Owning and running a business is complicated and time consuming enough as it is…and then you find out that ‘SEO’ isn’t just a fancy way of saying ‘digital marketing’; but that it is in fact 1 of 9 different digital marketing methods!
But don’t let this news overwhelm you. You don’t have to immediately start working on every single digital marketing method to succeed. In fact, you can start off with one or two and then slowly begin to diversify your overall online marketing strategy as your business (and budget) grows.
In this article, we’re going to highlight the various forms of digital marketing and decide on which is best
Content marketing
Content marketing broadly refers to any valuable and informational content that you produce and share with your audience, e.g., blog posts and infographics.
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization is a digital marketing strategy designed to increase your ‘organic’ online presence, namely through making your website more likely to rank for specific keywords in a search engine’s SERP (search engine results page).
Pay per click
Pay per click, as the name suggests, is an online marketing method that allows you to ‘pay’ to appear at the top of a Google SERP, using targeted ads that deduct a set amount of money each time a user ‘clicks’ on your advert and visits your website.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing, as you may have guessed, is the process of creating adverts on various social media platforms in order to reach a wider audience and drive more traffic through to your website or specific landing pages.
E.g., using paid advertising to attract more Facebook page likes.
Affiliate / influencer marketing
Working with an affiliate marketer or influencer can enable you to increase your brand awareness by leveraging their existing platform and audience.
Of course, understanding the market and who your ideal audience looks up to is important. For example, if you are doing digital marketing in Singapore, partnering with a popular Singapore-based influencer can be more effective than using someone else who your audience may not have heard of.
Email marketing
Email marketing is a highly underrated method of digital marketing. The purpose is to build an email list and regularly send out emails, weekly newsletters, special events, product release info, and promotions in order to nurture and upsell your subscribers.
Mobile marketing
Mobile marketing broadly refers to ‘mobile-first’ optimization. This means ensuring that your website is not only functional and user-friendly when viewed on a desktop computer, but on a mobile device as well.
It also involves in-app advertising, SMS marketing, and voice search.
Video marketing
Video marketing, as the name suggests, refers to creating short and engaging ads in a video format. Given the modern consumer’s ever-shrinking attention span, video marketing is a much faster means of drawing attention and attracting customers than the written word.
Audio marketing
Audio marketing is an age-old marketing method that has gone through some huge changes since the golden years of radio. Today, audio marketing is much broader and includes podcasting and smart home assistant advertising.
Which digital marketing method is best?
There is no one ‘superior’ method of digital marketing because they each have their own unique pros and cons.
Ultimately, a large online marketing strategy that incorporates them all is the goal, however, in the meantime, as a small business owner, you need to focus your limited budget where it can yield the best short and long-term results.
As such, our top digital marketing methods to invest in ASAP are:
- Search engine optimization & content marketing: search engine optimization should be your priority as it is key to growing your online presence and effectively ‘owning’ your organic traffic. The longer you invest in your SEO, the more money and long-term success you can enjoy through ‘passive’ website traffic. Content marketing is a huge component of SEO and both complement one another beautifully.
- PPC: some pay per click advertising can be handy in the mean-time while you get your SEO moving as it can effectively generate ‘instant’ sales, while SEO can take 6-months to a year to deliver an ROI.
- Social media marketing: you should be present on all of the appropriate social media platforms and connect with your audience. You don’t necessarily need to throw too much money at social media ads in the beginning, but creating content and engaging with your audience is highly valuable.
- Video marketing: there is some highly attractive video marketing data to support the immense value it can bring your business – particularly when it comes to helping customers understand your product or service. For example, 87% of marketers agree that video has had a significant positive impact on their sales conversions.
These are a great place to start with your digital marketing efforts. But make sure that you are ready to introduce other methods of marketing as you grow.
We hope you’ve found this article insightful and wish you the best of luck with your online marketing efforts!