The Types, Challenges, and Benefits of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is an essential part of any modern brand. This process involves creating a brand identity that consistently tells your company’s story and mission across all digital channels. And while digital branding may seem straightforward, creating a strong and positive digital presence can be much more challenging than it seems. This article outlines the types, challenges, and benefits of digital marketing.

Types of Digital Marketing

Some of the most common types of digital marketing include:

Search engine optimization: Search engine optimization (SEO) is a strategy that aims to get your business to rank higher in web browser search results. And since it is common knowledge that the businesses at the top of any search ranking are the ones that customers reach out to the most, SEO can be highly effective at boosting your leads.
Pay-per-click: Pay-per-click refers to paid advertising in promoted search results. Similar to SEO, this strategy can increase your business’s traffic and customer interest. And you only pay for results (when the advertisement leads to someone clicking on your link), meaning it’s a proven investment.
Email marketing: Email marketing is a great way to continue a dialogue with existing customers and provide them with information about new products, services, or specials you may have. It can be a part of a larger content strategy when informational or educational content is included in the emails.
Content marketing: Content marketing relies on sharing information or stories to increase brand awareness and help position your company as an industry leader or expert. This type of marketing aims to have the customer request more information, become a member of your mailing list, or make a purchase.
Mobile marketing: Mobile marketing focuses specifically on reaching your target audience while they are using a smartphone or tablet. Since these devices are heavily used, this type of advertising can deliver a captive audience. In addition, with advanced technologies that support mobile marketing, you can reach highly-segmented demographic blocks at the right time – when they are seeking your products or services.
Social media marketing: Social media marketing uses already-popular social media platforms as another avenue to reach customers. Not only do you have a centralized location where many of your customers may interact, but you also have a way to communicate with them directly, which can often foster a sense of community and enhance loyalty.
Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing uses influencers to promote a brand. These third-party influencers promote your products or services for compensation by engaging their audience with information about your company. This type of digital marketing has grown exponentially and is expected to continue growing rapidly for the next several years.

While there are other, lesser-used digital marketing strategies, these options represent the bulk of most digital marketing efforts.

Challenges of Digital Marketing

Although digital marketing can be highly effective at increasing consumer interest in your company, it often comes with many challenges. Some common challenges you could anticipate include the following:

Digital marketing fatigue: As digital marketing becomes more prevalent, consumers will tire of engaging with this content. Companies will likely have to evolve and develop novel ways of leveraging technology to keep things exciting for consumers.
Privacy challenges: There have been many data breaches in the last few years, which has made consumers wary of anything that may access their information. Security must be a priority for all companies.
Multi-channel engagement: Driving engagement across many channels to connect with consumers will become more challenging as platforms and apps become more segmented. Brands must pay attention to who their customers are and meet them in their digital world.
Creating good messages: Customers know a commercial when they see one – no matter where they see it. And they generally hate ads. Therefore, companies must find ways to connect with consumers without using ad-speak or tone-deaf messaging.
Tight budgets: Being smart with your available budget isn’t a new trend, but it applies to digital marketing as it does to any other part of your operations. You will have to determine what gives you the best ROI (which may change frequently), stay up with technology, invest in research, and determine where to spend your available digital marketing dollars.
Increased competition: If you are considering an expansion of your digital marketing dollars, you should expect your competitors to do the same! This increased competition for the attention of a captive audience can be a challenge, forcing your company to make difficult choices on when and where to advertise. One of the best ways to stay one step ahead of the competition is to continue evolving with the technology and consumer preferences.

Benefits of Digital Marketing

Despite the perceived challenges of digital marketing and the complexity of developing a successful digital marketing plan, this type of advertising can provide many benefits to your company. These benefits include:

Increasing brand credibility: Brand credibility is rewarded more online than traditional marketing. Credibility also increases your online traffic by organically ranking you higher on search results. This means that if you stay consistent, your efforts will be rewarded.
Increased audience reach: Any marketing plan aims to get the right information to the right individual to meet their demands. Digital marketing can help you reach a massive target audience with less time and resources than traditional marketing strategies.
More accurate targeting: While reaching a wide audience is great, it only provides a benefit if you are reaching some of the right people (those who want or need your goods or services). Digital marketing has sophisticated targeting methods that ensure you reach the right consumers based on your filtering criteria, which may include filters such as age, gender, occupation, socio-economic standing, etc.
Greater sales: All of the listed benefits of digital marketing serve to achieve the same goal – attracting and retaining customers. These methods help you create an accurate sales funnel that helps you understand what consumers like about your company and what drives them to patronize your business.

There can be no doubt that digital marketing is a sophisticated endeavor in the modern market. For more information about leveraging digital marketing strategies to enhance your business, contact eGlobal Web Solutions today!

eGlobal Web Solutions specializes in marketing your business via the digital marketplace. We use search engine optimization, social and review promotion, and Email marketing for all types of businesses, from local to global. We utilize various digital marketing techniques to increase your internet presence, optimize your traffic and generate new business.