Digital marketing is the in thing these days. Almost every company out there engages in some form of digital marketing, either on their own or by collaborating with a digital marketing company.
Statistics say that businesses allocate 72% of their marketing budget to digital marketing. Why would a company invest so much in this new-age marketing strategy? This is because digital marketing is a more powerful, measurable strategy and gives you a wide range of options to choose from.
You can launch a dozen different types of digital marketing campaigns simultaneously or strategically to achieve your desired goals.
What is Digital Marketing?
Any form of marketing activity carried out through the internet, online media, or electronic devices is referred to as digital marketing. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing is not very expensive – you can start with a shoestring budget.
It is good for precise targeting and can help establish a strong connection with your customers. You can easily get in touch with them and elicit any response that you want using different types of digital marketing strategies.
Importance of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is so important now that if you do not invest in it, you will likely lose your customers to your competitors. Not only does it help you reach customers, but it also enables you to filter them by geography, demographics, interests, etc. for pinpoint targeting.
The benefits of digital marketing do not end there. Since it is measurable, you can track the results of your campaign in real-time and make necessary changes to make it more effective. Whereas conventional marketing is rigid and doesn’t give you this luxury.
What is a Digital Marketing Campaign?
To put things in perspective, a digital marketing campaign is the execution of a digital marketing strategy to achieve a specific business goal, which could be increasing product sales, increasing brand awareness, or driving engagement. Since there are many different channels available in digital marketing, you can launch different types of campaigns, ranging from SEO to age-old Email Marketing. However, each campaign comes with its own set of pros and cons.
Top 11 Types of Digital Marketing Campaigns
Digital marketing is a vast landscape that provides more than a dozen promotional strategies for businesses. And you have to determine what campaign fits your budget, helps you achieve your objectives, and meets your requirements. Today’s 11 most popular campaign types are as follows.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Content Marketing
- Pay-per-Click Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Affiliate Marketing
- Mobile Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Video Marketing
- VR Marketing
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of optimizing your website for both users and search engines. It involves creating useful content and a user-friendly website. SEO is mainly done for increasing your brand visibility and ranking on SERPs.
SEO should be a continuous process. It usually begins with keyword research – identifying the right keyword that people use to find your products. After this comes on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and technical SEO. Apart from this, link building is another crucial part of SEO, and it’s also tricky. That’s why many companies often rely on the reputed link building agency to generate high-quality and niche-relevant links and boost their backlink profile.
If your website is powered by WordPress, you can optimize it with plug-ins like Yoast. When performing SEO on your own, you must stay current with Google’s algorithm changes. On the other hand, if you have a budget for SEO, you can hire an SEO agency.
Pros of Search Engine Optimization
Drives a lot of free traffic to your website.
Provides you with high-quality leads.
Improves your website’s user experience.
Increases brand credibility.
Cons of Search Engine Optimization
Constant effort is required.
You must be up to date with the search algorithms.
You may see late or delayed results.
2. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
SMM, or Social Media Marketing, is the process of promoting your brand, products, and services via social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc. Social media, unlike traditional media, is an interactive medium. It allows you to not only send messages but also converse with your customers and listen to their concerns. SMM offers both organic as well as paid marketing strategies like Facebook ads, which you can use to target a specific audience.
Social Media Marketing and Content Marketing always work in tandem. You have to decide what kind of content you want to share and on which platform. You can also set up a calendar to plan and keep track of when you post content. Also, social media marketing is considered successful only when people respond to what you post and you respond to what they say.
Pros of Social Media Marketing
It enables you to create a strong fan base for your brand.
Allows you to communicate with your customers easily.
Allows for precise audience targeting.
Allows you to promote anything easily and cheaply.
Builds brand credibility.
Cons of Social Media Marketing
It allows dissatisfied customers to post negative comments in public.
You can land in trouble if you post without exercising caution.
3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on increasing your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). It is usually carried out in order to drive high-quality traffic to your website.
Though an SEM campaign primarily uses paid advertising methods, organic methods such as SEO are used in some cases to complement your efforts and provide immediate results. Two of the most common examples of SEM campaigns include Google AdWords and Bing Ads. You can launch these campaigns successfully with the help of a Google Certified Partner or Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional. SEM allows you to target your audience based on location or demographic characteristics.
You may wonder why you would need an SEM campaign if you’re already performing SEO. SEO requires some amount of time to bring your website to the top of search engine results, and if your website is new, the time required may be even longer. SEM campaigns, on the other hand, deliver immediate and rapid results; your website will be placed at the right or on top of the search results. Moreover, with Google Analytics, you can measure their performance and make the necessary adjustments.
Pros of Search Engine Marketing
You get immediate results.
Produces immediate and consistent leads and traffic.
Gives your website better visibility.
