Table of content

• What is Digital Marketing
• Types of Digital Marketing
  • Content marketing
  • Search engine marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Influencer marketing
• Conclusion

Imagine a world where you can connect with your target audience in a matter of clicks, monitor the results of your marketing campaigns in real-time, and interact with your clients from any location. 

WELCOME to the world of DIGITAL MARKETING!

In this guide we will explore the various types of digital marketing, as well as their examples and potential applications for expanding your business in the digital era.

But before moving ahead let’s understand the term “Digital marketing”.

What is Digital Marketing

Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, involves promoting businesses and communicating with potential consumers through the internet. As marketing channels, these include text and multimedia messaging, email, social media, and web advertising.

With over 4.6 billion internet users around the world it offers businesses a great way to connect with their customers than ever before. 

In this guide you’ll get to know what are the different types of digital marketing and how you can use them to build a successful marketing strategy.

Resources to learn more:

Digital Marketing Courses (By SkillCamper)

Types of digital marketing:

1. Content marketing

Content marketing is the jack-knife of marketing. To build a strong connection with your prospect and to stand out from the competition you need to create valuable content for your audience.

Content marketing is all about creating and distributing valuable content to build a solid connection and move prospects to the sales funnel.

Source

Content includes a wide range of forms including blog posts, social media posts, videos, podcasts, downloadable content, and a lot more.

If you want your audience to become loyal to you, then you should be posting content regularly with keeping the target audience in mind.

How does content marketing work?

The main purpose of content marketing is to provide real value to your audience and keep them engaged with your business.

Before creating content you need to be clear with your objective because it is ultimately your objective that determines what type of content is most effective and how it should be promoted.

The objective of content marketing can include:

• Brand awareness
• Lead generation
• Customer retention

Once you have a clear understanding of the objective now you can determine what type of content can meet your goal. 

For example: 

To generate leads you can create educational blog posts, case studies, webinars, social media posts etc.

When you know what type of content you want to create then you can decide on the channel to distribute the content. 

If you want to use your content to bring visitors to your website you need to be heavily focused on targeting specific keywords.

Example of content marketing

One great example of content marketing is Red Bull’s content marketing strategy. 

Red Bull is a company that sells energy drinks, but its content marketing is not focused on the product itself. Instead, they create and share content that is centered around extreme sports and adventure.

Red Bull’s content marketing includes videos, articles, and social media posts that showcase athletes performing incredible feats, such as skydiving from space or riding BMX bikes through abandoned buildings. The content is visually stunning and highly engaging, capturing the attention of their target audience – adventure seekers and adrenaline junkies.

By creating and sharing this type of content, Red Bull has been able to establish itself as a brand that is associated with extreme sports and adventure. They have built a loyal following of fans who are passionate about these activities, and they have even created their own events, such as the Red Bull Rampage mountain biking competition.

While the content itself is not directly promoting the product, it is creating a positive association between Red Bull and extreme sports. This can lead to increased brand awareness, loyalty, and ultimately, sales.

Overall, Red Bull’s content marketing strategy is a great example of how creating and sharing high-quality content that resonates with your audience can be a powerful way to build brand awareness and establish yourself as an industry leader.

Key takeaways from red bull’s successful marketing campaign:

• Deep understanding of target audience
• Focus on storytelling
• Create high quality content
• Leverage user-generated content
• Use multiple channels 

Resources to learn more:

22 Best Free Content Writing Tools 

2. Search engine optimization (SEO)

People all over the world use the internet to get the answers they need. And for this they primarily use search engines.

While searching for a specific term you get a few content on the top that you mostly preferred. This is what SEO does.

SEO is a process of structuring your content so that your pages rank at the top of search terms that are relevant to your business.

There are multiple websites that are trying to get visible on the top of the search results and this is possible for many with the help of SEO. They can do so by optimizing content according to what Google wants.

The best thing about SEO is that you will get a steady flow of visitors who will have a keen interest in what you’re selling.

How does SEO work?

Before understanding how SEO works you need to know how Google and other search engines work. 

Even though the exact algorithms used by search engines aren’t public knowledge but here are the most important factors search engines use to determine website ranking:

1. One of the most important factors in website ranking is how relevant and accurate the content is to the search query.
2. Content quality is another important factor for website ranking. Search engines favor websites that have informative, high quality, and authentic content. 
3. search engines take backlinks as a signal of how popular and valuable your website is.
4. Websites that provide positive user experience (High CTR, Low bounce rate) tend to rank higher.
5. Search engines also consider factors such as website load speed, mobile responsiveness, and structured data markup.

