“Digital Marketing Channel” is a term that is thrown around a lot. Clarity is valuable to me, so I will make a blog post - the digital marketing channel I use to educate my clients - about what a digital marketing channel is, and what they can do for you.
Find below a brief overview of each of common digital marketing channels and what they can do for your business.
Paid Ads
Paid ads include search engine ads, video-platform ads and social media ads. Generally, you will pay-per-click. Paid ads usually allow you to be specific about who sees the ad, when and where. Use this targeting to maximize profit per ad-view.
Search Ads
Search ads are shown on search engines like Google or Bing. They are highly-targetable, and great for getting the right people to your website. Search ads appear in front of people who are actively searching for businesses like yours, if you use the right keywords.
Display Ads
Display ads are shown as banners on the side or bottom of a website. Use headlines and images that are easy to understand at a glance to maximize profit-per-view.
Social Media Ads
Social media ads should look like a regular post on whichever platform you are using. Try to built brand recognition so when a person needs your services they’ll think of you instead of your competitors. Boosting a social media post can get your profile in front of more people.
Video Ads
Video ads are shown on video hosting platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. These ads are shown before or during a video. If you don’t usually create video content, don’t overexert yourself trying to reach new platforms, other options may be easier for you.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing uses a persons information to target them in a campaign. Check with local and federal laws, or your digital marketing expert to ensure you're using these campaigns legally.
Email Marketing
Email marketing works well to update your clients and re-create interest in your business. Many CRM/ Client Management Systems collect email addresses, which grows your email list. Make sure you're following local laws regarding email marketing before you begin.
Retargeting
Retargeting ads can come in many forms, usually through paid ads as seen above. Retargeting refers to putting ads in front of people who have shown interested in your business, but not completed a sale.
Search Engine Optimization
Commonly referred to as SEO, search engine optimization is a great tool for garnering organic traffic through optimization of your online presence. Search engines like Google will crawl sites to index the content so Google can show a searcher the best match to their query. Marketers can manipulate this with keywords and stylistic choices to bring their business to the top of the search page, known as search rank. There is a few more bells and whistles, and search engines are known to frequently change their algorithm, so we will be making a more in-depth blog post later.
Website Copy
Your website is where search engines will crawl first, and most often. Having easy to read, keyword rich copy can help increase search rank. Google isn’t dumb, they can tell if you’ve hidden keywords in white text, or if your copy is impossible to read. Having an easy to navigate website is also important for your SEO, so people and Google can easily get to and from each page of your site.
Blog
Blog posts are a great way to add more keyword rich copy to your site, along with content that proves to your readers that you know what you’re talking about. ;) There needs to be a healthy balance of keyword rich copy, and copy that actually needs to be on your website. Many sites reiterate the same statement over and over in an attempt to boost SEO rank, which turns out to be annoying. An active blog adds an opportunity to add keywords while letting your website cut back on redundant copy.
Social Media
Posting valuable content on social media is great for marketing within the site, but using keywords and linking back to your website lets you add a few more links on a search page. Make sure your username is as close as possible to your business name so search engines know to associate the account to your brand/ website.
Social Media Marketing
SMM or Social Media Marketing can be used to garner new leads, get more attention, and expand word-of-mouth advertising. Just remember, social media is a valuable part of your marketing strategy, not your entire strategy. It is a great tool when combined with other marketing channels.
Instagram is the premier image sharing platform among most age brackets, with a focus on millennials. They were incorporated to the Meta brand of products, and now associate with Facebook. Meta is trying to branch out to video content as well, after the rise of Tik Tok among the younger generations.
Facebook is popular among older generations, so content should fit their values and needs. Consider what your mom, or your grandmother would send you in a direct message, and try to keep content similar to that. Facebook content can be easily integrated to your Instagram content, as both can be scheduled in Meta Business Suite.
Tik Tok
Tik Tok is popular among all age groups and all professions. Tik Tok has a very unique algorithm that is fast acting in showing people content that they are likely to engage with, which then drives the algorithm more. Hashtags and keywords can be used, but the algorithm spends more time with engagement and watch time of the audience than it does with inputs from the poster.
LinkedIn is often disregarded as a social media platform, but many young professionals use it to keep in touch with each other as well as learn more about the professional sphere. I personally use LinkedIn to keep track of tends in copywriting and marketing, and learn tips and tricks from experts in the field. I’ve also noticed that almost no healthcare clinics or real estate agents are using LinkedIn to network with other providers or patients.
YouTube
If you are comfortable in front of a camera, YouTube could be a reasonable platform for you to branch out to. YouTube is primarily a video hosting site that would be great for clinicians who send video tutorials to their patients. Given the large file size of most videos it would be more convenient to share the link to a video than a file.
I plan on creating a series of blog posts under the tag Marketing 101 where I will do a deep dive into each of the marketing channels to better explain why each is valuable in your marketing practice. Not all marketing channels are made equal, and knowing where you'll get the best result can help your business thrive.
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