Cons of Search Engine Marketing
Some digital marketing agencies charge exorbitant fees, which can be prohibitively expensive for startups.
4. Content Marketing
Content Marketing is all about adding value to what you’re selling by distributing informative articles, social media posts, whitepapers, entertaining videos, etc. Consumers no longer rely solely on reviews to make purchasing decisions. you must create and distribute high-quality content about your product or service in a variety of formats, such as text, gifs, infographics, short videos, and so on.
Pros of Content Marketing
Allows you to easily attract customers to your products and services.
Helps you build a good brand.
Allows people to easily find your products on the internet, thus helping SEO activities.
Cons of Content Marketing
You won’t be able to do it without the help of a professional digital marketing agency.
Your content has to stand out to get noticed.
5. Pay-per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-Click is commonly known as PPC. This type of digital marketing campaign is used for driving massive amounts of traffic to your website. Meaning you buy traffic in exchange for money. How? Your ads will appear in the search results, and in return, you will have to pay the search engine a stipulated amount each time a user clicks on them.
PPC advertising allows you to filter the audience; you can choose who you want to show your ad to. Remarketing is another possibility. With the help of analytics, you can reach out to people who have already shown interest in your products and services but haven’t bought them yet.
Pros of Pay-per-Click Advertising
You can generate immediate and consistent traffic to your website.
You can better target your audience by using filters such as demographics, location, and so on.
You can assess the effectiveness of your campaign.
As you run, you will be able to modify your campaign based on its effectiveness.
You are likely to get quick results.
Cons of Pay-per-Click Advertising
It is not a set-and-forget campaign; you must invest time in order to optimize it.
It can be costly at times if your digital marketing guy is inexperienced.
You will need relevant skill set to execute this.
Not every click results in a sale, so sometimes your money is wasted.
6. Email Marketing
Email marketing has been around for quite some time. You may consider it an outdated method that is frequently abused by spammers and frowned upon by consumers. But no, cold email is not the same as spam. It is still one of the best digital marketing strategies available today and is used by marketers, ecommerce sites, and brands for pushing special offers, remarketing, and sending out newsletters. A good email list is also considered an asset for a business because subscribers are typically those who are actually interested in your brand.
Pros of Email Marketing
It is a cost-effective marketing strategy that allows you to reach a customer directly.
You can easily turn your subscribers into your loyal customers.
Your customers will be able to read your mail at their convenience.
Cons of Email Marketing
Constant emails can irritate your customers, causing them to unsubscribe.
“Free” and “Click Here” emails may occasionally end up in the spam folder.
You must keep the email list up to date.
7. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is a type of commission-based marketing program where you pay a commission to your promoter (or affiliate) for each sale generated through your affiliate links posted on their marketing channels.
One of the best examples of Affiliate Marketing is Amazon Associates. Through this program, Amazon pays its affiliates a commission for generating sales through their website or blog. Affiliate marketing is a low-cost marketing strategy because you only pay when your product is sold. It helps you spread the word about your goods and services.
You can run an affiliate program by collaborating with blogs, product review sites, YouTube channels, and so on. Before onboarding, make sure your affiliates understand your payment terms and brand guidelines, such as what is allowed and what is not. If you’re looking to track affiliate sales efficiently, consider using the best QR code generators available. These tools can create unique QR codes for your affiliates to use, allowing you to accurately attribute sales and measure their performance.
Pros of Affiliate Marketing
There are no up-front costs, and payments should be made only when your products are sold.
Your affiliate will promote your product at no extra cost.
Cons of Affiliate Marketing
Sales are limited and dependent on your affiliate’s viewership or readership.
You must educate your affiliate about your products and services.
Affiliate links can be hijacked if they are not monitored.
8. Mobile Marketing
Mobile Marketing is a form of digital marketing that targets mobile users in an effort to convert them into customers. It is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies because it lets you do personalized, real-time, granular targeting. Some of the most popular mobile marketing techniques used today are in-app advertising, SMS marketing, location-based advertising, email marketing, and mobile search marketing. If your target market consists primarily of younger individuals, mobile phone advertising is the best type of digital marketing campaign you can do.
Pros of Mobile Marketing
It is the quickest way to reach out to your customers.
Based on your preferences, you can easily target your audience.
Cons of Mobile Marketing
You only have a limited amount of advertising space.
Frequent text messages and pop-up ads can be annoying to your customers, and they may block your ads.
Despite the fact that the mobile population is growing, not everyone reads messages and advertisements.
9. Influencer Marketing
It works similarly to celebrity endorsements or affiliate marketing. In influencer marketing, you collaborate with a social media influencer, a celebrity, an expert, or someone who has a large fan base or is well-liked on social media. You use their influence to sell your products in exchange for a fee. This is also contractual. These influencers promote your product in their videos or content shared on Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram.
