The different types of digital marketing and their uses
Digital marketing
is a beast
Which channels should
you be on? What do SEO and PPC really mean? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of each of the different types of digital marketing? Where do you
even start?
Digital marketing is much more than
just a website and a fun ‘viral’ video…
To help you out, we’re looking at the top 10 types of digital
marketing. Clearly, the lines are blurred between the various options, but at
least you’ll have a kind of menu to choose from.
When it comes to choosing, the usual questions will apply: WHY
do you want to use digital marketing and WHO are you trying to reach with your
marketing efforts? This will help you select the right formats and channels to
achieve your objectives.
Types
of digital marketing
—
10. Audio Marketing
Let’s take a look at
the top 10 types of digital marketing, the pros and cons of each and a couple
of next steps you can consider if you want to get started.
1. Content marketing
Content marketing involves creating and distributing
content—text, pictures, multimedia— that adds value for your audience, instead
of just broadcasting an advertising message. If you’re in B2C (business to
consumer), ‘content’ can mean social media posts, blog articles and fun videos;
if you’re in B2B (business to business), it might be more white papers or
reports, webinars and educational videos.
The pros
It’s free in the sense
that it’s about attracting customers to you and your brand instead of paying to
push your message out to a cold audience
Content is incredibly
versatile and can help you build your brand as you educate, entertain and
inspire your audience; it’s what fuels all the other types of digital
marketing, driving search engine optimization, social media, email, etc.
The cons
With everyone now
waking up to the importance of content and pumping out blog posts, videos and
whatever else, it’s a much cluttered space that makes it hard to stand out
To be effective, you
need to come up with consistent, high-quality content that meets the needs of
your customers while also representing your brand and achieving your business
objectives
Content sits right at the heart of your entire digital marketing eco-system.
The next steps
Design a simple content strategy that includes:
4-5 core themes you
want to focus on, at the sweet spot between what your ideal customer wants and
needs on the one hand and what your brand wants to communicate on the other;
the
formats you want to use (video, audio, articles, etc.);and the channels where
you’ll post each piece of content (on your website, on specific social
channels, etc.) Start simple—if you’re a strong writer, maybe go with a
regular blog post, or if you’re confident on camera then record a weekly
video—and then build from there!
2.
Search engine marketing
Search engine
marketing is all about getting your website to appear at the top of the results
when someone searches for your brand, your products and services and other
relevant words and phrases. Think Google (let’s face it, that’s the main one)
but also Bing (often installed on business computers, so good for B2B!). It
includes both organic or natural search (search engine optimization, or SEO)
and paid search (pay per click, or PPC) and both desktop computers and mobiles
(as well as smart home assistants these days—see number 10—audio marketing).
SEO
Search engine
optimization does what it says on the tin: optimizing for search engines! This
means creating content that people are actively searching for as well as making
sure that this content, and the platforms where it’s sitting, is optimized from
a technical point of view as well. Everyone should be doing this, no matter
what business or industry you’re in.
The pros
It’s free! When your brand appears in the organic search
results, it comes across as being more ‘authentic’ and objective in the eyes of
your customers
The cons
You may not have to pay specifically for the search results, but
it does take time and effort to create amazing content and do the technical
optimization of your website
You’re at the mercy of Google’s changing algorithms and with all
the content that’s out there now it’s very hard to rank highly in the organic
results
The next steps
SEO starts with content, so get that content strategy in place
first (see point 1). Do some keyword research to find out what
people are searching for and try to stay on top of the latest updates from the
likes of Google. If you’re just starting out, you can use a plug-in to help you
optimize your site (e.g. Yoast for WordPress) or, if you’ve got a
bigger budget, you can work with an expert to do a more comprehensive job.
PPC
Pay per click is paid search advertising, for instance, Google
Adwords or Bing Ads. It looks almost the same as the natural search results,
except that it appears at the top of the page with a little box that says ‘Ad’.
You can buy a top-ranking position via an auction based on keywords,
geographical location and demographics—it’s especially useful for e-commerce
and for local businesses.
The pros
PPC can quickly buy you a top ranking if you’re willing to pay
for it
You only pay when someone clicks (hence the name!)
The cons
It can get expensive, especially when you’re targeting popular
keywords
A lot of customers are skeptical of paid ads and are more likely
to trust the natural search results
The next steps
If you have the money
for it, you can use PPC to complement, and boost, the work you’re doing to
optimize for natural search. Again, you’ll need to do keyword research and then play
around with different combinations of targeting and ad copy to see what works,
making sure you track and optimize as you go. PPC can get quite complicated so
if possible, you’ll want to work with an agency.
3. Display advertising
You can think of banner ads as billboards on the internet highway…
Display advertising,
also known as banners, is a lot like the traditional print ads you’d get in
magazines, except that they are online, and you can target specific
publications that you know your audience reads. It has become much more
sophisticated now with programmatic advertising (where ads are booked, analyzed
and optimized automatically using algorithms) and retargeting (like when you
look at a pair of shoes on your favorite department store website and then
those shoes follow you onto every website you visit for months afterwards).
