Digital marketing is a successful method to achieve meaningful results in business. But to achieve this goal, we need to understand what this strategy is all about, how it works, and what types of digital marketing can be used.
Suppose you want to increase our traffic, attract a more significant number of customers, increase brand awareness, and engage your teams or audience. In that case, it is essential to understand each type of digital marketing.
We’ve created this guide to help you learn more about this topic. Here, you will learn more about the most effective types of digital marketing, their benefits, and goals, as well as when and how to use them.
So, read on, and let’s expand our knowledge!
1. content marketing
2. SEO (search engine optimization)
3. SMM (social media marketing)
4. paid to advertise
5. email marketing
6. instant message marketing
7. affiliate marketing
8. influencer marketing
9. mobile marketing
10. video marketing
11. audio marketing
12. virtual reality marketing
1. Content marketing
Customers are hungry for information about how to solve their problems or fulfill their desires. You will gain their trust if your brand provides them with this information through high-quality and valuable content. This way, your company will take a position of authority in the market and be the first choice for customers when they need to decide.
And that’s what content advertising is all about.
This method gives your audience answers to their questions by publishing helpful content. Can do that on blogs, social media, emails, or other channels. Even special formats for mobile devices, such as apps and push notifications.
Each channel may require a different format. Goals can also be achieved through different content types, such as blog posts, ebooks, infographics, videos, quizzes, templates, fact sheets, etc.
Content needs to be more general at the top of the funnel, such as complete how-to guides. More specific content is required at the lower end of the funnel, such as reviews and demonstrations.
Considering these specifications – channel, format, and type – you can choose the best content to get your buyer persona to do what you want them to do with your marketing campaign. Can use content marketing for a variety of goals. However, the most common is to convert visitors into leads, which are more qualified when you use content in conjunction with other strategies, such as email marketing.
2. SEO (search engine optimization)
When you start producing content in your business, your audience needs to be able to find it.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ensures that your content appears on the top of search engines. That will allow your website to be found by someone actively searching for what you offer.
To apply SEO, you must know the keywords that the target audience you want to reach is searching for. Then you need to develop your content around those terms.
According to the Internet Search Engine Journal, 91.5% of internet traffic comes from websites listed on the first page of Google. The first organic Google search itself accounts for 32.5% of traffic. And also, 51% of all website traffic comes from natural search. Organic traffic is what you gain from high-quality content found in Google or Bing searches.
3. SMM (Social Media Marketing)
As the name suggests, SSM, or social media marketing, is a method that uses social media to promote a brand, product, or content. Like search engine marketing (SEM), it can be done organically, through paid ads, or both at the same time.
You can post your content on social media or run ads and pay to reach a specific audience. It comes down to choosing the most appropriate social network for your persona, brand, product/service, or content in both cases.
Among the most significant benefits of social media marketing are getting closer to your audience and the potential for interaction. You can receive validation from your audience through SSM when they share your content.
You can also use your social networks as a direct communication channel with your audience. That’s why it’s so important to keep them updated and monitored.
4. Paid to advertise
There are a few ways to pay for media online. As we explained in SSM, you can advertise on social media and search engines like Google and Bing. The paid ads for search engines appear at the top of the SERP, even before the organic results. They are always accompanied by an “ads” favicon to confuse the user.
There are different payment models for this type of digital marketing. The most common ones are:
PPC or pay-per-click: This is the most common payment model for media online and can be utilized in almost all digital marketing techniques. As the name recommends, you buy clicks on your ad, generally by bidding in a keyword auction;
CPM or cost-per-mile: Impressions is another standard model. It is more beneficial if you are working with a short-tail keyword. Usually, the PPC model is a method to pay only for what is used.
5. Email marketing
Many emails are sent every day, and some people still say that email marketing is dead. It is one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. If you use it strategically, you can achieve significant results.
One way to do this is to keep your subscribers updated with valuable and relevant content. Promoting products and services is also an efficient strategy, as long as you respect your subscribers’ privacy and don’t spam them. In an inbound advertising strategy, email is an essential component of success. If you automate the process, you’ll be able to guide your customers through the marketing funnel. In addition, emails are also a direct channel for communicating with your customers.
6. Instant message marketing
The use of instant messaging apps is on the rise. Besides WhatsApp, there are direct messages on almost all social media platforms, which is a fantastic opportunity for marketing strategies.
When your customers need assistance, they can reach out through these channels to get a quick response, which has a very positive impact on your brand and the relationship between it and your customers. Statista shows that more than 1.6 billion people will use WhatsApp in 2019, which shows the power and reach of this particular channel.
Therefore, you cannot ignore this type of digital marketing. If you want to be accessible to your customers, you should implement an instant messenger strategy.