Apart from the above ones here is the list of factors that Google evaluates while ranking websites.

These factors are:

On-page SEO

On-page optimization includes:

• Heading
• Meta description
• Alt text
• URL structure
• Page content 

Off-page SEO

Off-page optimization includes:

• Backlinks
• Social media presence
• Guest blogging
• Brand mentions
• Online directories

Technical SEO

Technical SEO Includes:

• Website speed
• Mobile optimization
• Schema markup
• Broken links
• SSL certificate
• XML sitemap

By taking care of the above mentioned factors you’ll help your website or other websites to get ranked on the search engines on the top of search.

Example of SEO

Below image is an example of SEO. 

By optimizing the above elements, websites can increase their chances of ranking higher in search engines which ultimately drives more clicks and conversions.

Resources to learn more:

The complete SEO course workshop

Best courses for SEO in 2023

Job winning interview questions and answers for beginner 

3. Social media marketing

People across the world use different types of social media platforms to connect with others and to discover new products and services.

Businesses use Social media marketing to get in touch with their customers and expand their business.

Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing where businesses use social media to find new customers and engage with their audience.

Social media marketing consists two methods:

• Organic SMM

This involves actively posting content on social media and building a strong community and following.

• Inorganic SMM

Paid marketing involves running ads on social media to attract new customers.

How does social media marketing work?

Social media marketing is a practice of promoting a brand, product, or service through social media channels to reach and engage with the target audience.

Here is how SMM works:

1. Define your goal

The very first step is to define your goal. What do you want to achieve through social media? 

You goal can be:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Driving website traffic
• Lead generation
• Increasing sales 
• Building community 

2. Identify your target audience

Once you have decided your goal now you need to identify your target audience. Who do you want to reach? Their interests, pain points, demographics, goals, behavior, financial state. How will your product or service help them? 

3. Choose the right social media channels

Based on your goals and target audience now you need to choose the right social media channels. For example if you want to target a young audience you may focus on instagram, while if you are targeting professional linkedIn can be the right challen for you.

4. Create and curate content

Start creating content that is relevant and informative  to your audience. This can be blog posts, ebooks, videos, podcasts, and other types of content. 

5. Engage with your audience

To build a relationship with your audience you need to show that you care about them. By responding to DMs, comments, and mentions you engage with your audience.

6. Use paid advertising

To reach wider audiences and promote your brand paid advertising can be an important aspect too. This can  include sponsored posts, ads, and influencer partnerships.

7. Measure and analyze results 

To determine the effectiveness you need to analyze and measure your results. This involves keeping track of metrics like engagement, reach, website traffic, and conversions and using this information to better your outcomes and strategy.

Example of social media marketing

One great example of SMM is “Share a coke”

During this campaign, Coca-Cola replaced the company’s iconic logo on its bottles with 250 of the most well-known first names, enticing consumers to share a Coke with those who had the same first name.

Using the hashtag #shareacoke, the campaign was introduced on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, enticing consumers to post pictures of themselves holding their customized bottles. The campaign soon became viral as a result of the large amount of user-generated content that was produced.

Coca-Cola experienced an uptick in sales as well as a rise in brand recognition and social media interaction as a response. As a result of the campaign’s success, it has been carried out year after year with the addition of fresh names.

This hit campaign brings ultimate results.

• The bottle bears almost a thousand names.
• Twitter has 998 million impressions.
• More than 110,000 fans have posted more than 230,000 tweets using the hashtag “#share a coke”
• More than 150 million customized bottles were bought and sold.
• Online sharing in Europe of 17,000 virtual name bottles.

Key takeaways from “Share a coke” campaign:

1. Leverage social media to reach wider audience 
2. Create user generated content 
3. Use branded hashtags to track the popularity of campaign 
4. Personalization is a powerful marketing tool.

Resources to learn more:

Digital Communication Workshop (By SkillCamper)

4. Email Marketing

 Despite the rise of social media and other platforms, emails are one of the oldest and most successful marketing tools. 

It may be utilized as a component of content marketing to offer value to your customer and gradually convert them.

Email marketing is a type of digital marketing where businesses engage with their audience through emails. 

In this marketing technique customers share their contacts to the business by signing up for their email list and then businesses can share various types of emails including educational  mails, promotional mails, or just general updates on their new shares etc.

How does Email marketing work?

Your subscriber list is the starting point and final destination of email marketing. Before launching your marketing, you need a list of potential customers.

To boost the number of individuals who sign up for the email list, creating lead magnets is a strategy that organizations frequently employ.

