, so you don't
waste money on people who are not interested in your product.

• Content marketing: In this strategy the company focuses on producing

content that attracts customers to their product, for that purpose they can make
videos, blogs or posts on social media such as TikTok or Instagram. This
technique does not focus directly on offering the product but first attracts the
customer in a striking way to then offer the product or just seek to promote the
brand.

• Email marketing: This strategy consists of sending advertising emails, these

emails are sent to subscribers of blogs, previous clients, or clients of partner
companies. When doing this type of marketing you must be careful with
violating the privacy rights of individuals, you should not send emails to anyone
who has not accepted the terms and conditions, or you may face demands.

• Social media marketing: This strategy has become one of the most efficient,
everyday millions of people browse social networks and you can offer your
products with eye-catching advertising within them and even have the
advantage that people can follow your company on social networks and do not
need to pay for advertising, simply publish from the account of the company
and followers will see the ads for free.

• Voice search optimization: This is the most modern marketing strategy,

voice assistants like Alexa, Siri or Google Home are gaining a lot of popularity
and you can pay so that when someone asks them for a service or a product
the assistant offers yours.

IV. Digital Marketing Strategy of Microsoft:

Microsoft is one of the leading companies in the world of computing, despite having
been founded in 1975, it is currently still the major reference in the field of computer
operating systems and has managed to evolve by creating new products such as
Xbox or Microsoft Surface.

Microsoft's ongoing success is not a coincidence, they have followed a highly

successful marketing plan throughout their history. Microsoft is currently based on the
mixed strategy of the 4PS:
• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion

1. Product: Microsoft produces a wide variety of products designed to meet

customer needs through technological innovation, creating products in the
following areas: Devices, softwares, apps, games, and entertainment.

2. Price: Microsoft carefully studies the market to set the price of its products,
since many times the price can determine the success in sales, for example,
in 2014 Microsoft launched the X Box One at a higher price than Sony's Play
Station 4 which caused Sony to have much higher sales than X Box leaving
them on the verge of collapse.

Some of the strategies Microsoft uses to set prices are:

• Freemium Pricing
• Penetration Pricing
• Product line
• Price Skimming
• Psychological Pricing
• Promotional Pricing

3. Place: It is very important to offer a suitable place for consumers to purchase

products and services, that is why Microsoft makes a great effort to have a
first-class website, since most of its worldwide sales are made by this means,
its site has a modern, intuitive, and attractive design.

Microsoft also has physical stores in some countries which have a very careful
design to make the customer feel the quality of their products.

4. Promotional: Promotions refer to all the strategies Microsoft uses to promote

its products, such as sales, advertising, and many others.
Microsoft advertises mainly through social networks such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, etc.
The main marketing strategies used by Microsoft are:

• Advertising: It is a marketing tool that is used to promote products,

services, and ideas through an open-sponsored marketing
communication channel.
• Sales Promotion: A marketing strategy where the merchandise is
promoted using short-term attractive initiatives to stimulate its demand
and increase its sales.
 • Direct Marketing: A promotional technique where a firm directly
communicates its selected customers without the involvement of third-
party such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Personal Selling: In this strategy, a sales representative meets with
potential clients for transacting a sale.
• Public Relations: A promotional strategy that establishes and maintains
two-way, mutual relationships and communications between a
corporation and its potential customers.

V. Conclusion:

Digital Marketing strategies are very useful tools to position a company, they can be
very useful in Guatemala, as the country is entering a stage of modernization where
the internet is reaching more people. In Guatemala we are seeing a great wave of
entrepreneurship, due to the pandemic many people lost their traditional jobs and are
using social networks to promote products and services developed by themselves to
survive. It would be of great importance for them to learn about digital marketing to
maximize their profits and contribute to the economic development of Guatemala.

We can also conclude that the best way to do digital marketing is through social
networks, as this is where the highest traffic is found on the Internet and can be mixed
with other marketing strategies to maximize the benefits.