The internet opens the door for all sorts of marketing. From advertisements to engaging with customers on social media, there are many ways to use digital marketing to connect with your audience.
In this post, we’ll walk through the best digital marketing techniques and how you can use them to grow your business.
Top Digital Marketing Techniques
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Google Search Ads
- Facebook Paid Ads
- Retargeting
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Video Marketing
1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
is the digital marketing technique of optimizing your website to attract visitors from search engines. It is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy.
The reason it is so important is that it is the single largest source of web traffic among all digital marketing channels.
Google, the world’s biggest search engine, is also the most visited website in the world. The search engine allows people to easily find information for pretty much anything they can think of. Because of this, the site gets billions of searches each day.
So, whether you sell physical products, provide services, or produce blog content, the platform helps you reach your target audience.
SEO is the process that allows you to tap into this valuable source of web traffic. Search engines may get a lot of visitors, but not every web page will experience the benefits.
With SEO, you can get your pages to the top of the search rankings to maximize the visitors you can attract to your site.
How search engines work
So how do engines work and how can you get your pages to appear before your target audience?
There are three primary components to how a search engine functions; crawling, indexing, and ranking the results.
Crawling is the process search engines use to discover web pages across the internet. It works by sending bots known as crawlers across the web to find new pages.
When a crawler finds new pages it adds them to the search engine’s index. The index is essentially a big library of sites and pages that the search engine can pull from when providing results.
Keep in mind, that not every crawled page will be indexed. There are several ways website owners can tell the search engine to not index the page. This is common for pages that could hurt SEO or wouldn't get a lot of traffic.
The final step in the process is ranking. When someone enters a search query into a search engine, it will rapidly scan the index to pull the best results.
Ranking factors
Search engines look to provide users with the most useful answers to their questions.
They determine what pages are the best fit with an algorithm that has a myriad of ranking factors.
While not all the details of the algorithm are known, there are many ranking factors that are known to be an important part of SEO. Below are a few of the most impactful SEO ranking factors.
High-quality content - To start, search engines look for content that provides valuable information. Remember that the search engine’s goal is to provide users with the best answers to their questions. So the simplest way to get your site to the top of search results is to create comprehensive pages that answer all of your audience’s questions.
Crawlability - Crawlability refers to how easy it is for search crawlers to move through your site. This is an important factor because the search needs the ability to find and understand your pages if they are to earn strong rankings.
Technical SEO factors - There are also a variety of technical website factors that influence SEO performance. Chief among them is website speed. Fast websites create a good user experience which search engines view as a high priority. Other big technical factors include mobile-friendliness and security. These are also a big part of a great user experience and a must if you want your pages to rank.
Off-page factors - Off-page SEO factors are elements that aren’t actually on your website but that still impact SEO. The most important off-page factor is backlinks, links from other websites pointed back to your pages. Backlinks indicated authority and quality. As such, Google tends to prioritize pages and sites with many high-quality links.
Keyword research - Keyword research is the backbone of any SEO strategy. It is the process of finding the keywords that people use to find your site. Once you gather keywords, you’ll what pages to create and how to optimize those pages for the target search term. There are many ways to perform keyword research. The most basic method is to simply start typing a search into Google to see what results appear in the autocomplete feature. You can also review the bottom of the results page to find a list of related terms.
More advanced methods of keyword research involve using dedicated keyword research tools. These platforms have a database of the search terms used in Google. With them, you can see how often particular keywords are searched and how difficult it is to rank for each term.
2. Google Search Ads
SEO isn’t the only effective digital marketing technique that involves search engines. With Google, you can also run paid ads to accompany your SEO efforts.
Google search ads are simple text-based ads. They look more or less identical to organic search results. Search ads are a powerful way to bring quality traffic to your site. They allow you to get to the top of the results without having to wait for your pages to rank.
How Google Search Ads work
Google Ads are pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements. This means that you only pay when someone clicks on the ad. They also offer pay-per-impression advertising where you pay every time your ad is shown to a searcher.