The pros
You can target, and re-target, customers very effectively
Display ads are really easy to track and allow you to measure
conversion in real time
The cons
Customers can suffer from ‘ad blindness,’ ignoring your ad to
focus on the content they are trying to read
You need to find a way to maximize impact, so that people notice
you, but not so much that they get annoyed!
The next steps
For display ads, you need to think both about the
creative—making it clear, impactful and memorable—and the placement—choosing a
relevant context that fits your message and is a match for your audience. If
you’re a small business and you know your market well, you can approach
specific publishers about advertising on their site directly; or you can also
use a third-party solution like Google Display Network or Facebook Audience Network.
4. Mobile marketing
Given the amount of time your customers are spending on their phones, mobile
marketing has to be a key ingredient in your digital marketing strategy.
Mobile marketing is
almost as broad as digital marketing itself and will overlap with a lot of the
other types. It involves doing everything you’re doing on desktop but adapting
it to mobile, as well as doing mobile-specific things like in-app advertising,
sending text messages, and using social messaging apps. It’s especially
important if you’re targeting a younger audience who spends all their time on
their phones
The pros
Customers (that includes you and me!) are on their phones much
more than on their computers these days, so mobile marketing means reaching
them where they’re spending their time
Mobile marketing can be hyper-targeted using specific audience
segments or geo-fencing to get to people in a specific location
The cons
You have a very small space to play with creatively on a phone,
mobile ads have a low click rate (with the few clicks you do get mainly being
due to fat finger syndrome!) and most apps get downloaded once and are then
forgotten
People don’t want to be interrupted by brands and marketing
messages when they’re in the middle of communicating with friends and family
The next steps
The absolute priority
is to make sure that your whole website and all your content is ‘mobile
friendly’ so that it works and looks good on all different devices. This
usually means keeping things short and simple, using clear text and big buttons
and putting captions on your videos so people can get the message even when
they don’t have sound. That’s already a great place to start and then you can
consider more specific mobile advertising, text message campaigns or apps later
on.
5. Social media
marketing
Social media creates a unique opportunity for you to have a two-way conversation with your customers.
Compared to other channels like TV, print and even online
display advertising, social media adds a whole new dimension of engagement and
interaction. Instead of just broadcasting messages out at a mass audience, you
can really interact with your customers and listen to what they have to say.
There are all sorts of channels—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat—and options ranging from organic—for example,
Facebook groups, page posts, stories and Messenger—to paid—like Facebook ads.
Pretty much every business should be on at least a couple of these social
channels.
The pros
The effort you put in can be multiplied as people like, comment
on and share your content with their friends and connections
Facebook ads, in particular, have become very sophisticated and
you can target specific customer segments with your content to get your message
seen by the right people
The cons
The Mark Zuckerbergs who are behind these social channels are
constantly making changes, adjusting their algorithms or finding new ways to
make money, and it’s hard to stay on top of all these changes and to keep your
marketing working effectively
It may sound simple to do a bit of posting on social, but you
need a proper strategy and a lot more time than you think to do it properly and
consistently
The next steps
Your social channels
should be part of your content marketing strategy (see point 1) and the same
steps apply: decide on what content you want to create, what format and then
what channels you’re going to distribute it on. An added step is to create a
calendar so that you know when you’re posting what content on which channel.
Remember that social media is interactive so it’s not just about pushing out
your pretty pictures and posts but also responding to your customers and having
real conversations.
6. Email marketing
Who can resist a Blessed Friday deal?!
Email may seem old school in a world where everyone is instant
messaging or Snapchatting, but email marketing is still one of the most
effective digital marketing tools. Especially e-commerce sites and retail
brands are seeing a lot of success with pushing seasonal promotions and
discounts (think Black Friday deals or Mother’s Day), while you can also use
email newsletters to ‘nurture’ your prospects by giving them a lot of value
beyond just pushing your products and services.
The pros
Having an email list means you can stay in touch with your
followers independently of any changing algorithms (say, if Mr Zuckerberg
suddenly decides to close down your Facebook group)
Staying in regular contact with your email list will help you
build relationships and will keep you ‘top of mind’ when they’re ready to buy
The cons
A lot of emails are left unopened, so you’ll need to come up
with strong subject headings to grab people’s attention away from their
cluttered inboxes
You need to find a way to keep adding value so that they stick
with you and don’t unsubscribe
The next steps
Choose an email
software (e.g. Mailchimp, Convert Kit, Get Response)
and then start to collect people’s emails. You need to give them a reason to
opt in, for instance, offer them a step-by-step pdf guide, or a set of free
design templates, and make sure you check the regulations (if you have European
customers, you’ll need to pay attention to the new GDPR rules).
Once you start collecting those emails, you should stay in regular contact with
your list so create a weekly newsletter and make sure it’s packed full of value
(and content!), not just sales messages and promotions.
7.Influencer marketing
Getting one of these top influencers to promote your brand might be the
dream—but a smaller influencer can be much more effective (and cheaper!) when
targeted to the right audience.
