What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet. Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and other websites to connect with current and prospective customers.
A seasoned inbound marketer might say inbound marketing and digital marketing are virtually the same things, but there are some minor differences. And conversations with marketers and business owners in the U.S., U.K., Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, I’ve learned a lot about how those small differences are being observed across the world.
Digital marketing the Inbound methods such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Content Automation, Campaign Marketing, Data-Driven Marketing, E-commerce Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization, E-mail Direct Marketing, Display Advertising, E-Books, and Optical disks and games are becoming more common in our advancing technology.
In fact, digital marketing now extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback, and on-hold mobile ring tones. In essence, this extension to non-Internet channels helps to differentiate digital marketing from online marketing, another catch-all term for the marketing methods mentioned above, which strictly occur online.
With how accessible the internet is today, would you believe me if I told you the number of people who go online every day is still increasing? It is.
In fact, “constant” internet usage among adults increased by 5% in just the last three years, according to Pew Research. And although we say it a lot, the way people shop and buy really has changed along with it — meaning offline marketing isn’t as effective as it used to be.
Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the internet. Enter digital marketing in other words, any form of marketing that exists online.
At Phila Infotech, we talk a lot about inbound marketing as a really effective way to attract, engage, and delight customers online. But we still get a lot of questions from people all around the world about digital marketing.
Why Digital Marketing Matters
The amount of time we spend connected to our electronic devices increases every day. In fact, Americans spend over 11 hours each day using electronic devices. I know what you’re thinking: “but there are only 24 hours in a day.”
This might scare you, but we’re so close to spending every waking hour on electronic devices, digital marketing is more important and impactful than ever before. Without digital marketing efforts, you stand to reach almost no one. As a result, your business will get left in the dust. Don’t get left behind. Consider the following types of digital marketing and think about which ones work best for your industry, your company, and your audience.
Types of Digital Marketing
- Outbound marketing
- Inbound Marketing
Outbound marketing:–
What is Outbound Marketing?
Outbound marketing refers to any kind of marketing where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience. Outbound marketing examples include more traditional forms of marketing and advertising such as TV commercials, radio ads, print advertisements (newspaper ads, magazine ads, flyers, brochures, catalogs, etc.), tradeshows, outbound sales calls (AKA “cold calls”), and email spam.
Outbound marketing included trade shows, seminar series, email blasts to purchased lists, internal cold calling, outsourced telemarketing, and advertising.
Outbound marketing attempts to initiate a conversation about a product or service by rapidly spreading the word of its existence through a variety of traditional marketing methods. When most non-marketers think of the word “marketing,” its this classic definition that they refer to. Whether a marketer places advertisements on the television or the newspaper, these traditional methods are still highly regarded by many industry professionals.
Also known as traditional marketing, outbound marketing includes traditional tactics from years past:
- Radio
- TV
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Direct-mail
- Billboards
- Event sponsorships
The traditional outbound strategy can even be found in such digital distribution forms as email blasts, banner ads, PPC, and SPAM. But the defining qualities of outbound marketing are in the messaging.
Inbound Marketing:-
Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting customers, or leads, via company-created Internet content, thereby having potential customers come to the company rather than marketers vying for their attention. This type of marketing tries to make it easier for customers, who are already actively looking for goods or services via the Internet, to find what a company offers.
Inbound Marketing is a technique for drawing customers to products and services via content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and branding.
Inbound marketing is a digital marketing strategy that organically attracts leads and buyers to your company when they’re looking for solutions, rather than competing for their attention.
Inbound is a method of attracting, engaging, and delighting people to grow a business that provides value and builds trust. As technology shifts, inbound guides an approach to doing business in a human and helpful way. Inbound is a better way to market, a better way to sell, and a better way to serve your customers. Because when good-for-the-customer means good-for-the-business, your company can grow better over the long term. Examples of inbound marketing
Inbound digital marketing include:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
2. Search Engine Marketing and Pay-Per-Click Advertising
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Content Marketing
5. Affiliate Marketing
6. Influencer Marketing
7. Email Marketing
8. Viral Marketing
9. Mobile Phone Advertising
1. Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization or SEO refers to the process of growing your online visibility in non-paid (organic) search engine results. SERPs or search engine results pages appear to users after they search for a given set of keywords using a search engine like Google or Bing. Each user receives an individualized results page based on keywords, the user’s location at the time of searching, and their browsing history.
Organic search results appear in a list and are ranked using the search engine’s algorithm. As users change the way they search and engage with online content, these algorithms change. The higher you rank on a SERP, the more traffic is directed to your site and the more chances of making a passive visitor an active customer.
How do you get your company’s website to appear at the top of a user’s organic search results?
Search engine optimization includes many factors from keywords within your content to links to your website around the web. It includes both On-page and Off-page SEO. On-page SEO refers to the steps you take on your own website to boost your SEO. Off-page refers to the relationships you make and actions you take outside of your website to fuel SEO.
