The new face of marketing is digital. Businesses large and small are in constant competition to snag their very own corner of online real estate. After all, there’s only so much room available on each search engine results page.
If you want to come out on top, you’ll have to take advantage of several different forms of digital marketing. Putting all your eggs in one basket is both wasteful and inefficient. At the same time, some types of digital marketing strategies may not be right for your company or its available resources.
What’s worth it and what’s not? Here are the seven forms of digital marketing you should be using.
1. Content Marketing
You can’t talk about digital marketing without discussing content. What is content marketing? It’s when you create online content tailored to your target audience.
Usually, this content comes in the form of blog posts. You can also create things like infographics, videos, and social media posts. High-quality, original content can attract website traffic organically.
The good thing about content marketing is it’s relatively inexpensive. Many small businesses can delegate the work to a single employee or outsource it entirely.
However, this money can go down the drain when the content creator isn’t suited for the task. Uninspired filler content may be able to benefit your website’s SEO, but it won’t do much else.
2. Search Engine Optimization
How often do you use a search engine? Probably multiple times a day. Every time someone searches for a service or product is an opportunity to make your presence known.
That’s what search engine optimization, or SEO, seeks to capitalize. The process starts by locating key terms and phrases that potential customers may use with a search engine. Once you’ve located these key terms, also known as keywords, you incorporate these across your website and content marketing posts.
It’s a synergistic type of digital marketing that works well with other ventures. Best of all, it doesn’t take much time to get the ball rolling. Your Google Analytics software has a built-in feature to help you locate key terms you’re already doing well with.
But for the best results, you may want to work with marketing professionals like those found at this marketing agency.
3. Email Marketing
If you’re concerned about making an immediate return on your investment, look no farther. 91% of marketers say email marketing is their most important digital marketing channel. It’ll likely be yours, too.
As you bring traffic to your website, you’ll have the opportunity to cultivate leads. With a collection of email addresses, you can send out a newsletter to thousands of leads with the click of a button. The newsletter should contain information about new products, services, deals, or content marketing creations.
It’s a fantastic way to keep your leads in the conversation and increase the likelihood of a sale.
4. Social Media
With so many users across social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it makes sense to establish your presence there. But you should know social media is not about the memes or viral hits. It’s an opportunity to hold intimate conversations with current and potential customers.
In some ways, it’s similar to email marketing. You’re keeping leads and customers on the hook. However, social media is also a great platform to have your users share posts with others, potentially introducing them to your brand.
5. Digital Advertising
Advertisements have always been an important component of the marketing toolbox. It’s but another way to bring your business to the eyes and ears of your target audience.
But digital advertising is different from its other forms. Powerful algorithms make it easy to ensure your advertisements only appear to those who are likely to be interested.
Although you can stick ads just about anywhere, most businesses focus on two: search engines and social media.
These come in the form of pay-per-click advertisements, where you only pay for the advertisement each time someone interacts with it. Since you have complete control over your daily advertising budget, small businesses can find value through PPC ads, especially if the conversion profit exceeds the cost.
6. Affiliate Marketing
Why not let someone do the marketing for you? That’s the idea behind affiliate marketing. An affiliate is someone such as a blog owner or influencer who promotes your product.
In return for the promotion, they’ll earn a commission fee every time someone uses their referral hyperlink to make a purchase. It’s a win-win situation.
Commission fees are usually no more than about 5%, but they can sometimes swell up to 10% depending on the company.
You have the option of contacting potential affiliates directly or adding your product to an affiliate marketing database. If you choose the latter, anyone can become an affiliate without your knowledge or input.
7. Phone Marketing
Most people have a smartphone or mobile device. That’s why some companies, especially those looking to geotarget, use SMS advertising to send texts about business products.
But phone marketing doesn’t end there. You can also gain brand recognition by creating worthwhile mobile apps. In addition to providing a helpful function, they can incorporate notifications in the same way you might use email marketing.
Essential Seven Forms of Digital Marketing
Who knew there were so many different forms of digital marketing? Each channel fulfills a specialized function. By incorporating these seven strategies into your digital marketing efforts, you’ll cast a wide net that’s sure to catch a boatload of traffic.
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