What exactly is digital marketing, what are its types, and for what reason digital marketing is important? That is what I am going to discuss with you today.

Digital marketing promotes products or services using digital channels such as search engines, mobile apps, websites, social media, and emails, to engage with the audience. Early digital inventions like TV or radio are also included in digital marketing.

The term digital marketing involves various techniques like search engine optimization, social media marketing, pay-per-click, TV commercials, YouTube ads, electric billboards, and many more to enhance brand visibility, drive website traffic, and ultimately generate leads and sales.

The plus is digital marketing is handled digitally by online virtual assistants and agencies. Because it’s the most affordable way of creating digital hype about your business.

“There are approximately 5 billion mobile phone users and 4 billion internet users worldwide”.

These staggering statistics highlight the immense potential of reaching audiences digitally through mobile phones with both online and offline digital marketing techniques, across various platforms.

But why digital marketing is important, what are its types and what benefits a business can get by hiring online marketing services from professional virtual assistants?

This blog will cover all the what when and why of digital marketing.

Types of Digital Marketing

Businesses can effectively connect to larger audiences through digital marketing which is categorized into 2 types online digital marketing and offline digital marketing.

1- Online Digital Marketing

Online digital marketing also refers to online marketing as it involves only online channels. It forms the backbone of modern-day marketing efforts.

Let's explore some key tactics of online digital marketing.

A. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If you are reading this blog you must want to know about digital marketing. Right?

To know about it what did you do? Did you ask your teacher or parents? No! You just go to Google, type your query, and find the answer. This is called SEO in digital marketing.

When a user finds the solution through your business website on Google, he/she trusts you and reaches out to you whenever they have a problem.

So by actively being available for the queries of your audience and strategically optimizing website content, structure, and technical elements, businesses can captivate search engines and attract a stream of organic traffic from users seeking their solutions.

You can easily find expert virtual assistants online to handle your SEO game.

Recommended Reading: How to write a good SEO blog? 10 easy ways to get ranked.

B. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

In a pay-per-click model of online digital marketing, businesses pay only when their ads are clicked, ensuring every investment carries the potential to drive valuable traffic.

You frequently encounter pop-up windows of various products and services and sponsored posts while scrolling through web apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Google. These are prime examples of pay-per-click ads or sponsored ads.

In this type of digital marketing, businesses can harness the potential of platforms like search engines and social media. These digital marketing platforms empower businesses to position targeted ads before their audience according to demographics, gender, age, and area.

Again you can outsource your PPC advertising to expert virtual assistants without any hustle. And that’s the beauty of digital marketing.

Learn more: Top 7 trends of virtual assistants in 2024.

C. Social Media Marketing (SMM)

SMM is another technique of online digital marketing. Approximately 6 billion people are active on social media Regardless of age, people from diverse demographics are present, making it an ideal avenue for reaching a wide range of audiences.

Furthermore, through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, businesses can establish genuine connections, raise brand awareness, and actively engage with their audience.

The game changer thing for SMM is online experts for all platforms are available. You can find Instagram marketing experts, Facebook virtual assistants, and LinkedIn pros on various freelancing platforms and agencies.

Relevant: Why should you outsource social media marketing to virtual assistants?

D. Content Marketing

Attention spans are shrinking and content marketing is expanding. Yes, Content marketing is another must-go for online digital marketing. Businesses invest in creating and publishing valuable, informative, and captivating content to entice and retain their desired audience on different channels.

Content marketing includes content like blog posts, articles, videos, emails, infographics, high-quality visuals, captivating copies, or other compelling forms. The goal is to educate, entertain, and provide solutions to the audience in a strategic way.

A must-read: Types of content marketing. What should you choose?

E. Email Marketing

Email marketing reigns supreme for direct and personalized communication in this era of online digital marketing.

“By the end of 2023, an average of 347.3 billion emails are sent and received per day.”

It is a powerful strategy of digital marketing that involves crafting and sending targeted emails to a receptive subscriber base. Through tailored messages, businesses can promote their products, share updates, nurture leads, and foster enduring customer relationships.

Fortunately, email marketing services are easily available online. You can leverage a virtual assistant's email services even to write a single email for any purpose.

Recommended: How to build an email list? Unbeleiveable and easy tips

Point to ponder:

It's important to note that Internet marketing and digital marketing are distinct concepts.

Internet marketing specifically relies on channels that only operate on the Internet, while digital marketing encompasses techniques that can be employed both online and offline.

Internet marketing leverages online channels such as websites, social media, and search engines, digital marketing extends beyond the internet to include strategies like SMS marketing, TV ads, radio promotions, and billboards.

Offline Digital Marketing: Merging Tradition with Digital Innovation

Offline digital marketing artfully combines the ability of digital technologies and tools with traditional marketing channels. We can say that these are traditional digital marketing methods but they are still effective.

A. QR Code Marketing:

In this offline type of digital marketing, marketers unite the physical and digital realms. By incorporating QR codes into print ads, product packaging, or physical signage, businesses bridge the gap between offline touchpoints and captivating online content.

Users can simply scan the codes with their smartphones, unlocking a world of information, offers, or interactive online journeys.

B. SMS Marketing:

If you are a mobile user which I bet you are, you frequently receive SMS from different brands regarding their new deals or launches.

So you can imagine the power of concise and direct messaging in today's digital marketing.

