What are the different types of digital marketing?
The ultimate goal of marketing is for a brand or company to connect with their audience in order to generate leads and sales. Where previously this connection will have been conducted via billboards, flyers, phone calls or other traditional – or, non-digital – forms of communication, now marketing has moved online. It makes sense given how digital our world now is, with smartphones, tablets, and even watches having access to the internet, that marketing has been modernised to match the rapid uptake in digital activity.
Being digital marketing experts ourselves, we’re keen to shed some light on what is quite a broad term, and narrow down precisely what some of the different types of digital marketing cover.
CONTENT MARKETING
Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing content that is valuable and relevant to a specific audience. The key component here is the value and relevancy that the content brings an audience, as it’s this that helps to generate trust and loyalty from them. The content is designed to communicate your brand’s vision and mission, to show why it’s worth investing in.
Content marketing can be achieved in various ways, through blog posts, website pages, social media content, podcasts, print publications, and more.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social media is no longer just for recreational use, but is a legitimate business tool as well, so it makes sense that it’s a valuable avenue for marketing. Social platforms can be used to connect with your audience, to promote your business and to share updates with the people who will benefit most from them. And, with there being so many different platforms out there, the potential reach you can achieve through social media is huge.
Sharing marketing campaigns to your social media feeds gets the message direct to your audience, and can massively cut down on costs thanks to the fact that posting on socials is entirely free to do. As well as sharing product launches and company adverts to your main page, collaborating with influencers is another valuable marketing method available through social media.
EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing involves sending email campaigns to a list of subscribers. These campaigns can promote your business, provide information on your products or services, inform your subscribers of any business updates, offer them exclusive deals and discounts, share blog-like content that may be of interest to them, and more. The possibilities are endless, which is what makes email marketing so versatile.
To get the most out of your email campaigns, make sure to include personalisation, clear calls to action, and ensure that you segment your email lists to keep your emails as relevant as possible for your subscribers.
SEO
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a method of improving your digital content in order to boost your website’s search engine ranking, in an effort to drive more organic traffic to said website. There are lots of methods for employing on page SEO in content, including but not limited to incorporating backlinks in your copy, adding images, utilising keywords, and maintaining a consistent stream of high-quality content.
SEO is commonly used as part of a marketing strategy because once the content has been created, it’s a free method for improving organic traffic to a website, when successfully executed it positions a company as an authority on a subject, and – while it can be initially slow to get off the ground – it typically provides greater longevity in results than some faster methods.
PAY-PER-CLICK
Pay-per-click (PPC) is another search engine related marketing method. In this case, companies promote their sites via adverts that pop up when related terms are searched for, and when an advert is clicked on, the company pays a fee. This is a much faster method of driving traffic compared with SEO, however it does not build the same level of organic interest in a site.
The benefits of PPC include that the adverts sit right at the top of the page – above the search engine results – giving you the best position on the page, the adverts are targeted at the audience that matter most, and you can set fixed spending limits to allow PPC to fit within your marketing budget.
It’s worth noting that SEO and PPC tend to work best when they are utilised in tandem with one another.
AFFLIATE MARKETING
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn passive income. In essence, it’s the process of promoting another company’s product or service and driving a sale from your audience, sort of like a commission. This is typically done by including links to said products in your content – for example through a blog post. Once these links are embedded in your content, you can let them work in the background for you.
Most often payment is made once a third-party sale has completed, but in some cases, companies will award your commission for other forms of lead generation.
This is not an exhaustive list of the different types of digital marketing services out there, but it provides a good foundation of the basics. With so much interaction and communication being carried out online nowadays, creating a digital marketing plan is a non-negotiable for businesses. Pick the strategies you think will be most effective for your audience and business model, and work from there. So long as your brand values shine through the content, you can’t go far wrong.
If you’re looking for help with your marketing campaigns, we’d love to hear from you! Follow this link to start a conversation today.
