Digital Media: Definition and Examples

In our digital age, it’s important to know the best ways to reach your target audience and boost your marketing strategies. One way to accomplish this is through digital content and media. Creating and using digital assets in your content marketing strategy has plenty of advantages, like providing more value to audiences and increasing engagement. In this guide, we’re diving into everything you need to know about digital media, including:

• What Is Digital Media?
• What Are the Benefits of Digital Media?
• Digital vs Print Media in Marketing
• Which Industries Use Digital Media?
• Types of Digital Media
• Examples of Digital Media

What Is Digital Media?

Image via Unsplash by Marvin Meyer

Digital media is information shared through a digital device or screen. Essentially, it’s any form of media that relies on an electronic device for its creation, distribution, viewing, and storage. Companies often use this media to advertise their businesses and brands. In fact, a majority of modern marketing involves some form of digital content to create and display advertisements—including social media posts, video advertisements, and blogs or research articles.

Related: A Complete Guide to Digital Marketing: What It Is and How to Use It

What Are the Benefits Of Digital Media?

There are several benefits to using digital assets and media for your marketing efforts, including:

Easier To Share and Modify Information

Being able to share and modify media can help businesses solve challenges more easily. For example, if a company prints a faulty advertisement in the newspaper, they can’t make modifications once the paper has gone to press. But if the company purchased an online ad, it can contact its advertising department and have them pull the ad, make the necessary changes, and republish it. This can also give companies greater control over their marketing efforts.

Increases Brand Awareness

With so many people having access to digital content, it’s an excellent way to reach a wider audience. This can help you increase your sales and revenue. For example, let’s say you want to market a new skincare line. You can easily inform your audience about it by posting on your website and social media channels. Potential customers can then click on the links that lead to your e-commerce store where they can immediately make a purchase.

Facilitates Social Interaction

Digital forms of media have allowed both businesses and individuals to maintain relationships and friendships across time and distance. That’s because it can easily connect your customers with each other and your business. Whether you’re posting updates on social media or responding to comments in your blog, having a way to interact with your target audience can help you build a community around your brand.

Boosts Productivity

When all employees can easily access digital advertisements and information, it can boost the company’s workflow and productivity. The ability to use email, smartphones, and the internet has made it easier for working professionals to finish their tasks quickly, giving them time to get more done during the workday. This increased productivity then helps companies generate more sales and revenue, making them more competitive in their industries.

Easier to Find Qualified Job Candidates

Many companies—particularly hiring managers—use digital content to attract and source talent for their organizations. It especially helps them attract digitally savvy candidates. Rather than advertising an open job in a newspaper, a hiring manager can post about the position on the company website, the company’s social media accounts, and various online job boards. This allows them to reach a wider net of candidates and increase their chances of hiring a qualified candidate who best fits what they’re looking for.

Related reading: 5 Metrics Digital Media Assets Can Improve

Digital vs Print Media in Marketing

Even in today’s digital age, the debate on the effectiveness of print media versus digital media is still ongoing. That’s probably because of the beneficial results both forms of marketing can give your business. For example, the response rate for direct mail marketing is 37% higher than for email marketing. But that hasn’t stopped companies from incorporating it into their advertising campaigns. As of June 2019, 91% of organizations worldwide used content marketing to promote their brands.

But really, to create the most effective marketing campaign, it’s important to combine both digital and print media strategies. Companies that used both forms of media found a 400% effectiveness rate compared to companies that used just one or the other.

Which Industries Use Digital Media?

Because digital marketing media is so vast, businesses and organizations across different industries have tons of avenues to share information. Here are several industries that commonly use digital images, graphics, and other media in marketing:

• Healthcare: The healthcare industry uses digital forms of media to advertise its services and connect consumers with healthcare professionals and institutions. For example, if you’re looking for a doctor, you can use the internet and your computer to find information regarding reputable physicians in your area.
• Entertainment: This industry uses different forms of media, including films, television shows, and music. And thanks to the digital age, entertainment media is easier to access than ever before.
• eCommerce: eCommerce brands rely on digital assets like videos and product images to promote their products, adding visual appeal and boosting engagement.
• Marketing and advertising: The marketing industry uses digital media to advertise its promotional materials. For example, a company’s advertising department can share a digital ad on a website or when creating a blog to promote the company’s products or services.
• Non-profits: Non-profits use their social media accounts and websites to raise awareness, connect with people, and collect donations. For example, a non-profit can use social media to share information about a new fundraising campaign.
• Publishing: The publishing industry uses digital content, including blog posts, videos, podcasts, and news articles. While companies have their own websites that house these forms of content, they can also use their social media accounts to promote this content and redirect users back to their websites.

Read more: A Guide To Content Syndication [Infographic]

Types of Digital Media

In digital marketing, the types of media your brand uses ultimately fall under three distinct categories:

1. Owned Media

This refers to media that you or a company controls and possesses. Some examples of owned media include your own content marketing assets, your brand website, blog,  videos, and social media platforms. Increasing the number of digital assets you create gives your business greater visibility. This visibility then increases your brand’s authority and improves its ranking on search engines.

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2. Earned Media

Earned media refers to shared information via word of mouth, testimonials, social media, or another format. Essentially, it’s advertising from your own customers. For example, if a customer recommends your services on social media, this is the media you earn because they liked your services enough to share them with others. Unlike owned media, you don’t have control over what people say about your business and its products and services.

3. Paid Media

Paid media refers to digital content that you’ve paid for in order to promote your products or services. Typically, paid media aims to drive traffic back to your owned media. You can pay for an online advertisement to improve your website’s traffic, increase sales, and drive a profit. Examples of paid media include display ads and paid search ads.

Related reading: 30 Popular Content Marketing Tactics

Examples of Digital Media in Marketing

Now that you know more about digital media, consider the following examples to give you a greater understanding of the formats in which companies use it for marketing and advertising:

• Written content: Written copy is one of the most valuable strategies in content marketing for businesses. Think eBooks, blogs, and white papers to name a few, which all inform your readers while promoting your brand.
• Audio: Companies can use audio to market their business through mediums like digital podcasts. They can either develop an ad that runs during a popular show or create a podcast featuring industry news and current trends.
• Video: Businesses use videos for several reasons, including promoting their products and services or creating educational materials. Those educational materials can help companies inform their target audience while increasing their brand awareness.
• Online advertising: Online advertising refers to a form of digital content that businesses use to promote a product or service. Examples of advertising include website banner ads or social media ads.
• Social media: Businesses can create advertisements to attract people on different social media platforms. These ads can either target specific audience members or display to a wide net of users to develop stronger brand awareness.
• Websites: Businesses generally use websites to describe what their company is about and host an e-commerce store for their customers. Some companies also use websites to display their content marketing materials, such as blog posts and research articles.

Learn more in our eBook: Content Marketing Pyramid

When you use digital content strategically, you can grow your business, build better brand awareness, and increase revenue. Looking for even more ways to attract your target audience? CopyPress has the tools your business or agency needs to create quality content that converts your readers into customers. Schedule a call with the team to see how we can help improve your content marketing campaigns.