There are numerous platforms that you can use to market your clothing line. However, not all of them are made equal, and you need to take some time to find out which one is the best fit for your needs.

In this article, we will discuss the various types of marketing platforms available to online clothing retailers and the pros and cons of each.

Traditional Versus Digital Marketing

Traditional marketing is when you use various mediums (print, radio, TV, etc.) to get the word out about your business. With traditional marketing, you are usually reaching a large audience, but you are unable to get much individualized feedback or action from your potential customers. Social media has completely changed all that.

Now, more than ever, you can target your marketing towards a much smaller audience and be highly responsive to whatever they are saying or doing about your product or service. The great thing about digital marketing is that you can use numerous platforms (including SEO, PPC, social media, etc.) to reach your audience and gauge their interest in your product or service.

Types Of Digital Marketing Platforms

If you are unfamiliar, digital marketing platforms allow you to take your business online and allows customers to find your product or service. There are four major types of digital marketing platforms:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Pay per click (PPC)
• Social media marketing (SMM)
• Email marketing

Each of these platforms is discussed below.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of optimizing your website’s content so that it appears in the right spots (known as “keywords” or “search terms”) when someone searches for related terms on a search engine such as Google or Bing.

The better your SEO, the more likely your website is to come up in the organic (i.e. unpaid or natural) search results on a search engine.

SEO can be very complex, but simply put, try to focus on using a variety of important and relevant keywords throughout your website content, especially in your headlines, text, and subheadings.

You can also use SEO to your advantage by regularly adding new content to your website. This helps the search engine algorithm (which is a computer program that determines which websites appear in the search results) determine that your site is still current and relevant.

If you want to learn more about SEO, check out our in-depth SEO guide for beginners. It offers a lot of helpful information about optimizing your site for the search engines, attracting potential customers, and converting them into paying customers.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

Pay per click (PPC) advertising is similar to SEO in that you are trying to get visitors to your website. However, with PPC advertising, you are paying for each click. So, if someone clicks on your ad and then buys something, you will be compensated. You can do this on popular search engines such as Google, Bing, and Amazon.

The great thing about PPC advertising is that you can target your audience by interest or industry—making it a highly effective form of marketing.

One downside to PPC advertising is that you need to have a stable and working cash flow to be able to pay for these clicks. So, if you are a new business or have limited resources, this option might not be for you. Also, you will need to continually monitor and measure your ads’ performance to determine how well they are doing and whether or not to continue with the campaign.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is just like SEO and PPC in that you are creating content (typically blog posts or articles) to attract visitors to your site. However, instead of trying to “game” the system and get visitors to your site for free, you are paying for the content (typically through a combination of SEO and PPC).

The great thing about content marketing is that you can use various types of content to attract the right audience (usually your target customers) to your site.

One downside to content marketing is that you have to constantly produce new content to keep your audience interested. If you are looking for a quick win, this option might not be for you.

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

SMM is similar to SEO and PPC in that you are using various platforms (including social media) to gain exposure for your product or service. However, instead of trying to get people to your site, you are trying to get people to “like” or follow you on social media.

The great thing about SMM is that you can target your audience by interest or industry—making it a highly effective way of marketing.

One downside to SMM is that you have to constantly produce interesting and valuable content to keep your audience interested. If you are looking for a quick win, this option might not be for you.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is essentially the same as traditional marketing in that you are using various platforms to get the word out about your business. However, with email marketing, you are not only reaching an audience, you are also reaching them with personalized emails containing useful content.

One downside to email marketing is that it is one of the least effective marketing platforms. Only around 8% of businesses claim to have achieved any measurable success using email marketing.

The great thing about email marketing is that you can target your audience by interest or industry—making it a highly effective way of marketing.

It is also one of the cheapest forms of marketing. You only need to set up your email marketing platform and then start sending out emails. You will then need to measure the effectiveness of your email marketing to determine whether or not it was worth your while.

Pros And Cons Of Each Type Of Digital Marketing Platform

Now, let’s discuss the pros and cons of each type of digital marketing platform.

SEO is very beneficial because you are reaching an audience that is interested in your product or service. On the downside, SEO can be difficult to manage and requires a lot of work. Also, you have to continuously monitor your ads’ performance to see if they are generating the results you are looking for.

PPC is very beneficial because you are able to target your audience by interest or industry. However, you have to pay for each click, which can be very costly. This type of marketing tends to generate the most leads, but there is a lot of work involved in getting the numbers.

Content marketing is very beneficial because you are creating value for your target audience. One downside to content marketing is that while you are creating content for different platforms (including SEO), you have to keep track of what is working and what is not—which can be difficult. Another downside is that you have to keep producing new content to keep your audience interested.

Email marketing is very beneficial because you are reaching your audience with personalized emails containing useful content. One downside to email marketing is that you have to remember to send out these emails on a regular basis to generate results. Also, you cannot target your audience based on interest or industry, you can only do this through digital marketing platforms like SMS.

In the end, not all types of digital marketing are created equal. Before you make a decision, it’s important to find out what your needs are and the type of results you are looking for. By putting in the time to learn about the various platforms, you can find the one that is best suited for your business.