Pros of Influencer Marketing
Influencers are extremely effective because they can influence their fans’ purchasing decisions.
You can work with local influencers who don’t charge a lot of money.
Allows you to easily popularize your product or service.
Because there are influencers in every field, you can easily target your audience.
Cons of Influencer Marketing
Choosing the right influencer is critical.
If your influencer gets into any kind of trouble, your reputation could suffer.
10. Video Marketing
Video Marketing is a marketing method that uses audio-visual content to promote a brand or sell products and services. It has been around for a while, since the advent of Television. However, it has taken a new shape with the popularity of social media channels like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. It helps you tell your stories in a more engaging and appealing way. So, if there is one campaign that you should be doing now, then it is this. It can be anything from a long live stream to short videos like Instagram reels.
Pros of Video Marketing
Helps you connect with customers emotionally.
More viable because there are numerous social media channels that allow you to easily post and promote your videos.
Better reach as all social channels are giving more importance to video content.
Helps you clearly and easily convey any complex message.
Cons of Video Marketing
Long videos may not produce the desired results due to low attention spans. The shorter it is, the better.
Unlike other types of content, creating high-quality videos requires artistic abilities.
11. VR Marketing
VR Marketing means leveraging the marketing potential of Virtual Reality technology in order to engage an audience and convert them into customers. Virtual Reality is a make-believe world. It manipulates one’s sense of hearing and vision and puts him in a virtual artificial environment, where he engages with your content with the help of a VR headset. VR is not the same as AR (Augmented Reality). If the former creates a completely new, digital artificial world, the latter focuses on enhancing the existing world. Google’s Cardboard, Samsung’s Gear, Meta’s Oculus are some examples of VR headsets. Pokemon Go popularized VR technology in the gaming industry and since then it has been all the rage.
Pros of VR Marketing
It is a completely new way of telling stories and has the potential to significantly influence your customers’ purchasing decisions.
Immerses a user in a completely different environment, a digital world, giving you limitless opportunities to market your products and services.
VR content is more powerful and effective than 2D, 3D and video content.
Helps you establish an emotional connection with your audience.
Cons of VR Marketing
As of now, it can only be implemented with the help of a VR headset, which makes it a very expensive marketing strategy.
VR content is not adaptable; it cannot be repurposed in other formats.
What Type of Digital Marketing Campaign is Best for Your Company or You Should be Using?
There is no best or worst type of digital marketing campaign. Each campaign has its own pluses and minuses. What you choose when counts. It should be based on your requirements and, of course, the present time. For example, irrespective of the industry, every business took to digital during the pandemic days in order to connect with their customers. And today our society has turned digital and you cannot ignore it.
You need to know where your customers are and which channel best suits your needs. That’s it. Additionally, it is always advantageous to have a strategy in order to gain a competitive advantage, like how many campaigns you have to roll out, which campaign should be launched, etc. If you require assistance in launching any of the above-mentioned digital marketing campaigns, feel free to contact us.
Global Media Insight is a Dubai-based digital marketing agency providing a one-stop solution for all your digital marketing needs. In addition to digital marketing services, our portfolio also includes web design, website development and marketing analytics, to name a few.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I pick the best digital marketing campaign out of all these options?
It might be challenging for you to select the ideal campaign out of all the available types. We advise consulting with your digital marketing company. They will assist you in choosing the ideal campaign for your company. If you intend to launch it on your own, consider factors like your strengths and weaknesses, objectives, target audience, budget, and location.
Can you create a solid digital marketing campaign for my business?
Yes, we can. We are a full-fledged digital marketing company in Dubai with experience in running all the above campaigns for our diverse clients. If you’re interested, we’ll work with you to develop the most effective digital marketing strategy for your company that generates results.
Is it necessary for me to invest in a digital marketing campaign?
You should, or you will be left behind. People are spending more time and money online these days, so if you want to reach more people and sell more, you must use digital marketing. Having a website isn’t enough; people should visit your site frequently. A solid digital marketing strategy is required to drive traffic to your website and convert visitors into customers.
Is digital marketing effective for all businesses?
Yes, digital marketing is beneficial to any business on the planet today. The only thing you need to do is tailor it because your goals may differ from those of other businesses.
How do I pick a digital marketing agency for my campaign?
Though all digital marketing companies provide the same services, their approaches and operating styles can vary. Before selecting one, it is a good idea to research their services, experience in the field, clients, client retention rates, and so on.
GMI’s Research Team is a panel of knowledgeable experts from various fields such as digital marketing, social media, and web development, all united by a common goal—to educate. We enjoy exploring everything from the latest industry trends and emerging technologies to people and demographics, both in the UAE and beyond. Through our blog posts, we share valuable insights that help businesses and marketers stay informed and prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
