Types of Digital Marketing

DIGITAL MARKETING: WHICH ONE SUITS YOU?

If you want to create buzz around your brand, you better jump on the digital platform, which ably compliments your print ads. For first-timers the digital scene can be quite overwhelming. You might fear being shoved into a corner by the clutter online. True. That could happen. That's why media planning continues to be extremely important. You need to find out the digital marketing route that will suit you the best. There are many ways to go digital - your marketing strategy should be a combination of the various types of digital marketing to facilitate effective communication with your target audience.

1. Search Engine Marketing & Search Engine Optimization.

Google is anyone's best friend today! You type in a query and it coughs up a flurry of information. Google is nothing but a search engine – the most popularly used one too. As a brand owner what you need to do is ensure such search engines favour you when a prospective customer wants information on a product or service related to yours. That's where Search Engine Optimization comes into play. Keyword analysis and rankings will tell you how search engine friendly your online presence is. Through continued, sustained research, your website and its content can be optimized in such a way that makes you easily discoverable when relevant search words are used.

2. Pay Per Click

When a user clicks on a link to your website, you pay the host, which could be a social media network like Facebook or Twitter, or a specific search engine like Google or Bing. Once you have struck up a deal, your ad will appear on the news feed of your target audience or when the relevant search term is used.  This increases your visibility and the possibility of diverting traffic towards your business.

3. Social Media Marketing

If you want to create brand awareness, this is the place to be. Social Media Marketing is where you interact with customers, partners and even your competitors via social networking platforms. You create awareness on your brand, your offers and your vision through regular posts on social media. Keep in mind that social media platforms are a two-way street – if used effectively your brand can soar high. You not only put information out there but you can also glean information from direct feedback from customers. However, you must choose your social media platform wisely. If you are a B2B brand, then LinkedIn would work better for you. If your brand is more visually dependent then Instagram is your place. Hence do your market research and invest your time and energies in the right social space.

4. Content Marketing

How you communicate and what you communicate to your customers in very important. The language you speak and the lingo you use can either bring your users closer to you or completely alienate them. Content Marketing is all about saying the right things, in the right way, to the right people. Simplicity is the most effective way of communication. Break down heavy duty info into small easily understandable sentences. Converse with your customer and build a relationship with them.

5. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a type of PPC marketing, the difference being here the advertiser pays only for actual conversions and not just increased traffic. You choose a popular blogger or heavy traffic website, ask them to promote your product and pay them whenever they get you a customer. The rates are usually higher than in the case of PPC but the risk factor is lower for the advertiser. Influencer Marketing is an off-shoot of affiliate marketing, however here you are using the individual or website for visibility in the hope that their huge following will take their word and check your product out.

6. Email Marketing

Email Marketing is a type of content marketing, so choose your words wisely. This could be your best channel for conversions if you send the right kind of information to your subscribers. Bombarding them with unnecessary information will send your email straight to the trash. Keeping track of their interest and activity on your website will help build a customer profile. Sending them information related to this profile will help build a relationship with the customer and pave way for brand loyalty and could even turn them into micro influencers.

7. Viral Marketing

Viral is probably as 'in' as it gets in the digital world today. Everyone putting out information on the internet today wants to go viral. Keep an eye out for content creators who have a knack of churning out content that has potential to go viral. Such content ensures millions of views. Tying up with such content creators could give you the visibility that you need. The right mix of Influencer Marketing and Viral Marketing will boost your image and awareness in a matter of hours.

8. Mobile Phone Marketing

This is an upgraded version of Email Marketing. Use SMS and WhatsApp to stay in touch with your customers. These are trendy ways to communicate specific information relevant to your customers such as flash sales, new products and new outlets. Messages with direct links to your online business, will help increase traffic. Ensure your website is mobile phone friendly.

9. Television & Radio Advertising

There are a plethora of television channels and radio stations available to advertisers today. Rating and rankings are a good way to select the ones with the most reach and then to pick relevant slots to place your ad in. Sponsoring events and programmes, will help build your brand image. Here again influencer marketing could come into play when your brand gets mentioned as a sponsor for the show or when the show's host actually talks about your product.

Make your Digital Marketing plan wisely. In today's scenario investing in solid digital media marketing has proven to show great results. A well-thought combination of all/some of the above types of digital marketing will promote your brand like never before. If you are not sure which way to go, we at Zigma can show the way. Give us a call and experience the power of digital media marketing.  

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