Email marketing and online marketing are frequently used interchangeably, but they are not the same. While both engage in marketing activities through email and the internet, they have distinct differences that are worth noting.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the practice of sending emails to current customers, past customers, and potential customers to promote a business or product. In general, marketers can use email to send promotional material, including special offers, discounts, and product information. Email marketing does not generally involve the direct marketing of goods or services, but instead focuses on engaging customers through e-newsletters, social media, and websites.
Email marketing is often used in combination with other marketing techniques, such as display marketing, because marketers want to ensure they are reaching their target audience. Display marketing involves putting up signs in busy public places, such as airports, cafés, and retail stores, to draw attention and encourage someone to buy the product. Email marketing is essential for any business that relies on customer acquisition for growth. Without it, you’ll never be able to interact with enough people to grow your business.
The most popular email marketing software includes mailChimp, HubSpot, and Draftcamp.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing, also known as outbound marketing, is the practice of advertising and marketing to a specific audience, often with the aid of a salesperson. The target audience is often defined by interest, location, industry, or other similar criteria. The objective of direct marketing is to get the customer to go to a business’ website, open an account, make a purchase, or apply for a job, rather than to just contact the customer via email.
To get the customer to visit your website, you’ll want to use a combination of techniques, including:
- Product announcements through press releases
- Partner offers and discounts through newsletters
- Product demonstration videos.
- Optimized landing pages that convert
- Email campaigns that promote key product features
- Social media marketing
The most popular email marketing software for direct marketing includes Marketo, MailChimp, and HubSpot.
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is the practice of operating without thinking, and relying on software to track and perform marketing tasks, such as email marketing, lead nurturing, and web content curation.
Many businesses use marketing automation to streamline marketing tasks and to gain more flexibility and control over their marketing program. In addition to making the process more efficient, marketing automation can help businesses gain more visibility across channels and platforms. For example, a company that owns a bakery chain may use marketing automation to compile and send weekly emails to all of its customers detailing the specials for the week.
Marketing automation can integrate with various software packages, such as Salesforce and Marketo, to provide a more comprehensive customer experience. Marketo, in particular, allows businesses to connect with customers through email, social media, and mobile messaging, and provide them with relevant content, based on their needs and interests. This content can then be used to create targeted emails, landing pages, and more.
The most popular marketing automation software include Marketo, HubSpot, and MailChimp.
To get the most out of your marketing automation software, it’s important to use a marketing automation strategy, which typically involves embedding marketing automation software into your website, as well as into your outreach and email marketing activities.
Digital Marketing
While digital marketing doesn’t necessarily involve digital creation (such as websites, blogs, and social media), it frequently does. Marketing activities using digital tools and platforms, including SEO, SMM, and PPC, are often considered part of digital marketing.
SEO is an abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization, which, in turn, is the practice of improving your website’s ranking in organic search results on major search engines, including Google and Bing. Ranking in organic search results is highly valued by businesses, as it means that your website will appear when someone searches for your business or product.
SEO can be a complex process that requires in-depth knowledge of search engine algorithms and the practice of getting “natural” or “organic” search results, as opposed to paid search or algorithmic search results. However, a business can get started with SEO very easily, and many companies offer affordable SEO packages that help businesses get started.
SMM is an abbreviation for Search Marketing Management, which is the practice of getting paid for each time someone clicks on a link, opens an email, or performs some other action that leads to the sale of a product or service. Incoming search engine traffic is often considered “free” advertising, as it’s often considered to be a “good” performance on Google or Bing.
PPC, or Pay per click, is a type of internet advertising that involves paying each time someone clicks on an ad. PPC is frequently used in combination with SEO, as the two techniques operate on very different platforms, yet they often work hand in hand. For example, let’s say you’re running a PPC campaign for a digital agency, and you want to gain more visitors to your website. One way to do this is to improve your SEO for the agency’s targeted keyword or phrase.
As you may have guessed, the main difference between online marketing and email marketing is that one is done online and the other one is done via email. However, even within these categories, there are several distinct differences. For example, email marketing is frequently segmented and targeted, while online marketing is usually broad in its scope.
The Importance of Content
The first and most obvious difference between online marketing and email marketing is the content that’s used in each case. Email marketing is a type of mass marketing that frequently uses heavily styled and highly editorialized email content, while web marketing and online marketing use simple and direct language.
The importance of content in marketing cannot be emphasized enough. While you may think that a colorful image or a funny joke will get your message across, the opposite is usually true.
According to HubSpot’s research, only 7% of consumers trust advertisements, compared to product reviews, which 16% of consumers trust. If you’re using marketing to generate leads and make sales, this means you’ll want to focus on editorialized content, rather than ads, to gain trust.
In addition, people love content that’s been edited and put together with care. For example, copywriters will frequently use phrases like “edited copy”, “master copy”, “final copy”, and “polished prose”, to show that their work is of high quality and meant to be used by others. The same applies to product reviews, and in fact, many review sites will only publish reviews that are polished and well-written.
The Role of Visuals
Another aspect of online marketing that differs from email marketing is the emphasis on visuals. While text is important, images are frequently used to illustrate what is being said. For example, let’s say you’re selling refrigerators and freezers, and you want to encourage people to visit your website to learn more about your product range. You may want to consider using images, such as product shots or diagrams, to help illustrate the advantages of owning a fridge or freezer.
Product images with text overlays are commonly referred to as “infographics”, and they’re exceptionally valuable to businesses, especially those that sell a single product, such as a refrigerator or freezer. In addition to providing customers with valuable information, infographics can improve conversion rates, as they provide a more visual appeal, compared to plain text.
According to HubSpot’s research, 94% of consumers prefer to learn about a product or service through videos, as compared to just 2% who prefer to read about it. In other words, consumers frequently prefer to learn about products and services through non-linear methods, such as videos, rather than linear ones, such as text.
If someone clicks on a video and watches the entire thing, that’s usually considered to be a sign of satisfaction and a good performance by a business.
Customer Service
One more thing that separates online marketing from email marketing is customer service. While you may provide customer service through various methods, such as live chat, telephone, and social media, emails allow you to provide faster and more efficient customer service.