SEO trends change as algorithms change to fit user needs. In this way, SEO is never about building a website for the sole purpose of ranking high on a list of results. At its core, SEO is about crafting the best possible website for your user. If you stay on top of SEO trends, you’re that much closer to more visibility online and traffic to your site.
2. Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing or SEM covers the ground SEO ignores, paid traffic from search engines. With SEM you purchase advertisement space that appears on a user’s SERP. The most common paid search platform is Google Ad Words. Next, is Bing Ads.
The search engine charges a marketer a predetermined amount to display an advertisement in a number of places on a SERP generated from specific keywords or phrases. One example of SEM is pay-per-click advertising or PPC. PPC refers to a digital marketing method wherein search engines charge a company each time their advertisement is clicked.
Social media platforms began adopting PPC advertising in recent months. These ads show up in the news feeds of a company’s target audience. This system is a great example of how the different types of digital marketing bleed into each other to form a complete digital marketing strategy. In this example, SEM overlaps with social media marketing.
3. Social Media Marketing
By now you know that social media is a crucial part of your marketing strategy. But do you know the ins and outs of social media marketing? Social media marketing gives you increased exposure. It allows you to connect with your consumers in a more intimate way. From this interaction, you can gain valuable customer feedback that allows you to improve your customer service, product, or service.
Using social media marketing you’ll gain more reach when you post quality content.
Everything you do to increase traffic or business on your social media channels is social media marketing. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or LinkedIn these efforts all amount to social media marketing.
Most everyone benefits from social media marketing, but B2C companies stand to gain the most. Pay attention to what your target audience talks about on social media. Engage in the conversation. Use social media marketing as a way to gauge what content you put out does well by monitoring shares and likes. Shares equate to free advertising for you.
4. Content Marketing
Content marketing refers to the practice of delivering a quality piece of content to your users to generate sales and leads. This content can live anywhere online. Tweets, a YouTube video, and blogs on your website all comprise content marketing. Content Marketing works because it melds together exceptional content with other types of digital marketing like SEO and Social Media Marketing.
Keep your audience in mind as you create content. Remember who you’re talking to and what they’re interested in. This will dictate the subject of your content. Consider the language your audience uses when they search online for information. Use these keywords to boost your SEO.
Last, share your content across all of your social media platforms for maximum exposure and feedback.
Content marketing is an ongoing practice. It’s not always about sales but more so about engaging and educating your consumer to build brand recognition, trust, and equity.
Stay away from fluff pieces. Think about how much content a user comes by every day. Creating relevant, quality content helps you stand out and boosts your SEO.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing refers to the process of paying for conversions. Think of it like hiring a salesperson for your product or service. That affiliate earns a commission. You determine the rate for affiliate marketing. You only pay for conversions. This means there is no upfront cost to affiliate marketing. Many bloggers or e-commerce websites use affiliate marketing.
When you choose to use affiliate marketing ensure that all of your terms and boundaries are discussed beforehand. The affiliate represents your brand, so you want them to carry your brand’s message close to them. Think about the kinds of words you want the affiliate to use. Of course, you need to make the deal work for the affiliate, too.
6. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is among the newer types of digital marketing. Influencer marketing uses people with an enormous online reach considered experts by your target market to drive traffic and sales.
Influencer marketing is popular on social media channels like Instagram and Snapchat. Companies hire Instagrammers with large followings to promote their brand by posting one or more photos with the product. Companies now engage in Instagram or Snapchat “takeovers” where the hired influence controls the company’s social media platform for a given amount of time, most often a day.
These social media takeovers drive the influencer’s following to your social media channels increasing your new followers and unique views.
Always make sure to do your research on an influencer before you decide to do business with them. You might want to verify their Google analytics and make sure their following proves legitimate and not full of fake accounts.
7. Email Marketing
Email marketing allows you to update your email subscribers on a regular basis about your company. This fosters a relationship unlike any of the other types of digital marketing. Your email updates provide value to your consumer. As a result, you build brand trust and brand loyalty.
The best email marketing campaigns involve a list of subscribers earned by your content and company, not paid for by your company. People who opt-in to your email subscription prove more likely to become active buyers.
8. Viral Marketing
Viral marketing refers to a post of some sort that is trendy, funny, or strange enough to garner a massive amount of shares online. Viral marketing causes an enormous spike in website traffic over a short period of time. This is hard to do but the benefits alone make the effort worth your time.
B2C companies stand to gain the most from viral marketing. B2C companies can use social media to reach an enormous audience across all of their active platforms.
9. Mobile Phone Advertising
Each of the types of digital advertising can happen on a mobile device. Some types of marketing using a mobile phone do not fit the above types of digital marketing.
These include SMS advertising which could prove an asset to local marketing efforts. You can prompt your consumers to use SMS to receive special offers, coupons, and updates from your company.