If you’re new to digital marketing, it could feel like you have a whole other language to learn. While the 4Ps – product, price, place and promotion – are still core to marketing strategy, marketing channels themselves have changed. Now, they’re paid for, earned, curated, and optimized. Here are three of the most popular digital marketing channels and why they could work for you.
Pay-Per-Click
Pay-per-click, or PPC, is search engine advertising. You bid on keywords, and when a customer types in that keyword, an advert looking like a typical search result appears on page one of the results pages. You can choose the position in which you appear, and even where on the page your advert sits. PPC is targeted, measurable and easy to optimize, even down to days of week or time of day, which makes it an excellent accompaniment to the rest of your marketing activity.
Email marketing sells, informs, builds brand awareness or creates urgency by sending the right message to the right people. Segmenting your database and tailoring your messaging depending on what you want people to do is key to success. Marketing expert and entrepreneur Eyal Gutentag encourages brands to focus on their key demographic. Where email comes into its own is you can test everything. From the template structure to the subject heading to the words and images you use – you can track, analyze, and act upon results to make every email count.
Content
Content marketing involves creating content that people find valuable, informative, or entertaining, and that leads them back to the brand. The content isn’t brand-focused, however, and instead covers topics or insights related to the world in which they operate, cementing them as an authoritative industry figure. Blogs, videos, infographics, social posts, articles, and reports are some of the more prevalent content types, and a successful strategy uses multiple content platforms.
Brands that do well in the digital marketing space are creative, innovative, and thoughtful about their customer’s needs. Remember, track everything and put all your learnings to good use, and you’ll see your marketing flourish.