Types of Digital Marketing – 11 Strategies for Guaranteed Success

In the contemporary business landscape, digital marketing has emerged as an indispensable component of any business strategy. Of course, with so many types of digital marketing, trying to find the right fit for your business’s needs can be challenging.

Whether you’re looking to attract potential clients, drive web traffic, or foster brand recognition, there are unique types of digital marketing that can deliver specific outcomes. The important thing is to have the right SEO campaigns, SEO strategies, and marketing plans in place.

Of course, with such a diverse palette of marketing components, understanding your different options through and through is key. Come dive in with us as we explore the many types of digital marketing strategies available.

11 Types of Digital Marketing to Implement

Choosing the right type of digital marketing that fits your needs is key, and most of what goes into picking a particular strategy starts with considering your budget, timeline, and the level of work you’re willing to put in.

	Difficulty	Monthly Cost	Time to See Results
Search Engine Optimization	Moderate	Varies (Time-Intensive)	Months to Years
Pay-Per-Click Advertising	Moderate to High	Varies (Depends on Budget)	Immediate to Weeks
Content Marketing	Moderate	Moderate to High	Months to Years
Social Media Marketing	Low to Moderate	Low to Moderate	Weeks to Months
Email Marketing	Low	Low to Moderate	Weeks to Months
Influencer Marketing	Moderate	Moderate to High	Weeks to Months
Affiliate Marketing	Moderate	Variable (Commissions)	Months to Years
Video Marketing	Moderate	Low to High	Weeks to Months
Mobile Marketing	Moderate to High	Low to High	Weeks to Months
Chatbot Marketing	Moderate	Low to Moderate	Weeks to Months
Viral Marketing	Moderate	Low to Moderate	Immediate to Weeks

What is the Most Effective Type of Digital Marketing?

With so many different digital marketing strategies, finding the right one that works best for your team can be challenging. Let’s take a look at each of the most popular types of digital marketing to see which ones best align with your needs.

1. Search Engine Optimization

SEO plays a crucial role in elevating your content to prominent positions on search engine results pages, making your website more visible to those actively seeking the products or services you offer.

Implementing SEO means identifying keywords that your target audience uses when conducting online searches, meaning your content should be structured around these specific search queries.

Here are some of the key factors of SEO to look out for:

1. Long-Tail Keywords: These are ultra-specific, multi-word phrases that people will often use in search engines. Compared to short-tail keywords, they are less competitive and reflect the intent of the user much more clearly.
2. On-Page SEO Elements: Some of the most important elements to look out for in terms of on-page SEO include meta descriptions and title tags, both of which provide descriptions of the page’s content.
3. Off-Page SEO Elements: Then, we have off-page elements, such as backlinks from other websites, which can drive traffic from other parts of the internet and create domain authority.

The Search Engine Journal says that just over 91% of web traffic is generated by websites featured on the first page of Google’s search results.

A&A Global Case Study

Our goal with A&A Global was to create organic sales growth with an SEO content marketing plan. The team at Mediaboom provided the initial keyword research before diving into the product pages, category pages, and blog for a full SEO overhaul, optimizing published content to drastically improve the company’s organic site traffic overall.

Get in touch with us here at Mediaboom to see how we can do the same thing for your brand!

2. Content Marketing

When your brand delivers high-quality and valuable content, it establishes trust with consumers.

Consequently, your business can assume an authoritative position in the market, becoming the preferred choice for customers when they need to make decisions.

This is precisely what digital content marketing aims to achieve. It revolves around providing your audience with solutions to their queries by disseminating valuable content.

Successful content creation, however, no longer means relying on your blog alone. You’ll find that infographics, videos, podcasts, white papers, social media posts, emails, and other forms of content will all help you reach your customers and provide them with the information they’re looking for.

A successful content creation strategy includes:

1. Knowing Your Audience: An understanding of your audience and what they’re looking for from your blog or content
2. Creating A Schedule: A content production schedule that keeps your content appearing on a regular basis
3. Keyword Research: Deepen your understanding of keywords, terms, or phrases that are genuinely important in your industry.
4. Competitor Research: Pay attention to your competitors’ blogs: understand what they’re producing, why they’re producing it, and why you should (or shouldn’t) be doing the same. It’s also helpful to see what your customers aren’t producing and how you can fill in the gaps.
5. Cross-Channel Testing: Different types of content to help appeal to a diverse customer audience.

While content marketing can serve various objectives, its most common goal is to convert visitors into leads. People interacting with your brand and its content will grow accustomed to receiving quality content that they can rely on.

3. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

There are numerous ways to invest in online media advertising, and one effective approach is to advertise on search engines using pay-per-click advertising.

As one of the most prevalent forms of digital marketing, you essentially purchase clicks for your ad by participating in keyword auctions, where you place bids for relevant keywords.

In keyword auctions, quality score is a crucial factor, as search engines use it to determine the relevance and quality of ads on landing pages. The quality score is often based on numerous factors, including landing page experience, ad relevance, and click-through rate.

