There are an ever-increasing number of digital marketing channels available to brands and marketers. As a result, it can be hard to understand which ones to use, when to use them and even what the difference is between them.
Unlike traditional forms of marketing - such as TV, radio or print advertising - digital marketing gives brands the opportunity to reach and engage with prospects on a personal level using great storytelling and innovative native advertising formats. The beauty of this form of advertising is that a brand’s message can be displayed across millions of people’s digital devices at once, which provides huge potential for scale.
As we move forward into the future, now more than ever, brands need to be aware of how they interact with consumers online – not only by having an online presence, but also by understanding what types of content will resonate most effectively with their audience.
Learn everything you need to know about the top digital marketing channels in terms of what they do, how they work, and some tips for using them successfully.
Pragmatic Marketing
Pragmatic marketing is a focus on the tools and processes that help you achieve your goals. It's about understanding customer needs, analyzing competition and tactics, and developing plans to meet these goals.
It's not about optimizing for SEO or any other tactic in isolation—it's about using the right available channels to build an effective strategy.
This approach helps you understand what your customers want from their experience with your brand or product, how they interact with it, where they go when they have questions or problems, what information they're looking for online (and why), as well as how competitors are approaching these issues. Pragmatic marketing can be the foundation of how you approach what other channels to use, because it’s based on the practical needs of your ideal audience(s).
Email Marketing
Email marketing is an easy way to stay in touch with your customers, and it’s also a great way to drive sales. It’s the most direct channel of communication you have with your customers, so it makes sense that you would want to use it as much as possible.
Email marketing is not just about sending out newsletters or alerts—it’s about building relationships with your subscribers and getting them excited about what you have to offer. You can accomplish this by sending relevant content at the right time, then following up with offers that will help them take action on whatever problem they originally signed up for help solving.
Social Media
At the most basic level, by narrowing your focus you can create a more holistic and deeper understanding of your target audience. By better understanding your audience, you are able to provide them with more relevant and useful content.
Website
Your website is your central hub. It’s the foundation of your brand, and it’s how people will find you. Your website should be designed to:
- Allow visitors to quickly and easily navigate through your site in order to find what they’re looking for.
- Provide a clean and professional visual experience that complements the rest of your marketing efforts, whether that be offline or digital.
- Serve as a hub for content creation—the more relevant, original content you can publish on your site (blogs, articles, guides), the better!
Your website can be your best salesperson that works for you around the clock – people love to do their own research before investing in a product or service, so give them the peace of mind they need by providing an inviting, informational site that will get them to want more.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience, and it's also one of the easiest ways to showcase your brand and products. With video, you can promote your brand, show off what you have to offer, and increase awareness for your business.
Video marketing has a number of advantages within a digital marketing strategy, including increased engagement, more social shares, and higher conversions.
Need more reasons to consider video within a digital marketing strategy? Check out 5 Reasons to Consider Video Advertising.
Streamline Success Based on Customer Needs
When you're picking the best marketing channel for your business, it's important to think about what your customers want to see from you.
For example, if your customers are on social media all the time and love watching videos, then video marketing might be a great choice for you.
If most of your customers are busy professionals who don't have time for a ton of emails, then email marketing might not be the best fit.
And if most of your customers are in search of information about a specific topic or product, then a website could be the perfect place to show them what they need—and drive traffic back to your site with search engine optimization (SEO) techniques like keyword research or other content.
There are many different ways to market online. It’s important to understand which platforms your customers frequent and how they interact with the content. Some platforms have more reach than others, so it’s important that you take advantage of those while also focusing on niche markets or specific demographics to help increase sales and revenue. By leveraging your value with your customers' habits, you’ll find successful channels in no time.
Digital marketing encompasses so much more than just choosing channels. Discover the full picture of your marketing strategy by taking steps to build more effective B2B marketing campaigns.
Download the ebook: Our Guide to B2B Marketing: A Framework You Can Implement
