If you are new to modern digital marketing or business in general, it can be very easy to get bogged down by all of the terminology and acronyms that get casually tossed around when talking about marketing. Even once in a while, you may know what they mean, but you have to understand the concept behind them. Using physics, I will try and explain modern digital marketing in a simple way.

Just kidding… well, sort of.

The whole goal of modern digital marketing is to get your customers to your final destination, that destination is usually your place of business or in the case of e-commerce, to make a purchase on your website. That can be a long process, first, they have to hear about you and know your service exists. People generally don’t go looking for what they do not even know exists, especially not when they need something fast.

Then, once they are searching, more than likely they will not only find you, but also your competitors. This is where gravity comes into play. As most of us know from movies or way back in school, the biggest objects in space have the biggest gravity well. The bigger something thing is the harder it is to avoid it or get away from it, and the easier it is for other objects to find their way into it.

Now think of your website, social media presence and overall digital marketing as one of these objects in space. The more content, likes, followers or blogs you have; the more gravity you will have. This is when people will start to flock to your website and business. Every business owner knows when they start, it’s all about the belly to belly connections that we make. We all long for the day when someone will call our business or walk through the doors, saying “oh I saw you online,” or “read about you somewhere.”

Web pages, blogs, reviews, photos (with captions) are pieces of the modern digital marketing puzzle that, if done well, will increase the gravity of your website. While posts, likes, shares, and retweets help grow your social media presence. This is a long process and unfortunately is not something that can be skipped or avoided in the modern digital market. You can, however, streamline and somewhat shortcut some of this process.

Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) is the concept of being the first thing a person thinks about when asked a question about a category. A great example of a company that does this well is GEICO. If you were to ask someone to name the first company that comes to mind when thinking about auto insurance, many people will say GEICO. Catchy and funny commercials have given them this advantage.

Creating TOMA can direct your customers to notice your business faster and will help you build your brand. Important things to remember when you are creating and advertising for TOMA; is not to get specific, but showcase your brand and logo. The goal is to invite and direct potential customers to connect with you, either by phone, website or social media.

Start with the destination in mind. Your destination will depend on your business. It might be a website, a Facebook page or a phone number. If you have a brick and motor store where you sell products from then your destination is your physical location. Then start building your marketing system to always funnel people to your destination.

Always remember that consistency is more important than quantity. Once you have your destination, give people a reason to go there over your competitors. Finally, build your TOMA. Transit and mass media are great ways to do this that will generally offer maximum impressions for minimal investment.