Then, we have the ad rank, which determines the position of an ad on the SERP. The ad rank is calculated using the quality score, bid amount, and a few other factors. More often than not, the ad that has the highest ad rank will appear at the top of the search results.

It’s one of the most effective types of digital marketing for e-commerce and local businesses looking for immediate, targeted traffic.

4. Email Marketing

Despite the immense number of emails sent daily, there are still voices claiming that email marketing has lost its effectiveness.

However, in reality, email marketing is still one of the most potent forms of digital marketing.

When employed strategically, it can yield significant results. For example, many successful email campaigns will use a blend of these three elements:

1. Segmentation: Dividing an email list based on demographics like age, gender, location, and past interactions with your website or emails.
2. Personalization: Using a recipient’s name in the subject line or customizing emails based on their data
3. Timing: Sending emails that are aligned with events and holidays or basing your send times on when your audience is most likely to open their emails.

When utilizing email marketing, it’s key to consistently deliver valuable, pertinent content or product information to your subscribers, provided it is done with respect for their privacy and without resorting to spammy practices.

Spectrum Case Study

Mediaboom helped create numerous product and service promotion emails for Spectrum to send to their existing customers. With eye-catching designs and the right copy, we were able to increase open rates, click-through rates, and sales.

Find out more about our work with Spectrum and get in contact with us to see how we can build you a successful email marketing strategy.

5. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is one of the most powerful types of digital marketing, as it leverages social media platforms to promote products, brands, or content. It can work organically, with paid advertising, or through a combination of both.

In both approaches, the key is selecting the most suitable social network for your brand, target audience, product or service, or content.

The main advantage here is the opportunity to establish closer connections with your audience and the potential for meaningful interactions. Plus, these platforms can serve as direct communication channels with your audience.

6. Influencer Marketing

Influencers are experts in particular niches who have amassed substantial audiences, many of whom are engaged with everything they do, from the places they go to the products they use.

They have the capability to craft specialized content for your brand, provided it aligns with their authentic voices, such as product reviews, showcases, and more.

An increasing number of brands recognize the value of influencer marketing and despite some inherent risks—such as influencers making statements or taking actions that may have a negative impact on your brand—leveraging the loyalty of their followers can potentially introduce massive new audiences to your brand.

7. Affiliate Marketing

Similar to influencer marketing, content creators play a pivotal role in affiliate marketing, earning commissions for each conversion they facilitate for a product or service.

A content creator will generate their own relevant and original content, wherein they mention or endorse your product or service through provided links. Whenever their audience clicks through and makes a purchase, you compensate them for each successful sale.

Finding the right affiliate partner requires a mix of assessing your target audience to see whose content aligns with their interests and finding reputable, engaging, and communicative partners that have a strong online presence in that particular niche.

In terms of commission structure, affiliates will often earn a percentage of each sale they generate, such as 10%. On the other hand, some affiliates will earn commissions for each click or each specific action, such as a subscription sign-up or lead generation.

One of the most notable advantages of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need your own large audience; instead, you can tap into the audiences cultivated by these content creators.

8. Video Marketing

Around two billion people actively search for content on YouTube per month, whether for news, entertainment, or educational materials.

As such, video marketing presents a significant opportunity to connect with new customers.

People turn to videos for various reasons, including credible reviews of products or services.

In fact, 80% of individuals alternately use video platforms to gain deeper insights into products, which means there are valuable opportunities for you to streamline the sales process and make it more accessible to potential customers.

9. Mobile Marketing

According to Google, 27% of the global population utilizes voice search on mobile devices, and the consumer path is becoming more and more intricate each day.

And with immediacy at the forefront of consumer needs, mobile marketing is no longer just a passing trend.

There are a few mobile marketing strategies you might consider investing in, such as offering mobile content, exploring SMS potential, adopting IM marketing, or creating an app.

10. Chatbot Marketing

Employing chatbots to engage with customers on your website or social media platform is great for addressing customer queries, providing general information, or navigating users through the sales process.

Plus, chatbots offer the benefits of cost efficiency, 24/7 Accessibility, and consistency.

1. Cost-Efficiency: Chatbots are a one-time investment that can handle a lot of client inquiries simultaneously, cutting down on the overhead expenses of hiring a large customer service team.
2. 24/7 Accessibility: They are available day and night to assist clients in various time zones. The client experience is enhanced since there is always rapid access to support.
3. Consistency: Last but not least, every time a consumer interacts with a chatbot, they constantly deliver excellent customer service: they are programmed to provide precise, unambiguous answers, ensuring a consistent brand voice and experience.

11. Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is different from traditional social media marketing in that it relies on customers themselves to provide product or service information. This type of marketing is considered successful when it reaches a point where it is shared by the general public, extending beyond the brand’s intended target audience.

