What is Digital Marketing? 8 Strategies Explained

Digital marketing is in its golden age - there's no denying that. With technological advancements rapidly evolving, it has become the go-to strategy for businesses everywhere. In fact, digital ad spend worldwide will be $667.6 billion this year, up 10.9% from $601.84 billion in 2023!

However, digital marketing emcompasses a wide range of tactics, techniques and strategies. Each brings something unique to the table, with its own set of benefits and challenges. As a business owner or marketer, understanding these different types can help you find the perfect fit for your goals. 

What is Digital Marketing?

In simple terms, digital marketing refers to all marketing efforts that use electronic devices or the internet. This means that any marketing strategy involving technology falls under the umbrella of digital marketing.

So what kind of digital channels are used in digital marketing? Some common examples include social media platforms, search engines, email, websites, and mobile apps. Essentially, any platform that allows businesses to connect with their target audience is considered a digital channel.

Traditional marketing methods, such as print ads or billboards, also utilize technology but differ in the level of interactivity and engagement possible with digital channels. Traditional methods tend to be more one-way communication, while digital channels allow for two-way communication and real-time interaction.

With 5.07 billion, or 62.6 percent of the world's population on social media today​​, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) are the new norm for businesses looking to generate leads, build brand awareness, engage with their audience, and drive sales.

Why Digital Marketing Is Paramount for Businesses Today

Gary Vaynerchuk, a leading figure in digital marketing, once made an quirky, yet interesting observation:

"Content is king, but marketing is queen, and runs the household."

This means (apart from implying the queen is the real boss) you can spend hours creating fantastic content, but it's worthless if no one sees it. Digital marketing ensures your content reaches the right people,  at the right time, through the right channels. It turns great content into real results and business growth.

Furthermore, we, on average, spend 3 hours and 15 minutes on our phones every day, not to mention laptops and other digital devices. As a result, it only makes sense for businesses to shift their marketing efforts towards digital channels.

8 TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING

Social Media Marketing

People often assume digital marketing and social media marketing are interchangeable, but social media is just one facet of digital marketing.

Social media marketers develop strategies involving ads, influencer collaborations, and organic content to engage and convert audiences on platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and more. These campaigns leverage each platform's unique traits to build brand presence, drive traffic, and increase conversions.

For example, Instagram's highly visual nature is ideal for showcasing products and has engagement levels four times higher  than Facebook (0.60% vs. 0.15%). LinkedIn is perfect for B2B businesses due to its professional and educational focus.

With social media advertising spending expected to surpass $300 billion globally in 2024,  mastering social media marketing is becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is exactly how it sounds - using content to provide value to your audience and  market your brand. This can include creating blog posts, videos, infographics, and other forms of content that audiences find useful or entertaining.

This form of marketing often crossess over into many other areas, such as SEO, social media, and email marketing. The key is to create content that resonates with your target audience and promotes your brand in a natural and non-intrusive way.

For example, incorporating atleast single video into an article can attract 70% more organic traffic than those without. Additionally, interactive content can generate 52.6% more engagement than static content (Search Engine Journal). These statistics highlight the effectiveness of creating diverse and tailored content to achieve greater reach, engagement, and conversions for your business.

Just remember that it takes time and effort to see results, but the payoff can be huge. While a website may only produce an article once weekly, overtime, it would have built a library of valuable content that continues to drive traffic and engagement.

Affliate Marketing

Marketers love affiliate marketing because it's often a low-risk strategy. Essentially, it involves partnering with other businesses or influencers to promote your products or services for a commission on sales. By tapping into their already established audience, you'll potentially gain new customers while saving on advertising spend.

This type of marketing is especially common within the influencer space. Influencers with large followings can pick and choose which products or services they want to promote, giving them more control over their content while also earning a profit. For businesses, partnering with the right affiliates can greatly expand their reach and credibility among new audiences.

Influencer marketing is so powerful that 47% of British adults and 45% of German 16-34-year-olds have purchased a product or service recommended by an influencer.

Email Marketing

In case you thought the rise of social media has made email marketing obsolete, think again! The following stats show that Email marketing's lustre is still shining strong:

• Email marketing has an average ROI of $36-$40 for every $1 spent.
• 60% of consumers prefer to be contacted by brands through email.

So what makes a compeling email campaign? Well apart from your fantastic services and products on offer, one of the most important elements is your copywriting.

If you can personalise your emails, create a sense or urgency and provide value to your readers, you're on the right track. Furthermore, analysing your email marketing data can help you optimise your campaigns and make them even more effective in reaching your goals.

