The term “Digital Marketing” is one of those terms with which we feel we know what it means, but when asked to define it, we seem unable to do so. As a result, it is unclear which digital marketing techniques we are talking about. As opposed to saying “it relates to Internet Marketing” or “a term for all online marketing activities”, let’s simply say: All marketing activities that use digital devices are considered digital marketing.

In a nutshell, that includes both online and traditional marketing activities. And that’s a good thing. Why? Because it would be a mistake to view online marketing activities separately from all other forms of marketing. The most effective campaigns combine both of the above.

Here are the 10 most important types of digital marketing, to help you fully understand what the term “Digital Marketing” encompasses. Before you make a decision regarding which types of marketing you will incorporate into your digital marketing strategy, you should know about all of them. You shouldn’t focus on just one type. Many successful digital marketing strategies employ multiple channels.

1. Social Media Marketing

Since Pearce Media focuses heavily on social media marketing, we will start there when examining digital marketing types. Social media has certainly earned its place in this list.

Social Media Marketing is “the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service.“ Source Wikipedia

Therefore, any sharing of information and engagement on social media with the goal of promoting your products is considered digital marketing. Essentially, social media marketing involves utilising social media conversations to increase awareness for a brand or product.

Nevertheless, if you want to be successful at social media marketing, you need to fully understand the social network that you want to use. There are different features, communication best practices, and content preferences on each social network. Social networks may work well for your product, content, and situation – others may not.

Social marketing is now a part of almost all digital marketing strategies. However, you do not have to use all of the available social platforms or spend a lot of time on them, either. Adding marketing automation to your social media activity and focusing on one or two social networks will make it more than efficient.

Check out our ultimate guide to social media marketing.

2. Content Marketing

Content marketing is the use of storytelling and valuable information to increase brand recognition with the aim of driving your target audience to take action. Content marketing aims to create relationships with potential customers instead of merely advertising. It is therefore commonly used in inbound marketing strategies by creating content that provides value to the target audience.

Content distribution is a key component of content marketing. It is rare to see content marketing completely separated from other forms of digital marketing that can fulfil the content distribution role.

3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO refers to the process of optimising content or websites to appear in search results on search engines like Google. Based on the keywords listed on a website and links that point to it, search engines decide which websites to show for a given search term. Therefore, SEO has a lot to do with using the right keywords, or key-phrases, in the copy of a website or the content you want to appear in organic search and obtaining links to that content or website.

It takes more than shady link building to optimise your website(s) for search engines, and there are multiple strategies available. While some optimisations are accepted by Google, others are viewed as suspicious and may result in your website being penalised.

Social media marketing, SEO, and content are all closely related. One of the most obvious reasons is that social media and SEO are excellent distribution channels.

Read more about what SEO is and how it works in this article.

4. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine optimisation (SEO) involves getting unpaid traffic from search engines, while search engine marketing (SEM) involves paid advertising. For many reasons, Google Adwords is probably the most common form of search engine marketing. After all, Google is the world’s most popular search engine.

For SEM, the marketer typically pays the search engine a predetermined amount of money for displaying a marketing message within search results for specified keywords.

In digital advertising, paid search, or SEM, is a type of Pay-Per-Click advertising.

5. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

As with SEM, other forms of PPC advertising involve paying for each click on a link to a website. Apart from search engines, almost all social networks provide Pay Per Click advertising options. These ads appear in the social media feeds of users with specific interests.

It should be noted that many of these activities cannot be clearly separated. Many of the differences between digital (online) marketing types are blurred.

6. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based form of digital marketing. Affiliate marketing is different from PPC advertising in that the advertiser does not pay for traffic, but rather for conversions. Since the advertiser only pays for conversions, the rates are usually higher, but the risk is limited on his part.

Bloggers and website owners with high traffic often use affiliate marketing to earn money by selling other people’s products.

7. Email Marketing

One of the best conversion channels for marketing is email marketing. You can build and nurture relationships with your email subscribers by sending regular updates. Providing value in your email updates will help you build trust – eventually, you will be able to convert some of your subscribers into customers.

You should keep in mind that email marketing goes far beyond buying an email list and bombarding recipients with promotional messages or buying a one-time spot in someone else’s newsletter.

With email marketing, you will always achieve the best results if you have a list of subscribers you have earned and nurtured. An email campaign can then drive sales by turning your email list into one of your best digital marketing assets.

8. Radio advertising

I am referring to something that you are familiar with, right? You know those breaks in your favourite music program where they tell you what cleaner to use or what car to buy? While many of these spots are annoying, a select few are entertaining – at least when you hear them for the first time.

Another way to advertise on radio is to sponsor a show.

9. Television advertising

TV advertising isn’t dead yet: Those ads that break up your favourite show are a form of television advertising. Despite the fact that more and more people discover ways to omit TV commercials, there are still some marketing successes with TV advertising.

The problem with TV advertising is that it offers limited targeting options.

10. Mobile Phone Advertising

Many of the above types of digital marketing can also be done on your phone. This is known as mobile marketing.

After all, you probably use Facebook, Instagram, and Google on your mobile device. However, there are other types of mobile marketing that do not fit into any of these categories: mobile advertising.

Text message advertising has been popular for a long time.

The use of WhatsApp for marketing is on the rise.

The marketing and advertising options for mobile, particularly in local marketing, have by far not been fully exploited yet, especially with technology like Bluetooth still on the rise.

Final Words

There’s no doubt that marketing channels, skills, and digital tools are evolving together with digital marketing. It is not static, rather it is constantly changing, growing, and new channels are emerging or dying. New marketing tactics come up constantly, including growth hacking. To develop a successful strategy for online marketing, you need skills, knowledge, and even trial and error.

Nonetheless, if you are deciding on your digital marketing strategy, you should be aware of these 10 things – and select those that you believe are most appropriate for your purposes.

Each of them interacts with the others, and the lines often blur. It is likely that you will use more than one type of digital channel in your marketing strategy for an effective marketing campaign.

One last thing. Small businesses and bloggers will have different digital marketing needs than larger businesses and enterprises. Although some campaigns may look similar, the setup, the processes, and the tools you need will differ.

Read more: Why Is Brand Strategy So Important For Your Business?