Digital marketing is any communication your business has with its customers via digital means. This communication could be to promote your product/service or maintain customer relationships.
There are many ways to use technology to market your product or service. Not every digital marketing method is suitable for every business.
Types of digital marketing
The term “digital marketing” covers a wide range of digital strategies, and there are many things to consider when designing your digital plan. Below are just a few forms of digital marketing,
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
An easy way to increase traffic to your website is by improving your site’s visibility.
Using keywords and phrases within your content helps to increase your website’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) status. The higher up your website is within Google, the more customers see it and click on it.
Another option is pay per click. PPC means that an advertiser pays a publisher every time someone clicks on the advert.
For example, when you see ads on the right-hand side of your search engine results page, this is PPC advertising. The advertiser will pay the publisher (let’s say Google) each time a customer clicks on the ad and is taken to the business’ website.
Display advertising
The billboards of the social media world, display advertising, refers to a type of paid digital marketing that you’re probably very used to seeing along with your newsfeed scrolls. It encompasses those ads and banners that pop up when you’re habitually meandering through Instagram or surveying the day’s Twitter feed.
Comprising text, images, flash, video, and audio, display advertising is designed to deliver a branded message that increases awareness via popular digital platforms
Social media (organic)
Organic social media marketing refers to social media activity and promotion that arises without a financial cost but has risen in popularity via likes and shares.
Note: the term ‘organic’ pops up quite a lot in the digital marketing world. It means that something’s presence hasn’t been paid for – it’s become ‘naturally’ popular.
Social media (paid)
Paid media is more closely aligned with traditional marketing methods and refers to paying a third party to promote your message.
Email marketing (CRM)
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and it’s a technology used to manage interactions with customers and potential customers. A CRM system helps organisations build customer relationships and streamline processes to increase sales, improve customer service, and increase profitability.
At the same time, you can track which customers engage with your emails and click-through to your website via any in-email links via the email statistics.
Influencer Marketing
We hear more and more about influencers via social media. Influencer marketing taps into the following of a specific individual (or organisation) to promote a product that relates to the interests of the already dedicated audience. This increases visibility and (hopefully) sales of your product or service.