The Different Types of Online Marketing – What Every Business Needs to Know

If you’re an entrepreneur or owner of a small business, you’re probably aware that you need to be constantly thinking of new ways to grow your company. One avenue that you could explore is online marketing. However, with a variety of social media platforms and various tools available to entrepreneurs, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.

The purpose of this blog post is to help you understand the different types of online marketing and what each one offers. Below, we will discuss the various options available to entrepreneurs, as well as highlight a few pros and cons for each.

Affiliate Marketing

This type of marketing usually works in conjunction with a product or service that you’ll promote on your blog or social media accounts. When a customer purchases that product or service through your affiliate link (or a similar affiliate link for a different product/service), you’ll earn a commission.

The great thing about this type of marketing is that you don’t necessarily need to have a huge marketing budget to get started. All you need is a computer or mobile device, an internet connection, and a free blog hosting service such as Blogger, WordPress or Google’s hosted platform, YouTube. You can use these platforms to create a blog in a matter of minutes.

The primary downside to affiliate marketing is that you’ll need to convince people to buy a product or service that they may not have tried before. Additionally, you’ll need to create content on a regular basis to build up a following on social media. However, with the right products and ample content, this type of marketing can be quite profitable.

CPA Marketing

  • Cost per action (CPA) marketing is when you’ll pay an amount per action, usually in exchange for a lead, sale or sign-up.
  • You can use this type of marketing to promote a free trial or demo of a product or service. For example, you might pay $5 for each person who clicks a link or makes a purchase after watching a four-minute video.
  • CPA marketing is also known as pay-per-click or PPC marketing (for paid search marketing).
  • This type of marketing usually requires a substantial budget, as you’ll be paying per action (which could be quite some actions). The upside is that you can target the right audience and drive a highly specific group of individuals to take a specific action (such as making a purchase or signing up for a service).

Social Marketing

This type of marketing hinges on the ability of customers to share and recommend products and services that they found valuable. Therefore, you’ll want to create content that is valuable to your target audience and encourage them to share that content with their social networks.

The primary upside to social marketing is that it is typically a free option. The only cost will be the time and effort to produce content that people value and want to share.

The primary downside to social marketing is that you’ll have to develop content that is valuable to your target audience. Additionally, you’ll have to encourage people to share that valuable content with their social networks. This can be quite an uphill battle, as people usually aren’t motivated to do the bare minimum to stay relevant.

Content Marketing

This type of marketing focuses on the creation of valuable content, usually in the form of articles or blog posts, that people are motivated to share and engage with.

The primary upside to content marketing is that it is typically a free option. The only cost will be the time and effort to produce content that people value and want to share.

The primary downside to content marketing is that you’ll have to develop content that is valuable to your target audience. Additionally, you’ll have to encourage people to share that valuable content with their social networks. This can be quite an uphill battle, as people usually aren’t motivated to do the bare minimum to stay relevant.

Search Marketing

This type of marketing is when you’ll pay per click or per impression (cost per action or CPA) for the opportunity to have your website or product/service featured on Google search results pages. You can also use paid search to gain additional people to reach via social media.

There is a lot of competition in the search engine optimization (SEO) space, so you’ll need to develop a strategy to stand out from the rest. One way to do this is to create content that is valuable and unique to your target audience. Additionally, you can use keyword research to find the keywords and phrases that people are using to find information about your niche.

The primary downside to search marketing is that you’ll have to pay for each click or impression, which can add up quickly. However, with some careful budgeting and keeping track of your conversions, you can still make a significant amount of money from search marketing.

Display Advertising

This type of marketing is when you’ll pay for each time that someone clicks a link or view an ad on a particular website or platform. It usually works in conjunction with a product or service that you’ll promote on your blog or social media accounts.

The great thing about display advertising is that you don’t necessarily need to have a huge budget to get started. You’ll only need a web browser and a microphone to get started. Additionally, once you do get started, you can use tools like Google Analytics to track the results of your efforts.

The primary downside to display advertising is that you’ll have to pay for each click or impression, which can add up quickly. However, with some careful budgeting and keeping track of your conversions, you can still make a significant amount of money from display advertising. Additionally, unless you have a significant following on social media, it can be hard to gain visibility in the social media space.

Remarketing

This type of marketing usually works in conjunction with a product or service that you’ll promote on your blog or social media accounts. When a customer buys that product or service through your affiliate link (or a similar affiliate link for a different product/service), you’ll earn a commission.

The purpose of remarketing is to reconnect with former customers. For example, you might want to send an email a few weeks after a customer purchased a product or service from you and remind them of your existence. You could also display ads on their social media accounts or retweets as a way of keeping in touch.

The primary downside to remarketing is that you’ll have to pay for each click or impression, which can add up quickly. Additionally, you’ll need to develop content that is valuable to your target audience and encourage them to share that content with their social networks. This can be quite an uphill battle, as people usually aren’t motivated to do the bare minimum to stay relevant.

Mobile Marketing

This type of marketing usually works in conjunction with a product or service that you’ll promote on your blog or social media accounts. When a customer buys that product or service through your affiliate link (or a similar affiliate link for a different product/service), you’ll earn a commission.

The great thing about this type of marketing is that you don’t necessarily need to have a huge marketing budget to get started. All you need is a computer or mobile device, an internet connection, and a blog hosting service such as Blogger, WordPress or Google’s hosted platform, YouTube.

The primary downside to mobile marketing is that you’ll have to pay for each click or impression, which can add up quickly. Additionally, you’ll need to develop content that is valuable to your target audience and encourage them to share that content with their social networks. This can be quite an uphill battle, as people usually aren’t motivated to do the bare minimum to stay relevant.

Video Marketing

This type of marketing works in conjunction with a product or service that you’ll promote on your blog or social media accounts. When a customer buys that product or service through your affiliate link (or a similar affiliate link for a different product/service), you’ll earn a commission.

The great thing about this type of marketing is that you don’t necessarily need to have a huge marketing budget to get started. All you need is a computer or mobile device, an internet connection, and a blog hosting service such as Blogger, WordPress or Google’s hosted platform, YouTube.

The primary downside to video marketing is that you’ll have to pay for each click or impression, which can add up quickly. Additionally, you’ll need to develop content that is valuable to your target audience and encourage them to share that content with their social networks. This can be quite an uphill battle, as people usually aren’t motivated to do the bare minimum to stay relevant.