But don't forget that the success of an email campaign also relies on having a clean and quality email list. It's also important to optimise your audience through segmenting and targeting, ensuring that your emails are reaching the right people.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It involves improving and optimising your website and its content to satisfy a search engine's ranking algorithms, with the ultimate goal of increasing organic (unpaid) traffic to your site. In other words, you want your website to appear as high as possible on search engine result pages (SERPs) when people search for topics related to your business.

To put things in perspective, the top 5 results on Google's first page receive over 67.60% of all clicks, with the top result receiving about 27.6% alone. This means if you can hit the top spots for relevant keywords, you drastically increase your visibility and potential for traffic.

General SEO practices involve the following:

• Conducting keyword research to discover what phrases and terms your target audience is searching for.
• Optimising website content with these relevant keywords and phrases in mind.
• Building quality backlinks from other reputable websites to your own.
• Ensuring your website has a good user experience, including fast loading speeds and mobile responsiveness.
• Regularly producing high-quality, relevant and engaging content that keeps visitors on your site longer, and much more.
• Ultimately ensuring your website matchs user intent so that when they click through to your site, they find exactly what they are looking for.

A good SEO marketer or agency considers all of the above to gradually boost rankings. It's not a one-time effort but an ongoing process requiring constant monitoring and adjustments.

Paid Advertising

If you type in any service or product on Google, you'll porbably see the top results with the word "Sponsored" next to them. These are paid advertisements, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) ads. But besides search engines, these also appear on social media platforms and websites.

Unlike SEO, which focuses on organic search rankings, paid advertising allows you to pay for immediate visibility on search engines and other platforms. You can set a budget, target specific keywords or demographics, and track the success of your campaigns through detailed analytics.

Another differentiating factor of paid advertising is that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad and arrives on your landing page.  This helps to attract relevant traffic to your website and potentially convert them into customers.

Marketing Analytics

If you're choosing digital marketing as a career to avoid numbers and data, you may want to think again. Data, whether its from website traffic, social media engagement or email marketing, must be analysed to track and measure your marketing efforts.

Marketing analytics involves using various tools and techniques to collect, analyse, and interpret marketing activity data. This helps you understand what tactics are working, which ones aren't, and make informed decisions for future strategies.

In marketing analytics, you’ll learn to track things like:

• The amount of time visitors spend on your website.
• The number of clicks on your social media ads.
• The open and click-through rates of your email campaigns.
• The conversion rate of your landing page.
• How many people are leaving your website with items in their shopping cart.
• The demographics and interests of your target audience, and so on.

It helps to focus on the key metrics that align with your business goals. For example, if your main objective is to increase sales, you can track your conversion rates and shopping cart abandonment rates.

Marketing analytics is so important that 85% of marketers report using website analytics and SEO tools to track their campaigns. This means that failing to track your marketing activities already puts you a step behind most digital marketers.

Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing isn't exclusive to text messages about sales and promotions anymore. With smartphones becoming more technologically advanced, mobile marketing now involves a wide range of digital tactics to reach customers.

Some common forms of mobile marketing include:

• Mobile-friendly website design
• Mobile apps
• QR codes
• SMS messaging
• Push notifications

These strategies help to personalise messaging and reach your target audience on the go. While many digital marketers may not fully capitalise on the potential of mobile marketing, it's more important than ever. In fact, mobile marketing is expected to account for 77% of all digital ad spend in 2024​.

Additionally, businesses that text their customers are 683% more likely to report digital marketing success than those that don’t​. This shows that mobile marketing, when done correctly, can outperform other digital marketing strategies.

Career Opportunities in Digital Marketing

We've explored how businessess harness digital marketing for their best interests, but what about job opportunities for individuals? The good news is that the demand for digital marketers is constantly growing, thanks to our growing reliance on digital platforms and technologies.

Below are common roles in digital marketing, along with their responsibilities and necessary skills:

1. Content Marketing Manager:  Develops and executes a company's content marketing strategy. This includes creating content such as blog posts, social media posts, email campaigns, and more. They also analyze competitor content, and their own content data to  optimise and improve strategies.

Skills needed:

• Strong command of language and grammar.
• Knowledge of SEO, SEO tools, and content management systems.
• Experience in data analysis to drive content strategy decisions.
• Audience research and understanding.
• Excellent project management skills.

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2. SEO Specialist:  Responsible for improving a company's search engine ranking through keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, technical optimisation, and more.

Skills needed:

• In-depth knowledge of SEO best practices and algorithms.
• Proficiency in Google Analytics and other SEO tools.
• Some technical know-how of website design and development.
• Ability to develop comprehensive SEO strategies based on industry trends, client needs and research.
• Analytical skills to track, measure and report on SEO performance.

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3. Social Media Manager: Creates and manages a company's social media presence across various platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn etc. Tasks include creating content calendars, engaging with followers, running ad campaigns, and analysing data.

