With over 60% of the world population on the internet as of 2021, it is only understandable that companies and individuals would cede from traditional marketing to digital marketing. Digital marketing refers to the use of the internet to promote products and services using different forms of digital channels including mobile phones, computers, websites, social media, email, and text messages, among others. Interestingly, television advertising is considered traditional marketing alongside newspapers, billboards, and magazines among others.
internet marketing became popular around the 90s with the advent of the internet. As individuals spend more time on the web and less on televisions and newspapers, it makes sense for brands and advertisers to target prospects through digital marketing as opposed to traditional marketing that had served them well for decades.
A 2021 report revealed that 72% of the overall marketing budget is reserved for digital marketing. Advertisers’ preference for digital advertising has pushed the global digital advertising market to a colossal $441 billion as of 2022. The market share is expected to surge to approximately $787 billion by 2026. This goes to show you that digital marketing is here to stay and you should probably learn to utilize it like the rest of the world is doing.
Different types of digital marketing
There are several disciples within the broader digital marketing scope most of them distinguished from the way you interact with the various digital media. Let’s take a closer look:
Search Engine Optimization popularly referred to as SEO is a critical digital marketing tool that aims to boost your site’s search engine ranking organically against competing websites. SEO helps your site rank naturally at the top of the search results for free, but not before your content fulfills certain principles. For starters, you need to identify relevant keywords that your prospective customers would likely be searching. These keywords should be placed strategically appearing effortlessly in the text.
Next, you need high-quality content that is optimized for search engines. Your message will be scrutinized for quality. Only quality informational content will beat the rest to take the top stop in search engine ranking. You also need authoritative links to back up your content and create an aura of authenticity. Also, make sure your site is mobile-friendly to accommodate all visitors.
After you’ve fulfilled these conditions, it will probably take some time before search engines notice your content and highly recommend it to your prospects. Organic traffic is the best kind of traffic you need for your website.
Content Marketing
Content marketing involves the creation and distribution of relevant content to your target audience. The underlying goal of content marketing is to attract prospects in the hope of converting them into paying customers.
People don’t like being sold to. As such, content marketing takes a different approach from selling directly to visitors. Instead, it draws visitors with free valuable information with a subtle call-to-action that will gently nudge them into buying. SEO is a major enabler of content marketing. The message can only reach prospective clients if it ranks favorably against similar content on the web.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing involves driving brand awareness through interactive online engagement with your target audience. It takes place across all the popular social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Youtube, among others. Social media marketing heavily relies on active target audience participation making it popular among B2C marketers.
Pay-Per-Click Marketing
This involves creating and posting an ad on any digital platform and paying an agreed amount whenever someone clicks on it. The search engine algorithm will consider your ad for display when there’s a slot available based on the quality of the ad, relevance, and your bid amount.
Digital affiliate marketing
This occurs when someone or brand makes money promoting your product or services online. Other types of digital marketing include email marketing, market automation, native advertising, et al.
