What Are the Different Types of Digital Marketing? 

Published on: December 1, 2022

Think about the last big-ticket item you purchased. How did you hear about it? In many cases, the answer is some form of digital advertisement. Digital marketing is one of the most essential parts of the modern marketing and business landscape, as more and more people spend time online. If you are interested in becoming a savvy business professional with knack for marketing, then read on to learn more about the world of digital marketing. 

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is any marketing that takes place on digital platforms, including the internet, mobile phones, email, social media and podcasts. Any marketing campaign that involves a form of digital communication is a form of digital marketing.

Why Digital Marketing Is Crucial for Success

Digital marketing is vital to a modern business and making it thrive. This type of marketing is becoming one of the most important because people spend a lot of time online. In fact, according to MailChimp, 89% of Americans are online daily, and 31% are online almost constantly. Across the globe, there are currently 5 billion internet users based on data from April 2022. Most people are online in some form, and digital marketing is essential to reaching the vast majority of American consumers.

In addition, digital marketing has minimal upfront costs. You can start and manage a social media page for free; even paid posts can have a small investment rather than a large one. Compared to traditional marketing venues, like commercials and billboards, this is one of the most affordable options. 

What Skills Do You Need to Be Effective at Digital Marketing?

If you want to be an effective digital marketer, you'll need a wide variety of skills to keep up with the ever-changing landscape, competition and technology. These skills include: 

• Video marketing skills: Video marketing has a high return on investment based on current research from the Digital Marketing Institute. Creating videos and using them to market a brand is an integral part of digital marketing.
• Storytelling: Digital marketing involves bringing people into a story. Whether creating a video, podcast or blog post, you must tell a story that draws people in and engages them.
• Design skills: Infographics, web pages, social media posts and blog posts all involve some design. While you won’t need the skills of a graphic designer, you will need some basic design principles in hand.
• Communication: Digital marketing involves communication. From responding to social media comments to drafting content that communicates your marketing goals, you must be a skilled communicator to be a digital marketer.
• Creativity: Digital marketing requires outside-the-box thinking. Fostering creativity is vital if you are going to find success in this type of marketing.
• Problem-solving: When metrics are not working the way they should, you need to be able to problem-solve to find a solution.
• Tech skills: Digital marketing involves a lot of work with tech. You will need solid tech skills to be successful in this field.

What Are the Different Types of Digital Marketing?

While any marketing that involves a digital platform is considered digital marketing, there are specific types that marketers should be aware of and different tactics that go with these types. These include: 

Content Marketing 

Content continues to be king in the world of online marketing. Content marketing involves creating and distributing content that people in your target audience want to read or engage with. The goal is to attract leads that will turn into customers through that content while also branding yourself as an industry expert.

Content can be published on many different platforms, much of which is written content. However, video and audio content also are growing in importance, and that also has a role to play in content marketing

SEO 

SEO stands for search engine optimization. This tool uses keywords to position a website high in the search results. The higher a page ranks on the SERPs, the more effective your overall marketing strategies will be. SEO involves quality content, high user engagement, mobile-friendly websites, inbound links and keywords. 

PPC

Pay-per-click advertising is a paid form of online marketing. It involves paying for search engine result positions and paid advertising on social media platforms, websites and blogs. When combined with other digital marketing strategies, PPC advertising can be an excellent way to ensure your content gets seen. 

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing drives traffic and increases brand awareness via social media pages. This type of digital marketing involves a significant number of online discussions. While marketers can use any social media page for this type of marketing, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the most common. Video content is often posted on YouTube for marketing purposes as well. 

Awareness Marketing

Brand awareness refers to ensuring that people are aware of your brand. Awareness marketing involves increasing the knowledge and awareness of your brand in the minds of potential customers. The goal is not to make a sale or get a new lead but to make people aware of who you are and what you offer. Awareness marketing keeps your company in the minds of potential buyers, so when they are ready to make a purchase decision, you are the first person who comes to mind.

Email Marketing

Email marketing involves sending promotional messages through email to try to get sales or leads. While this sounds simple, it’s actually somewhat complex because people are so used to ignoring promotional emails. You must create emails that entice people to click and convert those clicks into leads or sales. When done well, it can be quite effective. In fact, in one survey from the Content Marketing Institute, 87% of surveyed brands said that email marketing was their top digital marketing method.

Influencer Marketing

Influencers, like celebrities or online content creators, have a large online following. Brands can partner with influencers to market their products or services in exchange for complimentary products or even paid affiliate programs and sponsorships. This can significantly increase brand exposure if the influencer has a large online following.

Affiliate Marketing 

Affiliate marketing allows someone else to promote a business in exchange for traffic or sales commissions. This can be a highly effective component of an online marketing strategy, particularly if the affiliate has a lot of traffic to their website or social media page. Sometimes, affiliates promote a product through a review and add links to the product on their page.

Choose Husson for Your Degree Today

Husson University offers an array of online undergraduate and graduate business degree programs. If you are interested in learning more about our online business degree programs, contact Husson University today.

Sources

https://mailchimp.com/marketing-glossary/digital-marketing/

https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/research-b2b-audience/

https://brainstation.io/career-guides/what-skills-do-you-need-to-be-a-digital-marketer

https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/7-essential-skills-every-digital-marketer-should-know