Influencer marketing involves partnering with
influencers—celebrities, experts, authority figures—who have an existing
audience. When they promote your product to their audience, often on platforms
like Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube, loyal followers will jump on their
recommendation and buy from you. You might naturally think of the Kardashians
or some uber-cool young actress helping to promote your product to individual
customers, but influencers can also be effective for B2B—it’s just that you’ll
just be partnering with more serious and specific thought leaders or experts in
your industry.
The pros
You get to piggyback on the influencer’s existing audience,
rather than wait until you’ve built your own
Becoming associated with a popular personality can give you
instant ‘cool points’, especially with a younger audience
The cons
It’s not as simple as just paying a load of money to get a big
celebrity—it’s much more effective if you choose the right influencer based on
your brand and your audience, and find an authentic way to partner with them
There’s a growing distrust of influencers and you need to be
super careful and transparent about the fact that you’re paying them to promote
your brand
The next steps
Decide on what you
want to get out of your influencer marketing campaign; come up with a shortlist
of possible influencers who have the right audience (it’s not just about the
size but about who their followers are and how engaged they are) and feel like
a good match for your brand; and then get in touch with them and see what you
can negotiate!
8. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing means outsourcing to other individuals or
companies who will promote your products in return for a commission. It’s
especially popular with bloggers and with e-commerce sites (one of the biggest
programs is Amazon Associates). The affiliate will
promote your product on their website and if the customer clicks through and
buys, then the affiliate will automatically receive a commission for driving
that sale.
If you want to make money in your sleep, then affiliate marketing might be for you!
The pros
Your affiliates are doing the hard work of marketing and sales for you!
There’s no upfront cost as you only pay for conversions (when
the affiliate is successful, and someone actually buys from you)
The cons
·
You won’t have 100%
control over your brand, and you’ll need to educate them on your brand identity
and messaging
·
You can’t just
outsource it and that’s it, you have to spend time tracking and monitoring your
affiliates
The next steps
Start with a
competitive analysis to see what kind of programs are out there and what level
of commission they offer; decide on whether you want to run your program in
house or partner with an affiliate management agency; and get clear on the
payment details, terms and conditions. Make sure you do a proper onboarding so
that they understand your brand guidelines and what’s permitted and what’s not.
9. Video marketing
Video is the ‘darling’ of digital marketing right now. Design by 99Spy.
Video is the star of the show these days and if there’s one
thing you should be doing, whatever your business, this is probably it! It can
be a short clip or a longer format, educational or entertaining, pre-recorded
or streamed live, in real time. It’s no longer just the case of taking a TV ad
and putting that online but instead, you’re creating bespoke content for your
digital channels.
The pros
Video can be super effective in getting your message across as
it creates an emotional connection with the audience and is much more memorable
than just some text or even a picture
All the major channels—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn—are pushing
video now so your video content will get more reach and engagement in those
social feeds and rank higher in search engine results
The cons
With the low attention spans of today’s audience, you need to
grab people’s attention in just a few seconds—or they’ll move on to whatever’s
next in their feed
Although anyone can make a low-budget video, creating
high-quality, engaging video content will take time, skill and money
The next steps
Video should be part
of your content marketing strategy (go back to point 1 again!). Be specific
about whether you’re trying to be inspirational, educational, or entertaining
and make sure you’re focused on that objective as you start creating. It doesn’t
have to be perfect with high production values—a lot of great video content is
shot on an iPhone—but do think about lighting and sound to make sure it’s clear
and professional.
10. Audio marketing
Radio has come a long way since the Golden Age of commercial
broadcasting back in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. As much as radio was replaced by
television, most people still listen to the radio every week—especially now
with the growth of internet radio. You still have the option to do traditional
radio advertising or similar ads on channels like Spotify; but audio marketing
can be much broader, including podcasts and smart home assistants like Amazon
Alexa or Google Home.
Podcasts can be a great way to market to your audience—whether by launching
your own, or simply being a guest on someone else’s. Design by Spoon Lancer.
The pros
Audio—whether you’re talking more traditional radio or the newer
podcasts—is a really convenient medium that offers on-demand, on-the-go
listening for a busy audience, and tapping into that means you’re reaching that
audience where they’re already spending their time
Audio content can be easier and cheaper to produce than video
(and you may even be able to repurpose content, for instance, taking the audio
from an existing video)
The cons
Your listeners will often be busy multi-tasking and it can be
hard to get them to take the next step (there’s no easy button for them to
click on to learn more or sign up!)
Marketing on smart home assistants is still pretty experimental
and there’s a steep learning curve without any immediate return on investment
The next steps
This is such a diverse bucket of tools so the first step is to
decide what it is you want to do—create a radio ad, start a podcast, start
experimenting with smart home assistants… Think about who your audience is and
where they’re spending their time, which is the best channel to focus on and
maybe also how you can use content that you already have rather than create
something from scratch. A good place to start is to find a list of relevant
podcasts that you can contact to see if you can be a guest.
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