9 Digital Marketing Channels (That Actually Work)

Digital marketing has become a cornerstone for online businesses continuously booming globally. Also known as online marketing, this process is used to promote brands among the audience and connect them with potential customers. This quick-fix guide will walk through 9 digital marketing channels that can actually work for your business. Since brands have gone digital in the past few years, the digital marketing sector has flourished with ample opportunities and benefits. It has proven to be a more significant part of businesses. This may sound easier, but digital marketing is beyond just using the internet and social media. It asks digital marketers to put in massive efforts, creativity, and innovation to boost the brand on social media platforms – and the task is no less than a catch-22. Digital Marketing Channels refer to the online marketing platforms you need to promote your brand. You can use these marketing channels to target your audience and talk about your brand about the business globally with a voice to your service. 

Content Marketing

When we talk about digital marketing channels, content marketing is the most popular and used. It is an indirect digital marketing channel that provides businesses with the freedom to speak about their services/ products/ branding. With content marketing, you can shift the target audience’s focus to the relevant content.  Now content marketing encompasses many forms, including; blogs, videos, social media posts, brochures, case studies, e-books, carousels, and visual presentation templates. This digital marketing channel is all about creating content that your audience would like to see and read.  Content marketing also is tied up with other types of digital marketing channels. You need to make a great content strategy to develop a robust digital marketing strategy. 

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, seems to be the marketing buzzword of this century. This is because of a good reason. It will continue to grow in the next few years. More than 90% of the world’s population use Google and Bing for their primary search, and SEO marketers can use this to benefit their business ranking on search engine pages.  At this point, it is essential to use the most relevant keywords that could reach tons of potential buyers globally. More than 63,000 searches are made each second, and you can unveil the untapped potential by using the right SEO tactics. Proper SEO is the only thing you need for your websites and blogs that link it to content marketing.  An effective SEO strategy creates powerful backlinks, keyword research, and technical website optimization. It helps marketers optimize their online presence and bring high-quality website traffic to the business. 

Search Engine Marketing

Another effective digital marketing channel for business promotion is search engine marketing, also known as SEM. A lot of people do get confused with SEO and SEM because both of them deal with search engines and have the same names. But both types of digital marketing differ.  SEM is about increasing the website’s traffic from search engines via paid ads. The most commonly used SEM services are Bing Ads and Google AdWords. These help marketers put paid ads on the search engine results page. These paid ads resemble the organic search results in Google and appear at the top of search results.  Search engine marketing helps brands with greater visibility and enhanced brand awareness. With SEM, it is easier to create targeted search results ads based on keywords and the searcher’s location. 

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing, also known as SMM, is a digital marketing channel where social media platforms are used to promote business. It is all about using content to its maximum potential and marketing your brand to the target audience. In this way, these social media platforms become valuable sources of traffic.  Social media networks have dominated digital media and are now attracting billions of users across the globe. You can pull the power of social media to make your business known worldwide. Understand the Twitter algorithm to schedule content posting on Twitter, or do the same with Facebook to post content on ideal timings. You can use social media platforms to elevate your online presence.  The secret to successful social media marketing is to create shareable content for each platform. Post relevant, unique, and exciting content on your business’s profile and let your audience interact, share, and/or like it. 

PPC Advertising

PPC advertising, or pay-per-click advertising, is one of the most popular and used types of digital marketing with specific working modules. Here, you only have to pay for the number of clicks you get on your ad. PPC covers a considerable range of ads and can extend to affiliate marketing.  Once you put up a PPC ad, there is no upfront cost. So, it’s safe to say that PPC is relatively cost-effective. You only have to pay a minimal fee when a customer clicks on your ad. If nobody clicks on your ad, you will have to pay nothing. This way especially, businesses with a tight budget can market their business with PPC.  The cost of each ad differs. It depends mainly on your industry type and the keywords you want to target. Likewise, competitive industries charge more compared to the lesser competitive sectors.  You can seek expert advice from PPC consultants to maximize Return on Ad Spend and get better leads. PPC consultants can develop customized strategies tailored to your business goals, target audience, and budget constraints. They conduct thorough keyword research, competitor analysis, and audience targeting to maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Email Marketing

Marketers are usually seen scheduling posts on LinkedIn with a LinkedIn Scheduler or using a social media management tool to handle their business’s socials. Be it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even Pinterest, enterprises are now focusing on many social media platforms.  But don’t forget the old-school type of email marketing that is still ruling. Email marketing is all about sending out emails to your potential customers and letting them know about your brand. You can send them newsletters, offers, discounts, deals, and different packages to boost ROI.  Additionally, email marketing is spreading like never before and is predicted to grow to 4.3 billion users in 2023. Up to 62% of emails usually get open through mobile devices, which shows an indirect boost in your business marketing and promotion. 

Affiliate Marketing

Another lucrative type of digital marketing is affiliate marketing. This involves a business partnership with an online retailer where you can earn a commission for each sale or lead you bring in. You can do it by offering a discount code to your customers or linking to your website from their content website.  This way, whenever a user plugs in the discount code or clicks on the link, you will have to pay your affiliate partner for the site traffic/sale. Some popular affiliate networks include Amazon associates, Shopify, eBay, and many more.  Affiliate marketing is usually a win-win in most cases. You need to outsource your content to a marketing team and reach a new target audience in your niche. You can also decide on a cost-per-click (CPC) for your outsourced content. It will generate a passive income for your affiliate partners. 

Video Marketing

Video marketing is another highly used digital marketing channel where you can schedule YouTube videos on your YT channel or make interactive and engaging shorts for TikTok. Apart from using TikTok and YouTube, you can use other platforms to post video content.  Videos are a potent digital marketing tool if you use them correctly. Certainly, people tend to watch videos over reading a post. For example, you can watch makeup videos if you are a cosmetic lover. If you are a student of computers and programming, you might prefer to watch videos to understand concepts. This is where video marketing is helpful for the business, as you can promote your business via videos and drive traffic to your site. From demo videos to educational purposes, and conference videos to testimonials, businesses essentially can go with many options and make several videos to promote their brand. 

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is also booming and has widely captured the business marketing sector. Using this digital marketing channel to promote your business can quickly help your brand gain the audience’s attention. So, all you need to do is partner up with an influencer/content creator who has a strong following on social media. These influencers and content creators usually know techniques of pulling the audience to their side. They know how to promote a brand or product on social media. By partnering up with an influencer, you gain wider access to their audience, which helps your brand find new sales.  People usually trust and admire the influencers who they follow on social media. They believe what their influencers recommend. In return, your business could increase its sales and manage leads. 

Final Verdict

Businesses will continue to grow online in the near future, and this is the high time to incorporate the proper digital marketing channels to promote your brand. Since digital marketing is quite vast, it could be challenging to choose the best digital marketing strategy. However, there are endless possibilities for using the proper digital marketing channels for your business. Related Post: Business is Boomin – 10 Ways to Build a Booming Business