Memes as a form of viral marketing is a great example. For instance, with a large audience under 35, Netflix consistently uses funny memes on its social media platforms in hopes of getting users to engage more.

10 Factors to Consider when Choosing the Best Types of Digital Marketing Channels

1. Target Audience

Before diving in headfirst with your marketing campaigns, it’s important to do the proper research to gain deeper insights into your target audience.

Consider where your target demographics spend time online, what kinds of content captivate their interest, or what sorts of hobbies they have.

2. Business Goals

Given the multifaceted nature of digital marketing, figuring out your preferred course of action is much easier when your goals and objectives are clearly defined.

For example, if your main objective is to establish a strong brand image, you might consider prioritizing social media marketing, PPC advertising, and SEO. On the other hand, if you want to position yourself as an industry expert in a specific niche, blogging and content marketing should be your top priorities.

3. Budget

Investigating the associated expenses with the different types of digital marketing channels is key to helping you formulate a more effective budget for your marketing endeavors.

While you can certainly utilize online marketing without incurring direct costs, it’s important to recognize that achieving visibility for your business online with a zero-cost approach will mean more time and effort on your part. potentially two to three times more.

In the event you don’t have time to do this on your own and opt to delegate some of your online marketing responsibilities to a respected agency, it’s advantageous to be aware of the approximate associated costs.

4. Industry and Competition

It’s crucial to consider which channels your primary competitors are utilizing. If their online marketing strategies prove to be more successful than your own, consider venturing into those channels to bridge the gap.

Alternatively, explore areas where your competition isn’t allocating their time and resources, as you might find a substantial opportunity in those uncharted territories. Here are some tips:

1. Tools for Competitive Analysis: Utilize resources like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Google Trends to examine the activity of your rivals. These platforms can offer information on the platforms they are utilizing, the platforms they are using for their content, and the keywords they are targeting.
2. Market Analysis: To learn about the demands of your customers that your rivals are not addressing, use surveys or focus groups. Once you’ve located these gaps, you can adapt your goods and services to fill them, giving you a differentiator that makes you stand out.
3. Trying and Testing: Experimentation is sometimes the greatest approach to find new chances. A/B tests can be a low-risk way to test these untested areas to see how customers react.

5. Content Type

Remember that different channels have preferences for specific formats, so understanding what type of content to use for the greatest success is key. For instance, social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram promote visual content, so brands whose products have unique visual aspects can exceed here.

However, if creating informative blog posts sounds more your speed, you might consider taking advantage of platforms like Medium or WordPress.

6. Geographic Reach

Where are the people that you’re trying to connect with?

If your business caters primarily to a local market, platforms like Google Business Profile, local SEO, and location-based advertising (e.g., Facebook Local Ads) can be highly effective. On the other hand, if your audience is global, you might choose to focus more on Google Ads and social media advertising.

7. Conversion Goals

Your conversion goals dictate which channels align best with your business objectives.

For example, if lead generation is your biggest priority, you might choose to focus your efforts on email marketing and content marketing, as these types of digital marketing campaigns can be used to capture and nurture leads.

On the other hand, if sales are your number one priority at the moment, pay-per-click advertising and social media shopping feature integration can drive direct sales:

1. PPC for Direct Sales: Pay-per-click advertising enables you to show advertisements to prospective clients who are already looking for goods or services that are comparable to yours. You may ensure that your advertisements show up at the top of search engine results by placing bids on particular keywords, which will send relevant visitors to your product pages.

1. Features of Social Media Shopping: Users may buy things without leaving an app thanks to integrated shopping functionality on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. By utilizing these capabilities, you may provide a smooth shopping experience to a broad audience and expose your items directly to them, thus increasing conversion rates.

8. Analytics and Measurement

There are many analytics and measurement tools on different channels that can provide insights into key performance metrics like traffic, conversions, click-through rates, and engagement. Google Analytics, for example, offers comprehensive tracking and reporting features that you can use to get a better assessment of your marketing efforts in real-time.

9. Resource Availability

When considering the type of digital marketing you want to focus on, you need to assess the resources you can allocate to your online marketing efforts, such as time, budget, and team expertise.

Some types of digital marketing require more financial investment than others, while others require higher content consistency, which means more work on your plate. No matter the channel you choose, it should align with your resources so your marketing strategy can remain as effective and sustainable as possible.

10. Platform Effectiveness

How effective is the particular platform you want to use with your specific industry and target audience in mind?

Many B2B companies, for example, may find LinkedIn more effective than Facebook or Instagram, which would be great for B2C businesses.

Analyze case studies and performance metrics relevant to your industry to find the best platforms for your business.

Conclusion: Hire a Digital Marketing Agency Now!

With the right types of digital marketing, you can generate leads, boost sales, and expand brand awareness. If you find yourself facing challenges in devising an effective marketing strategy, you can rely on the expertise of the professionals at Mediaboom.

We offer comprehensive assistance in various domains, from social media advertising to website creation and more. Reach out to us today to learn more!