SMS marketing is delivering promotional messages or alerts straight to customers' mobile phones via text messages. Businesses can swiftly captivate attention, and share time-sensitive offers, exclusive discounts, or crucial updates with their customers.

C. Digital Billboards:

How many times have your kids pleaded with you to take them to McDonald's after spotting a mouthwatering picture of its burger on a billboard? That’s the power of digital billboards.

These digital boards now convert into electronic billboards

In this offline digital marketing, captivating digital displays are remotely updated, enabling businesses to showcase targeted messages that resonate with their audience and create brand visibility.

D. TV Marketing:

We cannot ignore the significance of this offline digital marketing strategy. Statistics reveal that

“There are 124 million households with television only in the USA, and people of all ages, from kids to seniors, incorporate a TV into their daily routines”.

It presents a valuable opportunity to reach and engage with your target audience. Numerous renowned brands such as Coca-Cola, Dove, and Nescafe continue to generate revenue through TV advertisements.

In simple words, you can Promote, Engage, and Persuade Ads, and infomercials to captivate viewers with your product.

Other types of digital marketing

Affiliate marketing

It is a type of digital marketing in which you have to give a commission to affiliates to get sales and leads for your business. It is basically performance-based marketing.

The major benefit of affiliate marketing is you can reach a wider audience with the major websites and influencers in your industries.

However, one must choose the influencers and affiliates very carefully that relate to your audience.

Influencer marketing

You've probably heard of Roger Federer, the great tennis player. He partnered with Nike as a brand influencer, and you could easily observe this by seeing him donning Nike apparel during his matches, effectively promoting the brand.

The result?

People formed emotional connections with their idols, and those who admired Roger Federer were inclined to follow in his footsteps and support Nike.

So in simple terms, influencer marketing is a type of digital marketing in which you can promote your service or product by partnering with famous celebrities or persons that have numerous followers.

The primary advantage of influencer marketing is that you can establish the same degree of trust with your followers that the influencer already has in the industry.

However, this type of digital marketing also needs attention or focus to choose the influencer that is renowned and famous for its value-given qualities in the industry.

Why digital marketing is important?

According to a study by Smart Insights,

“Businesses that implement digital marketing strategies experience a 30% increase in brand visibility compared to traditional marketing methods”.

Digital marketing is not an option anymore. It’s the necessity of the time. Even a local store can benefit from online digital marketing. It’s like if your customer is available online, then you have to be there for your customers.

According to Google, when people use their smartphones to search for local information, about nearby businesses or services, 88% of them end up visiting a related store within the following week.

Not only this, digital marketing ends up with many more benefits like

Increased Brand Visibility

Billions of users are available on various online channels such as search engines, Facebook, Twitter, and emails. By employing social media and internet marketing, businesses may enhance their online presence and attract a larger audience. As per statistics, in the future social media users will reach up to six billion.

Targeted Audience Reach

By leveraging online Digital marketing techniques any e-commerce business can specifically target its right audience. And it can increase by 40% of its sales and can decrease by 20% of customer acquisition costs.

Therefore, Internet marketing enables businesses to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors of their audience.

Cost-Effective

As compared to traditional marketing like TV ads and print media digital marketing is way more cost-effective.

According to the Content Marketing Institute,

“Digital marketing efforts generate three times more leads per dollar spent compared to traditional marketing methods”.

It allows businesses to achieve their marketing goals without incurring significant expenses.

With the increased demand for digital marketing, the best option for businesses is to hire a talented pool of virtual assistants from anywhere in the world for digital marketing services as they provide affordable solutions as compared to digital marketing agencies.

Measurable Results

Digital marketing provides comprehensive analytics and tracking tools that allow businesses to measure the success of their marketing efforts accurately. Even social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram all provide insight tools to check the performances of your campaigns.

That’s why businesses need to increase and retain their social media followers to get the most out of these platforms.

Moreover, data analytics enables businesses to make informed decisions, optimize their strategies, and continuously improve their marketing campaigns.

When did digital marketing start?

The invention of the radio can be traced back to the beginnings of digital marketing.

Businesses recognized the possibility of reaching a large audience through radio broadcasting when it was introduced in the early 20th century.

In the 1920s, Wheaties a breakfast cereal brand started a campaign with the collaboration of famous athletes and claimed that this is the Breakfast of Champions.

What happened after this advertisement?

People started to position Wheaties as a healthy choice for food and breakfast and started to buy its cereals.

After the beginning of digital marketing in the 1920s, it took off like a bat out of hell, developing and evolving to become an essential component of modern corporate strategies.

Following that, Digital marketing took a new direction with the emergence of the internet in the late twentieth century. Which we are practicing today.

Conclusion

You can use any type of digital marketing online or offline. However, you can use the combination of both, and maybe that’s the best practice to grow your business. But it totally depends upon your business budget and size.

But remember offline digital marketing techniques like TV ads and electronic boards are costly. So gear up your business to yield the full benefits of online digital marketing or internet marketing. 

And luckily, you're in good hands. At Vaforus, we offer affordable solutions to your digital marketing challenges, providing rates that are more budget-friendly compared to traditional advertising agencies.

Our team of virtual assistants is well-versed in all online digital marketing techniques, like SEO, SMM, PPC, content marketing, SMS marketing, and email marketing ensuring that your business receives expert assistance to achieve its marketing goals.

Click here to schedule a meeting and enhance your brand's online visibility.