10 Types of Digital Marketing Channels You Need to Use

Let’s talk about digital marketing for a few minutes and delve deeper into the methods and channels used by digital marketing specialists to grow businesses.

We all want to promote our products or services effectively and attract potential clients to grow our businesses constantly, right? After all, this is what marketing is all about — increasing brand awareness to cast potential buyers. 

To begin with, there are hundreds of different types of marketing strategies, methods and channels out there, but not all strategies suit the current economic and social trends. In today’s competitive world of technology and the internet, it’s important to constantly look for suitable and innovative marketing channels to get ahead in the competition.

We’ve included in this article the top 10 digital marketing channels of 2020 that we believe will boost your business and elevate your sales for the better.

Content Marketing  

Everything you do online includes content. Content marketing is literally the backbone of communications and is one of the oldest forms of marketing that exists and is still going strong until now. So what does content marketing really include? Essentially, content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating valuable content to attract and retain targeted audiences. Anything from blogs, vidoes, webpages, infographics to podcasts, webinars and forums is considered as content marketing. However, to achieve the best results, one must think strategically and always develop new and different ideas to get in the game.

Social Media Marketing

A to a new study by Statista shows that in 2020, an estimated 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, and it is projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025. That being said, social media is an essential place to apply your business marketing strategy. One of the greatest advantages of social media is that you can reach millions of people across the globe quickly and easily. You also have the ability to target particular groups of people based on their gender, age, and also location to attract and ensure potential buyers. Last but not least and most importantly, social media helps get the word out and generates brand awareness. The most popular social media platforms today are Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok. 

Mobile Marketing

44.81% of the world’s population owns a smartphone. That means almost half of the world’s population are on their phones. Similar to social media marketing, mobile marketing is one of the fastest forms of digital marketing channels. The aim of planning a mobile marketing strategy is to reach customers on their mobile devices. Mobile marketing offers different advertising formats which includes; SMS, MMS text messaging, push notifications, in-app marketing, mobile websites, and scanning QR codes. As you can see there are lots of channels to choose from and all you need to do is choose the ones that are suitable for your brand or business. 

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing that is still being widely used by marketers up to date. Why? Simply because it still works! We can’t deny the fact that social media gets more media attention than email marketing. However, if you plan and execute your email marketing campaign wisely, it could certainly be more effective and cheaper than social media marketing. Note that not all businesses need email marketing, but if you’re looking for building relationships with prospects, leads, current or past customers, email marketing gives you the opportunity to communicate directly to them at a time that is convenient for them to check their inbox. 

One important aspect of successful email marketing is crafting effective reach-out emails. To help you improve your outreach efforts, we’ve put together a guide outlining 7 proven strategies for writing emails that get results. Be sure to check it out for tips on increasing response rates and achieving your goals.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

How to show up on the first page of google? The answer to this question is easy but the process isn’t. It’s by using search engine optimization techniques. To improve your website’s visibility on google, one has to determine many things. First things first, have a list of keywords you think your potential buys will search to reach your website. Once you’ve decided on your keywords, the next step is to tell google about it. Insert your keywords in your URL, alt tags, meta title and description. Although keywords are essential for SEO, try not to stuff extensively since google can now detect stuffed keywords but rather write for humans by providing useful information. Moreover, don’t forget to target location-based queries to get on the first page “near me” results. Last but not least, make your website responsive and mobile friendly since most of your target audience is literally on their phones the whole time. 

Pay Per Click  (PPC)

Whether you want to increase your sales, generate potential leads, or promote brand awareness in a fast and affordable way, you can always achieve this by Pay-per-Click marketing. As the name suggests, PPC is an advertising method where you set up an ad and pay only when someone clicks on the ad. Many small businesses can benefit from PPC marketing. Firstly, it is budget-friendly meaning, you are eligible to set a maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each click. It also increases brand recognition even if the user doesn’t click on the ad. Last but not least, it also helps you reach your ideal targeted audience by segmenting your market to make sure your ads are appearing to your targeted audience. In short, regardless of your budget, PPC will drive traffic to your website with ease. 

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) 

If you wish to increase your website’s search visibility on google, search engine marketing will do it for you. SEM is the act of using paid strategies to increase search visibility. Basically what you need to do is to pay for ads to appear as search results on search engine results pages.It might take time but once it is implemented in the right way, the results are usually long-lasting and will get you long-term traffic to your website. And finally, every time you run an ad, always review its performance on a consistent basis and make improvements if necessary. 

Influencer Marketing 

Don’t always focus on doing the same old thing. It’s true that some of the above-mentioned channels are proven to be effective but in marketing, it’s always worth the risk to try out new strategies. There are always new ways to reach customers, and one of them is through influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using celebrities or known figures to drive your brand’s message to the larger market. How does influencer marketing work? All you need to do is hire or pay an influencer and they will promote your brand on different social media channels on behalf of you. However, to achieve the best results in this field, you need to find authentic influencers who are a great fit and share your brand values, especially since not all influencers have the followers or targeted audience you’re looking for. One of the key considerations when choosing influencers for your marketing campaign is avoiding audience duplication, as discussed in our blog post on “How to Avoid Audience Overlap in Influencer Marketing.”

Video Marketing

If you have the budget, skills, and resources to invest in video marketing, now is the time to step ahead. Studies show that 72% of people prefer video over text when learning about a product or service. Video marketing has indeed many advantages. It boosts conversion rates, builds more trust and credibility, enhances the depth and quality of your SEO content, and appeals to mobile users more. If you’re thinking of promoting your brand, explainer videos where you briefly demonstrate visually what your product or service is about will certainly attract the attention of prospects and increase your conversion rate. You can also choose to implement other types of video marketing such as vlogs, video interviews, video presentations, tutorials,  product reviews, demos and video ads. 

Audio Marketing

While audio marketing has been there since the beginning of the 20th century, it lost its way by the emergence of TV ads. However, over the last couple of years, we have seen a growing popularity of audio media. For instance, since multitasking has become the way of life, many people are now hooked on podcasts as it is more convenient and practical for their everyday routine. So the next time you want to plan a different marketing strategy, do not underestimate the power of audio marketing. You can either start a podcast, optimize your website for voice search, or publish audiograms on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. 

Final Thoughts 

By now, you are familiar with the top 10 best digital marketing practices of 2020. If these strategies are effectively planned and implemented, you’ll certainly be fueling your business growth dramatically. Now that you’re familiar with 10 different digital marketing channels to boost sales and leads, is there any excuse not to implement them? If yes … no worries. Our marketing specialists at Aragil will plan, execute, and optimize a unique digital marketing strategy tailored to your business by using the right channels to help you achieve your long-term marketing goals.