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What are the types of digital marketing?

Establishing a digital marketing strategy is crucial, but first, you need to assess what type(s) of digital marketing is going to be the best fit for your brand. 

Let’s look at 7 of the main digital marketing strategies you can be using for your brand.

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing focuses on reaching, engaging and connecting with an audience through content. This can include anything from blogs, how-to guides, tips and tricks, to infographics and videos. 

The goal of content marketing is not promotional, but rather value-driven, to establish that know-like-trust connection between the brand and its audience.

Content marketing generates 54% more leads than traditional marketing, and costs 62% less, making it one of the most efficient kinds of marketing to use, especially as a brand starting out.

From a technical standpoint, content marketing can also focus on optimising for search engines purposes (SEO) to improve your visibility in search results. Which leads to the next digital marketing strategy.

2. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation is the practice of optimising your content to be more organically discoverable through a search engine’s results.

How does it work? Basically, SEO functions by indicating to search engines that your content is the best result for the topic/question/search being performed.

SEO will change depending on your content, and which search engine you want to cater to. For example, optimising for Google’s algorithm is going to be different from optimising for Youtube’s search engine. 

TIP: Google has a 92% market share, so it’s best to optimise your site for Google rather than any other option, such as Bing or Yahoo.

Google has confirmed it uses more than 200 ranking factors, which range from mobile-usability, page speed, backlinks and relevant keywords.

3. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Pay Per Click is a paid form of advertising that is based on an auction-type system. Essentially, you bid on keywords that you want your ads to be presented for - triggered when a user searches for your keyword. This will then show your ad at the top of the search results, regardless of your SEO ranking. If a user then clicks on your ad, you pay for that click. 

PPC is one of the most effective paid advertising methods out there, with an ROI on Google Ads of 800%

It can also include advertising on social media and apps, like WeChat, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

4. Email Marketing

With one of the highest ROIs in digital marketing, email marketing is far from dead. By growing an email list, nurturing your audience through thoughtful and valuable content, you are creating an invaluable tool in your marketing strategy.

It focuses on retaining existing customers, as well as gaining new ones. It allows you to build brand awareness, and encourage repeat purchases or business.

It’s always important to remember that a consumer can receive a flood of emails to their inbox every single day, and you need to cut through the noise with a well thought out, targeted strategy that will have your audience opening your emails every time. 

Make a good first impression with a super helpful or valuable opt-in, such as a free download or discount code, and create the know-like-trust factor from there with a nurture sequence.

5. Social Media Marketing

This digital marketing strategy can be both paid and organic and focuses on building brand awareness and increases conversions. It can be used to create both educational and promotional content, across a wide variety of platforms.

With consumers spending on average 1 hr a day on social media, it creates the perfect medium for connection. It can be used for customer service, building relationships, promoting content, influencing purchase decisions and much more.

6. Voice SEO

Voice Search Engine Optimisation is a new and exciting method of reaching your consumers, as more and more voice assistants are being used, from Siri to Amazon Echo. 

The aim is to earn your website the “featured snippet” or pole position in search results when a consumer uses a voice assistant for a query.

Studies indicate that almost 50% of adults use voice searches, and this is set to increase, making voice SEO an exciting and relatively new strategy to consider and get ahead of the competition.

7. Video Marketing

According to a report from Hubspot Research, over 50% of customers prefer video over other types of content from a brand, making video one of the most engaging and valuable types of content you can include in a digital marketing strategy. Video can be used in conjunction with almost any other marketing channel or platform. Social media, email, blog posts, product pages, website homepages, PPC, the list goes on.

Video can be used to create a connection with your audience, through organic, on the spot content, such as behind the scenes footage, or through more stylised content, such as a product explainer video.

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Digital marketing is one of the best ways to reach new customers, nurture existing customers, and achieve your business goals. Any combination of these digital marketing categories can be beneficial for your marketing strategy.

If you feel stuck about which ones to focus on, book a call with us to chat about your options.