If you run an online business, you probably already know how important things like digital marketing are. However, you might be missing out on some marketing streams, which can impact your profitability and reduce your return on investment.
You might not realise how many different types of digital marketing really exist – I mean, most people don’t. To help broaden your understanding, I’ve put together a short list of the main types of digital marketing, which include:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Basically, SEO involves building your website and performing certain actions that will make you rank better in the search engine results pages for certain keywords. SEO involves numerous actions, including:
- Content optimisation. Usually, most content managers try to include certain keywords or key phrases within their writing to help the search engines understand what it’s about. It’s also important to make sure that you write well, and that you prioritise quality over quantity.
- Building backlinks. Another major ranking factor is your backlink profile. The basic idea is that if your website has numerous other websites linking to it, then it must be an authority in the field, which means that you will rank better.
- Performance optimisation. Similarly, better performing websites are easier to use and more user friendly, and they usually rank better as well.
Ultimately, it’s important to make sure that you understand SEO, otherwise you will be missing out on a crucial digital marketing stream.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
To put it simply, SMM involves leveraging popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to drive traffic to your website. SMM can be both paid and natural, depending on your needs.
- Paid SMM. This generally involves running ad campaigns on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
- Natural SMM. Alternatively, you might choose to build a strong social media presence and community, which will allow you to drive traffic to your website via your posts.
Ultimately, social media marketing is something that every single online business – and many non-digital businesses – should be doing every day.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Generally, SEM refers to the process of increasing your website’s visibility by paying to appear in the search engine results for specific keywords. The most popular form of SEM is probably Google Ads, but there are other platforms out there, including Bing Ads.
Email Marketing
Once you’ve built up a decent mailing list, email marketing could become one of your most profitable marketing streams. Basically, it involves using emails to promote your content or products.
I’d recommend sending regular marketing emails to your subscribers, but make sure that you don’t spam them. Similarly, never send emails to people who have asked not to be added to your mailing list, or your reputation could be impacted.
Final Word
There are many types of digital marketing available, you should be using as many of them as possible to promote your business. Along with the options above, you should also think about affiliate marketing, content marketing, and instant messenger marketing.