Lead magnates are the free resources that a business offers in exchange for the potential customer’s contact info. Examples of lead magnets:

• E-books
• Webinars 
• Free trails 
• Templates
• Checklists 
• Resources lists
• Free consultation etc.

Once you get their contact information you can start sending emails with them. 

Here is the process of email marketing:

1. Create an email list

The first stage in email marketing is to create a list of individuals who have given you consent to send them emails. Offering rewards in return for their email address, such free material or discounts, can do this.

2. Chose an email marketing service

To send email campaigns, you must select an email marketing solution, such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or Campaign Monitor. Use these services to manage your email list, measure openings and clicks, and create and send emails.

3. Create an email campaign

You may start building email campaigns if you have an email list and an email marketing service. It consists of creating an email template, crafting persuasive language, and including photos and links.

4. Segment your list

To make sure that your emails are relevant to your subscribers, you should divide your email list into groups according to demographics, interests, and behaviors.

5. Send your email

After your email campaign is finished, send it to your email list. The majority of email marketing providers let you plan emails to go out at particular times or send emails automatically in response to events like signups or sales.

6. Examine your outcomes

Review your findings to determine the effectiveness of your email campaign after it has been sent. This entails monitoring metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions and using the information to improve your email marketing plan.

The best part of email marketing is the ability to automate, personalize, and the level of control you have over the list. You can also group different types of subscribers into segments. 

This way you can keep your subscribers engaged and boost conversions over time by sending them relevant information and customized communications.

Example of Email marketing

One email marketing campaign which caught people’s attention was “Zomato Premier League”

Zomato created a campaign that focused on the appeal of the cricket competition during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Daily emails containing a link to a new restaurant and a promotional offer were sent out to users as part of the campaign. In order to submit a code and win daily rewards, users were encouraged to place meal orders from the featured restaurant.

Zomato skillfully drew into the excitement around the IPL, a major event in India, to develop a campaign that connected with users. Also, the daily awards gave consumers a feeling of urgency and prodded them to participate in the campaign frequently.

Overall, Zomato’s “Zomato Premier League” campaign is an excellent example of how email marketing can be leveraged to generate engagement and purchases by tapping into timely and relevant events that appeal to users.

Key takeaways from zomato’s email campaign:

1. Timing is crucial 
2. Relevance is the key to capture user’s attention
3. Creativity encourage users to engage with emails regularly
4. Personalization matters a lot 

5. Affiliate marketing

What can be better than other people marketing your business? This is what affiliate marketing is all about.

It is one of the most well-known forms of online advertising. In 2020, it is expected that the affiliate marketing industry would grow to $6.8 billion. 

Affiliate marketing is a type of digital marketing where third parties promote another business’s product in exchange for a portion of sales revenue.

Third parties who promote the products are called affiliate marketers. 

Affiliate marketers promote the products using an unique promotion link. When someone completes the purchase using that link, the affiliate receives the commission. 

The percentage of the profit differs from product to product.

How does affiliate marketing work?

Businesses that want to use affiliate marketing must first establish an affiliate programme. The programme outlines the conditions affiliates must adhere to and provides specifics on the earnings potential.

Here is the process of affiliate marketing:

1. An affiliate joins in an affiliate programme: The affiliate joins an affiliate programme made available by a company or retailer.

2. The affiliate advertises the product: Using a unique affiliate link that the business provides, the affiliate promotes the good or service. This link monitors the transactions, contacts, or activities generated by the affiliate’s promotion.

3. A consumer clicks on the affiliate link to visit the business’s website: A potential customer clicks on the affiliate’s special link to visit the business’s website.

4. The consumer buys the item or service: On the business’s website, the client purchases something or performs the desired activity.

5. Business monitors the referral: Business monitors the purchase or other activity resulting from the affiliate’s link and credits it to the affiliate.

6. The affiliate receives a commission: The affiliate receives a commission for each purchase made through their link or other activity.

Affiliate marketing is a win-win situation for both the affiliate and the business as the affiliate can profit from advertising the business’s goods while they can possibly reach a larger audience and boost sales.

Example of affiliate marketing

Amazon Associates Program

The Amazon Associates Program is an affiliate programme provided by Amazon. It enables affiliates to market and profit from a variety of items offered on the Amazon website.com. To market items to their audience, affiliates can select from a wide range of promotional tools offered by Amazon, such as text links, banners, and widgets. A commission is paid to affiliates for each purchase made through their special affiliate link. Depending on the product category, commission rates might range from 1% to 10% or more.