7. Affiliate marketing
Content producers get paid for every sale they generate for a product or service in affiliate marketing. These content producers function like a sales team for your business. They develop their own relevant and original content and mention or praise your service/product with a link. When the audience clicks on the link to buy something, you pay for each sale.
The most compelling benefit of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need a large audience, as you are reaching an audience built by content producers. Like social media marketing, you should choose producers that fit your services and products. Digital influencers are an example of web content producers for this type of marketing.
8. Influencer marketing
When we talk about digital influencers, it’s time to explain who they are: Specialists in specific topics with a large audience interested in what they have to say. Digital influencers can produce specific content for your brand if it matches their voice.
They can test your products publicly and show their audience positive or negative results. For that reason, they have the power to praise or damage your brand. Many brands are using influencer advertising in their strategies and getting good results.
Despite some risks – the influencer might say or do something that negatively affects your image – the loyalty of his followers can bring your brand many new customers.
9. Mobile marketing
Nowadays, mobile advertising is almost mandatory if you want to reach customers. Google research shows that 27% of the world’s population uses voice search on mobile, and the customer journey is becoming progressively complex.
This research also reveals that immediacy is as essential as loyalty. And nothing is more instant than solving a problem with a smartphone, anywhere, anytime. Mobile marketing is no longer just a trend. It needs to be a reality for brands that want to always be by their customers’ side. Some ways to invest in mobile marketing are:
- Create an app: spread push notifications when you want to talk to your audience;
- Instant messenger marketing: talk directly to your audience;
- Offer products or services through geolocation: and be where your customers are;
- Explore the potential of SMS: keep your audience informed about their interests;
- Offer mobile content: Engage your audience’s attention with engaging content like videos that they can consume anywhere.
10. Video marketing
According to the blog Think With Google, 2 billion people search for something on YouTube every month. Whether it’s entertainment, news, how-to or educational content, it’s an excellent opportunity to reach new customers. Video marketing strategies drive results throughout the marketing funnel, just like blog posts and emails.
People search for videos for various reasons, such as to see credible reviews about specific products or services. 80% of people alternate between using search engines and videos to learn more about products and see how others have used them. And 55% of consumers do this before making a purchase. As you can see, this is an excellent opportunity to facilitate sales.
11. Audio marketing
In the age of cell phones, audio marketing deserves marketers’ attention. Even though it doesn’t have the same momentum as videos, formats like podcasts are increasingly being consumed. Podcasts are an authentic phenomenon and capture the radio’s audience, especially when people are on the go or doing something mechanical like cleaning the house or working out.
If you know your audience’s habits, you can think about topics for your podcasts that relate to your audience’s activities when they listen. You can contextually engage your product or service and turn audio marketing into a great sales opportunity.
12. Virtual reality marketing
VR or Virtual Reality has already arrived in our lives and can be used by marketers to reach a brand’s audience. It offers the opportunity to give the audience an immersive experience with the brand, product, or service. The impact of this kind of communication on people is almost unforgettable and sets your brand apart from others in the same market segment.
Since virtual reality marketing is already considered an innovation, it combines your brand with a modern idea and puts your company in an innovative position ahead of your time.
Seven critical digital marketing trends for 2022
By analyzing past trends and observing ongoing changes, marketers worldwide have a pretty good idea of what’s in store for the coming year. In 2021, individuals and businesses worldwide were busy recovering from the COVID pandemic, which was one of the biggest global shakeups in a long time.
In 2022, all industries will continue to respond and adapt to the associated changes.
Here’s a closer look at the key trends in digital marketing
1. Interactive content
As social media connects consumers and the brands they buy from in exciting ways, the idea of what it means to have a relationship with a brand continues to evolve. Yes, your clients want to interact with you more personally. But people are also looking for content beyond traditional text, no matter how snappy that text may be.
Interactive content has been among one of the fastest-growing trends in marketing for some time now, and that won’t change in 2022. With creative, interactive marketing materials that invite your audience to become part of the experience, stay ahead of the curve.
Good examples include, but are not limited to:
- 360-degree virtual reality videos and 3D images.
- Helpful tools like interactive calculators.
- Augmented reality materials.
- Surveys, quizzes, and questionnaires.
It’s worth noting that interactive content gets twice as much engagement as static content. Content types like the examples above provide consumers with the personal connection, engagement, and freshness they want in the branded content they consume.
2. Conversational marketing
In the interest of creating an increasingly personal relationship between brands and consumers, more and more companies are taking a conversational approach to many aspects of communicating with their target audiences, including marketing.
When today’s consumers want to contact a company, they don’t want to wait days or even hours for a response, and marketers worldwide are taking note.
Research shows that 82 percent of modern consumers want an immediate response from a company when they have a question or concern. They desire what they’re looking for right when they’re looking for it, even if that’s at an odd hour. Otherwise, that may go elsewhere.
Conversational advertising takes the guesswork out of giving clients what they want by using a conversational communication style to drive engagement and convert leads.
