Digital marketing is the generic term for all advertising disseminated via electronic devices. When people hear digital marketing, it is true that most identify it with channels such as email, social media, website and search engines; basically, everything connected to the Internet via your smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC. However, digital marketing can happen online and offline.
Offline Digital Marketing
You have already encountered offline digital marketing and you did not know what it was. Radio and television marketing is classified as offline digital marketing because it involves an electronic device, but connection to the Internet is not necessary.
Then, offline marketing improved; if you've ever visited a restaurant and ordered your meal using a tablet, you're no stranger to offline marketing. It is an enhanced offline marketing experience with a digital device. Electronic billboards are a great example of improved offline digital marketing.
Finally, telephone marketing is also called cold calling. Many people thought cold calls were dead, mainly because people are now filtering their calls. However, cold calls and telemarketers still exist and, surprisingly, even generate sales.
Online Digital Marketing
Online marketing is called online advertising or Internet marketing. The following seven are the main types of online digital marketing:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - SEO is the process of optimizing your content so that it ranks higher in the search engine result pages in order to drive more traffic to your website.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - With SEO, you use best practices to drive traffic to your site organically. With SEM, however, you buy advertising space on paid search platforms such as Google AdWords.
- Content Marketing - Content marketing involves the creation and distribution of content across all of your online channels such as your blog, website or social media. The content you create is not intended to be promotional, but rather to stimulate interest and ultimately improve brand awareness.
- Social Media Marketing (SMM) - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn are some of the most important social media platforms. And social media marketing involves gaining traffic and attention from these channels.
- Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising - If you've noticed the ads that appear alongside your search results, you've seen PPC ads before. PPC is an online marketing model where advertisers pay a fee each time someone clicks on their ad.
- Affiliate Marketing - Affiliate Marketing is a commission-based agreement, usually between an online retailer and an external website. The goal is to generate traffic and sales through referrals.
- Email Marketing - Email marketing is a type of direct marketing that uses emails to deliver marketing messages to its audience.
Cost per click, backlinks, influence marketing and blogging - these are just a few of the terms in digital marketing that continue to confuse traditional marketers. Although these practices have existed for over a decade, in recent years more and more industries have discovered that they deserve a share of the digital pie.
And in recent years, the manufacturing sector has also recognized how valuable digital marketing is to its overall marketing plan. Therefore, exploring each of these strategies is worthwhile.