Skills needed:

• Strong understanding of different social media platforms and their algorithms.
• Proficiency in using scheduling tools like Hootsuite or Buffer.
• Creative skills to create engaging content.
• Ability to analyze social media metrics and make adjustments accordingly.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills.

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4. Email Marketing Specialist - Creates email marketing campaigns to reach out to potential customers and nurture leads. Also handles email automation, list segmentation, A/B testing, and performance analysis.

Skills needed:

• Expertise in email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or HubSpot.
• Knowledge of HTML coding for designing emails.
• Understanding of email deliverability best practices and spam laws.
• Ability to segment audience based on demographics, behaviors, and interests.

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5. Digital marketing analysts: Collects, tracks, and analyses data from various digital marketing channels, including website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates. Due to their revealing insights, they often support the decisions in broader marketing intiatives.

Skills needed:

• Proficiency in web analytics tools like Google Analytics.
• Ability to interpret raw data and come up with actionable insights.
• Strong communication skills to present data and findings in a clear and understandable manner.

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6. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Specialist:  Manages and optimises pay-per-click advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads or Bing Ads. They are responsible for creating ad copy, selecting keywords, and setting bids to drive traffic and conversions.

Skills needed:

• Expertise in PPC platforms and tools, such as Google Ads Editor or Bing Ads Editor.
• Knowledge of keyword research and bid management strategies.
• Familiarity with A/B testing methods to improve ad performance.
• Ability to analyze data and adjust campaigns accordingly.
• Understanding of conversion tracking and ROI calculations.

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7. Affiliate Marketing Manager: Manages and developes relationships with affiliate partners to drive conversions and sales. They are responsible for recruiting new affiliates, monitoring their performance, and optimizing campaigns to maximise results.

Skills needed:

• Strong negotiation and communication skills to build partnerships with affiliates.
• Proficiency in affiliate marketing platforms and tools like CJ Affiliate or ShareASale.
• Knowledge of digital marketing strategies, such as email marketing or social media advertising, to support affiliates.
• Familiarity with data analysis to track affiliate performance and optimize campaigns.
• Understanding of audience targeting and segmentation for effective affiliate partnership selection.

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8. Digital Marketing Strategists: Crafts and oversees digital marketing strategies for a company or client. They will conduct market research, develop campaigns, and analyse data to improve results. Think of them as the architect of the digital marketing plan.

Skills needed:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to assess market trends and make data-driven decisions.
• Knowledge of various digital marketing channels, including social media, email, SEO, and PPC.
• Experience in creating and managing campaigns across multiple platforms.
• Understanding of brand identity and messaging to create cohesive marketing strategies.

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9. Web Analytics Specialist: Solely responsible for analyzing website data and providing insights to drive decision-making for digital marketing efforts. They will use tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, user behavior, and conversions.

Skills needed:

• Proficiency in web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret data accurately and identify trends.
• Knowledge of SEO strategies and how website data correlates with search engine rankings.
• Ability to communicate findings and recommendations effectively to stakeholders.

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10. E-commerce Specialist: Focuses on refining e-commerce websites for optimal user experience and conversions. They will also monitor and analyse sales data to improve website performance.

Skills needed:

• Knowledge of e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify or WooCommerce.
• Understanding of UX/UI design principles for creating a user-friendly interface.
• Ability to conduct A/B testing and use data to make improvements.
• Strong problem-solving skills to troubleshoot technical issues that may affect website performance.

Average Salaries for Digital Marketing Positions

Like most industries, a digital marketer's salary varies by location, experience, and specific roles. Based on a Glassdoor report, here are the average salary ranges for several prominent digital marketing roles in the United States:

• Content Marketing Manager: $70,000 - $115,000
• SEO Specialist: $50,000 - $90,000
• Social Media Manager: $45,000 - $85,000
• Email Marketing Specialist: $45,000 - $75,000
• Digital Marketing Analyst: $55,000 - $90,000
• PPC Specialist: $45,000 - $80,000
• Digital Marketing Strategist: $65,000 - $120,000
• Web Analytics Specialist: $60,000 - $100,000
• E-commerce Specialist: $50,000 - $95,000
• Affiliate Marketing Manager: $55,000 - $105,000

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the demand for skilled digital marketing professionals is expected to grow, making it a promising field for those looking to advance their careers.

Final Thoughts

So that's digital marketing in a nutshell! As you can see, it's a multifaceted field that requires a diverse skillset and the ability to adapt to constantly changing trends.

Remember that it takes mulitiple strategies, whether it'd be SEO, social media, or email marketing, working together to create a successful digital marketing campaign. By understanding the different channels and tactics available, you'll be able to effectively promote products and services online and reach your target audience meaningfully.

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