The line between marketing and online marketing is blurring. In the past, marketers mainly focused on billboards, print ads, and radio spots to reach consumers. Today, with digital marketing being the main source of marketing, the list of methods has shifted dramatically. Here’s a guide as to which of the following is and isn’t online marketing.
Affiliate Marketing
This is one of the forms of online marketing and it’s a bit more sophisticated than most people initially think. Essentially, affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing, where you’ll earn a commission if someone clicks a monetized link or buys a product that’s promoted on your behalf. There are countless affiliate marketing platforms where you can connect with merchants and get paid when people click or make a purchase.
The primary difference between affiliate marketing and typical online marketing is that in affiliate marketing, you’re not directly promoting a product. Instead, you’re promoting an affiliate partner that’s partnered with a particular product. So, if someone clicks on an affiliate link and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a commission.
Content Marketing
If you’ve ever posted about a product or service on social media and then saw content regarding that product or service show up in your news feed, you’ve experienced content marketing. Essentially, content marketing is the practice of creating valuable and engaging content to promote a product or service. The goal is to establish a connection with potential customers by intriguing them with content that’s either compelling or instructive.
While content marketing can be somewhat effective, it’s often considered a form of online marketing that’s overused; however, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Email Marketing
Emails have been around since the early days of online marketing and, even today, they’re still very much relevant. Simply put, email marketing is the act of sending email messages to individuals or groups to promote a product or service. Back in those early days, people mainly used email to get discounts or make reservations at restaurants.
Even now, with all the fancy digital marketing innovations, emails still work. In fact, according to HubSpot Blogs research, 72% of consumers have received an email alert about a product or service, and 55% have shopped or booked a product or service because of an email alert.
Emails aren’t going anywhere, but as more and more people switch to online marketing, emails are becoming less effective. That’s because while people love receiving promotional emails, they rarely remember them.
Social Media Marketing
If you’ve ever used social media, specifically Facebook or Twitter, you’ve experienced social media marketing. Most people think of social media marketing when they hear the words “digital marketing,” but it’s much more extensive than that. Essentially, social media marketing is the practice of using social platforms to advertise a product or service. It’s a type of performance marketing, where you’ll earn a commission if someone clicks on a monetized link or buys a product that’s promoted on your behalf.
There are numerous platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, where you can connect with customers and engage with them. Additionally, social media platforms like Facebook enable marketers to run ad campaigns, track performance, and analyze demographics.
As with affiliate marketing and content marketing, there’s a lot of room for misinterpretation when it comes to social media marketing. The lines between marketing and social media are blurred, as people often use these platforms for both marketing and socializing. While this might be effective for some, it’s generally not a great idea to fight advertising on social media platforms. This is mainly because people expect to find advertisements on social media, and if you go against those odds, you might lose credibility with your audience. It’s always better to use the right tools rather than beating around the bush.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
If you’ve ever shopped online, you’ve probably come across SEO. When you search for something on Google, the first results that come up are usually sponsored by advertisers. These are paid keywords or phrases designed to appeal to a specific audience.
When you have thousands of advertisers competing for the attention of the online shopper, getting onto the first page of Google results can be very important. Essentially, SEO is the practice of increasing the number of visits to one’s website from the major search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Facebook.
There are numerous tactics that you can use to optimise your web pages for the major search engines. For example, if you’re selling shoes, you might want to target the keywords “shoes,” “footwear,” and “athletic footwear.”
SEO can be quite effective, particularly if you do it the right way. It’s always worth asking a professional to help you out or educate you on the subject. Doing SEO the right way also takes time, so don’t expect instant results.
Traditional Marketing
In the age of digital marketing, most people consider traditional marketing to be obsolete. However, there are still cases where printed flyers, business cards, and billboards are used to advertise a product or service. The term traditional marketing gets thrown around a lot, but in reality, it simply means advertising methods that haven’t changed much.
Billboards, for example, have been around since the early days of online marketing. In fact, some people even say that the first “clickable” internet banner appeared in the early 1990s. The only difference is that now, instead of just posting a banner, websites can become fully interactive and enable consumers to make purchases without leaving the page.
What Is Online Marketing?
As the name implies, online marketing is marketing that takes place primarily online. However, in reality, there are numerous forms of online marketing. Most people simply think of email marketing, social media marketing, and SEO when they hear the word “marketing,” but there’s so much more to it.
In addition to the methods listed above, here are some other types of online marketing:
Product Review And Comparison
If you’ve ever read an online review of a product or service before purchasing that product or service, you’ve experienced product review and comparison. Essentially, this is where consumers examine multiple products or services and highlight the differences between them. While this might not seem like a marketing tactic, it’s actually a form of marketing.
If you own a business, then it’s essential that you understand how to do a cost-effective product review and comparison. After all, nobody wants to spend money on products that aren’t good. Review and comparison can be very useful when establishing prices, margins, and making overall business decisions.
Content Creation For Social Media
If you’ve ever used social media, then you might have noticed that many companies and brands create content for their websites and then push that same content to their social media handles.
For example, if you’ve ever shopped at Nordstrom, you might have come across their “shop the look” feature where they’d post images of women wearing various products from their collections. Essentially, this is content creation for social media, where companies and brands create content to engage with their customers on social media. In this sense, content creation for social media is a type of online marketing.
E-commerce Marketing
If you’ve ever sold a product or service online, then you’ve probably come across e-commerce marketing. This is marketing where the primary interaction is via the internet, rather than face-to-face. So, if you’ve ever shopped online, then e-commerce marketing is basically marketing via the internet. In the past, people mainly used the internet to search for products and make online purchases. However, with the rise of the “Shopping App,’” customers can make purchases from the convenience of their smartphones.
If you run a business that sells products online, then e-commerce marketing is a must-know. Not only does it allow you to take advantage of the internet, but it also provides you with a target audience that you might otherwise miss out on.
E-commerce marketing is more effective when combined with SEO. Essentially, with SEO, you’re targeting potential customers who are searching for your products or services online. With e-commerce, you’re also targeting those same potential customers when they’re shopping on your site. Combining SEO and e-commerce is a recipe for success.