Examples include:
- Personalized email exchanges.
- Chatbots and virtual sales reps.
- Personalized media, such as videos.
The elegance of conversational marketing is that you can use it across almost any channel, making it easier than ever to meet your clients where they live. Because they don’t just intend to talk to you, they want and expect to do so on the platforms and at the times that suit them best.
3. Voice search
Have you ever started a web search by asking your Alexa or Google virtual assistant a question verbally instead of typing it into a browser or app?
If so, you’re already familiar with the convenience that voice search brings. Voice search isn’t just popular these days. It’s becoming an essential part of how almost everyone finds the information they’re looking for.
That includes information about products, services, or brands people are interested in. And as options like Alexa or Google Assistant become more nuanced and specific, consumers everywhere are becoming more familiar with them. More than one billion voice searches are conducted each month, and more than 20 percent of all web searches are voice searches.
What’s more, just under half of all people say they use voice search daily, and just over half specifically said they used it to find information about businesses in their area.
So what does this mean for your 2022 marketing campaign?
Voice-activated ads are just around the corner, which means if you prepare for them now, your materials could be what Alexa or Google selects in response to a spoken search query. Virtual assistants will display sponsored content alongside relevant answers in the future. Consider how to incorporate these changes into your marketing campaign sooner rather than later.
4. Hybrid meetings and events
When COVID was introduced, people were devastated because activities like parties and in-person events were no longer an option for the foreseeable future. Virtual events became more popular to fill the gap, and they were pretty successful.
However, now that people are slowly getting back to their daily routines, marketers have difficult decisions. While some consumers were excited to get back to normal and meet people in person again, others saw it differently. During the pandemic, they not only became accustomed to virtual events but also found that they preferred them and wanted to continue attending them.
In other words, marketers now have two different audiences to satisfy. For this very reason, you can expect hybrid events that combine the best of both worlds to be in high demand in 2022. So, by all means, plan live events, but include a virtual component to satisfy those who prefer to attend remotely. Think about emerging immersive technologies like virtual reality or augmented reality and live streaming options.
5. Social media stories
Since Snapchat paved the way for this idea years ago, social media stories have been all the rage. Instagram would be the beside to jump on this bandwagon, followed by other major platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and even Twitter.
Today, it’s safe to say that Stories are more than just a digital marketing trend. They are here to stay, and their popularity is expected to grow through 2022 and beyond. Stories differ from traditional posts on social media in that they are only available for 24 hours.
That makes them a perfect way for individuals and businesses to share unbiased and authentic posts more frequently with those who want to see them.
Effective ways top brands are using Stories to reach their audiences include:
- Experimenting with live video.
- Reaching specific geographic audiences through the use of filters and location tags.
- Encouraging consumers to take action on current offers through meaningful calls to action.
- Collecting data in a fun, casual way with surveys.
In 2022, more brands will look for ways to foster customer relationships and cultivate authentic connections via story-like features across all major platforms.
6. Environmentally conscious marketing
Sustainability is becoming progressively crucial to modern consumers, especially younger ones. Research shows that 75 percent of all Millennials are willing to pay more for products made with sustainability in mind. That’s great news for brands looking to keep up with current social trends and reach coveted younger target markets. It’s also an excellent method to gain a significant competitive advantage in your industry in 2022 and beyond.
7. collaborate with creative professionals
The creative industry has been growing for some time, but right now, it’s booming and will only get bigger by 2022. Young, forward-thinking people are looking for methods to make a living doing something that also feeds their soul, and the independent creative industry fits the bill perfectly.
Creatives are also experts at making personal, organic connections with consumers. That means it’s increasingly essential for brands to reach out to independent creatives and form mutually beneficial partnerships.
Modern customers find the influencers they follow on social media very likable. They are also very loyal and are very likely to take notice of their favorite influencers’ suggestions. Working with the right influencers gives you priceless access to new, highly convertible audiences.
Not only should you include influencers and creatives in your 2022 marketing strategy, but you should also track how creative culture is likely to evolve over the next year.
Consider the following factors when thinking about your 2022 collaboration plans.
- Expect top creatives to become increasingly influential in the media world as consumer focus shifts from traditional options (like television) to online media.
- More creatives will supplement their thriving social media presences with their monetization options. Assume Substack newsletters, personal blogs, and web apps.
- More creatives are throwing their hat into the ring by starting their brands and developing products that are relevant to their audiences.
The great thing about digital advertising trends is that they’re not just powerful. They’re also predictable, so it takes a little research and planning to stay ahead of the game and get the results you want. Now that you know some of the top digital marketing trends for 2022, it’s time to develop your strategy for the year ahead.
We’re here to help you build a successful business online peacefully. By providing you with the tools, systems, templates, support, and training needed to automate, succeed and scale without complexity, chaos, or stress. Contact us at Appledew today.