Advertising distributed via any digital medium is referred to as digital marketing. As opposed to more conventional ‘above-the-line’ marketing, digital marketing has a number of benefits, including the potential to reach small and/or highly-targeted markets, the availability of immediate interactions, the ability to monitor and evaluate success almost instantly, and it is frequently a more cost-effective approach.

Since there are so many different types of digital marketing, here’s a fast rundown of some of the most important players to consider.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of making the website more appealing to search engines. The aim of SEO is to improve your website’s ranking for unique keywords that your customers are looking for. For example, going from page 5 to page 1 on Google for a keyword in a short period of time is an example of this. Technical, on-page, and off-page optimizations are all part of SEO, and when used together, they will help the company achieve meaningful and long-term success.

Advantages of SEO:

• Investing in SEO will pay off handsomely in the long run by rising your website’s organic traffic.

• Some SEO tasks (especially content optimizations) can be completed without the help of a third party.

• Other types of digital marketing have a shorter lifespan than SEO.

SEO Drawbacks:

• Any SEO tweaks would necessitate the help of a web developer.

• Changes made today will not show up in search rankings for several months.

• As search algorithms are revised on a regular basis, SEO must be ongoing.

Ads on Google Search

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) are sponsored search results that appear above and below organic search results for unique queries in Google search. When used correctly, Google Ads can be an effective digital marketing tool because it allows for niche targeting based on factors such as location, age, mobile, and time of day. This means you can more easily assign marketing spend to a highly focused consumer segment, which can save you money in the long run as opposed to less targeted types of marketing. Another advantage of using Google Ads is that it tends to target prospects who are further down the sales funnel. For example, anyone looking for a “plumber near me” is likely looking for a company that services their region and can be reached the same day.

Advantages of Google Ads:

• Specifically targeted

• When properly optimized, it is cost-effective.

• In general, it focuses on consumers who are actively looking to purchase or convert.

Google Ads’ Drawbacks:

• Advertising expenditure costs vary by sector – more lucrative terms are more expensive to target, and some businesses are willing to pay more for a lead.

• It’s quick to ‘waste’ dollars on unoptimized accounts and meaningless search words because of ineffective configuration and weak ongoing management.

Display Ads on Google

When your prospects are online, Google Display Advertising refers to image-based advertisements that can appear on the websites of Google Display Network (GDN) Partners. You may target prospects using image advertising with particular topics or placements, as well as prospects who have previously visited your site (through a Remarketing campaign), who have previously searched for a product or service similar to yours, and even visitors to a specific site.

Google Display Ads Benefits:

• It is image-based, making it a good choice for visually appealing products and services.

• The GDN contains a diverse set of websites that can be helpful in raising awareness.

Google Display Ads’ Drawbacks:

• Other types of digital marketing are more targeted.

• Is more important to building at the top of the funnel – If you’re searching for opportunities at the bottom of the sales funnel, this isn’t the best choice.

• Due to the image-based nature of the setup, it necessitates some design work.

Google Shopping

Google Shopping is a feature developed specifically for eCommerce stores and online retailers that allows you to get your items in front of customers by making them appear in Google Search results. These campaigns rely on product feeds, which link all of your website’s products to Google. When used correctly, Google Shopping can be a fantastic digital marketing type for eCommerce stores since it functions as a second store, displaying all of the items to prospects at the bottom of the sales funnel.

Google Shopping’s Advantages:

• Allows all of your online store’s items to appear in Google search results.

• If properly set up and handled, it can be very cost-effective.

Google Shopping’s Drawbacks:

• Since you must link your website to Google, setup can be difficult.

• If you’re unfamiliar with Google Shopping, errors like taking items over from your website can be difficult to diagnose and correct.

Advertising on Social Media

Social media advertisements, like Google Ads, can be a perfect way to reach a highly targeted audience. Targeting differs from Google Ads in that it is better accomplished by creating personalized audiences based on current consumer data. Ads can be tailored to various stages of the sales funnel, making them a powerful tool for raising visibility and increasing sales/leads. Facebook also allows you to remarket to consumers who have already visited your website or web page, allowing you to keep the conversation going (and continue selling to them).

Benefits of Social Media Marketing:

• Based on current consumer data, niche targeting is possible.

• When properly optimized, it is cost-effective.

• Can be used to target various stages of the sales funnel

Social Media Advertising’s Drawbacks:

• Most companies would need the help of an outside contractor to set up proper audience building and targeting.

• Ineffective audiences/targeting will cost a company a lot of money because money is spent on the wrong people.

Marketing via email

Email marketing should be a digital marketing channel to consider whether you have an email list of past, present, and/or prospective customers. Email marketing comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and it can be used in a variety of ways depending on your goals. The following are some of the most popular ways to use email marketing:

• Weekly/monthly updates to help you maintain a general dialogue with your clients and stay top-of-mind.

• Abandoned cart emails are used by eCommerce stores to re-engage customers who have attached items to their cart but have not completed the checkout process.

• After some sort of initial engagement with the brand, email journeys may aim to engage prospects at various intervals (usually built to assist in encouraging the customer journey through to a conversion).

Advantages of Email Marketing:

• The majority of email marketing tools are simple to use.

• Budget-friendly (many platforms are free under a certain number of email sends, and even over that amount are reasonably priced)

• In general, are simple enough to handle content in-house.

Email Marketing’s Drawbacks:

• Since platform-supplied models are generally very bland, businesses will typically need assistance with setup (many businesses will prefer to opt for a custom build template that meets their branding more closely)

• Needs to be handled on a regular basis – if customers receive an email every week or month, you must make sure it arrives.