To participate in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate needs to sign up and provide information such as their website or blog URL, and details about how they plan to promote Amazon products. Once approved, affiliates can start promoting products and earning commissions on eligible purchases made through their links.

6. Video marketing

Videos are the most powerful digital marketing tool. 

Video marketing is a practice of creating video content to promote your business. This can help you increase traffic, drive attention, encourage engagement, and also go viral. 

You can create various types of videos to engage and connect with your audience:

• Product demos – Videos that showcase your product or service in action. These can be used to explain what potential buyers can expect from the item or service.
• Explainer videos – These videos try to inform viewers on a good or service by presenting its features, advantages, and methods of operation.
• Customer testimonials – In this video, real customers discussing their opinions and experiences with a product or service. They can be utilized to establish credibility and trust with potential customers.
• Brand videos – They can be used to connect with viewers, communicate the company’s goal, and evoke strong feelings about a product or service.
• How-to videos – These videos offer detailed instructions on how to utilize a good or service.
• Live videos – these videos can be used to interact with the customer in real time.

How does video marketing work?

Just like any other digital marketing, video marketing starts with a proper strategy.

Here is how video marketing works:

1. Before creating a video you need to define your goals. What do you want to achieve with your video marketing campaign? The clarity of goal will help you to create more relevant video content.
2. After defining your goal now you need to identify your target audience. Their desire, pain points, current status, preferences and a lot more. This will help you create content that resonates and drives engagement.
3. After defining your goal and understanding your target audience now you can start creating videos. This step involves planning the content, scripting, shooting, and editing.
4. The next step is distribution of videos. For distribution you can use social media, newsletters, youtube or any other video sharing platforms. 
5. Finally the most important step, Analyze your performance. This involves analyzing views, engagement, and conversion. 

Overall, video marketing works by creating engaging, informative, and entertaining videos that resonate with your audience. If done right, this can become the most powerful marketing strategy to grow your business online.

Example of video marketing

Hubspot’s video marketing campaign 

Hubspot is showcasing its case studies and other social proofs to its target audience. 

These kinds of videos are effective social selling tools. They make it convenient for decision-makers to begin assessing your goods or services. Also, it enables you to present your product’s key advantages in an engaging and memorable way.

7. Influencer marketing 

With the increased demand of social media, another type of marketing has endorsed that is Influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is teaming up with social media influencers to market a product or service. Influencers are people with a significant following on social media sites like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok who have the ability to influence the purchase choices of their audience.

Nowadays many people look up to influencers who will be quick to purchase after getting good reviews. 

How does influencer marketing work?

1. Choose the right influencers

The first step is to choose the influencers that have a sizable following and are similar to your target market. These influencers could be well-known people, prominent figures on social media, bloggers, or subject-matter specialists.

2. Reach out to the influencers

Once you have determined who the influencers are, you may contact them and suggest a partnership. To do this, you may provide them a free sample of your goods or services or pay them a fee to advertise it for you.

3. Negotiate the conditions

You must discuss the conditions of the engagement with the influencers. This may cover things like the kind of material they’ll produce (like a blog post, an Instagram post, or a video), how frequently they’ll publish, how long the partnership will last, and how much they’ll be paid.

4. Create content

Influencers will produce material to advertise your goods or services, which they will then distribute with their following on social networking sites or other online platforms.

5. Boost the content

To increase the effect of the influencer marketing campaign, you can also boost the content by posting it to your own social media channels, running advertisements to promote it, or working with other influencers to share it.

The goal is to leverage the influencer’s credibility and reach to increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and boost conversions. 

Conclusion

As a new marketer or student learning about the different types of digital marketing, it’s important to keep up with the current trends and best practices.

By learning these skills, you will be well-equipped to reach your target audience and produce genuine outcomes for your business or clients. 

Each type of digital marketing has a specific goal and contributes in a different way to the creation of an in-depth marketing plan.

So don’t be scared to get in, experiment, and keep learning – THE POSSIBILITIES ARE UNLIMITED!

Want to Start Your Digital Marketing Career Off Right?

In today’s hyper-competitive, always-on world, every business, regardless of industry, requires a digital marketing plan to succeed. Because of this, there is a great need in this industry for highly qualified people.

To learn everything you need to succeed right now, check out the Digital Marketing Courses offered by SkillCamper if you want to join in on the action.

See you on the other side!

Written by

SkillCamper

SkillCamper is a revolutionary skilling tool offered to you by GoSeeko, designed to help you learn future and demanding domains in the digital world. Our Bootcamp-style courses give a thorough learning experience in topics like Digital Marketing, Data Science, and Full Stack Development.