Google Ads uses a bidding system. When you create a search ads campaign, you set a maximum bid that you want to pay for each ad click. The higher you bid the better your chances of having your ad show at the top of search results.
There are only a few slots for displaying ads so Google will opt to show the ads with the highest bids.
Quality Score is another factor that determines the placement of your ads. The metric is based on the relevance of your landing page and how well your ad copy generates click-throughs.
Google Search Ads keywords
Keyword research is as important for Search Ads as it is for organic search results. The keywords that you add to your campaign will determine which searches your ads will appear for.
In addition to the keywords themselves, Google also lets you set a match type for the terms that you add to your campaign.
These match types specify how well a searcher’s query needs to match your selected keyword.
With a broad match type, your ad will be eligible to show for any search that broadly matches your keyword, even if it contains extra words or if the words are in a different order.
For example, if you add a broad match keyword for “men’s shirt” your ad will be eligible to display for a search like “black t-shirt for men”.
When you want to be more targeted with your keywords, you can use exact match. This will ensure that your ads only appear for the exact search terms added to your campaign.
How you approach your keyword targeting will play a big role in the success of your campaigns. You need to avoid overly broad and irrelevant terms as you’ll waste your budget showing your ads to people uninterested in your business.
- Google Ads Course - A complete course on how to run successful campaigns on Google Ads.
- Google Ads Courses - a list of the best courses to master the secrets of Google Ads.
3. Facebook Paid Ads
Facebook is one of the most useful digital marketing platforms. It has a large audience base and powerful options for both paid and organic marketing.
Facebook Ads in particular are highly effective as they enable you to use very precise targeting with your campaigns. The platform has a lot of data on users and you can use this to look for specific qualities in the people that are shown your ads.
You can target people based on demographics such as age, gender, location, and education. You can also target based on interests and behaviors. Facebook can tell what people are into based on the types of content they interact with on the platform.
Facebook pixel
The Facebook pixel is an essential part of having success with Facebook Ads. This small piece of tracking code creates a connection between the Facebook Ads platform and your website. When you install the Facebook pixel on your site, the platform will then be able to track the specific actions of your users.
This not only allows Facebook, to track sales and sign-ups but also helps you get valuable insights into your audience’s behavior.
Facebook Ad types
Another reason Facebook Ads are one of the best digital marketing techniques is the diverse range of ad formats available.
This lets you create ads optimized for all kinds of scenarios. Below you can see some of the most effective types of Facebook Ads:
Image ads - As the name suggests, image ads are simple ads that contain an image, a call to action, and a link.
Video ads - Video ads are similar to Image ads but contain a photo instead of a video. Video ads can appear in Stories or in your audience’s News Feed.
Carousel ads - This ad format lets you display up to 10 images and videos in a carousel that viewers can click through. These ads are effective when you want to showcase multiple items or highlight the different features of a single product.
Collection ads - Collection ads let you show up to five images or videos. They include the main feature image and the rest are shown below. When a customer clicks a collection ad they are taken to a Facebook Instant Experience where they can buy a product or service. Collection ads are only available for mobile devices.
Lead ads - Lead ads are another ad format that is only available for mobile devices. When a customer clicks a lead ad, they are taken to a sign-up form where you can quickly add them to your email list.
Dynamic ads - Dynamic ads let you send personalized advertisements to people based on their behavior. For example, you can set up a dynamic ad campaign to showcase products that someone previously viewed but did not purchase. Dynamic ads require the Facebook pixel.
4. Retargeting
Even with the most effective digital marketing strategies, it is rare to turn visitors into customers upon first contact.
It often takes multiple interactions with your business before many people will become buyers. Because of this, it is important to have ways to get your business back in front of prior visitors.
Retargeting is a marketing technique that specifically targets these people in an effort to bring them back to your site.
There are two ways in which retargeting can work.
The first is pixel-based retargeting. With this form of retargeting, the advertising platform stores information on previous visitors via a tracking pixel.
You can then use these details to send targeted ads to that audience.
Facebook dynamic ads are the best example of pixel-based retargeting ads. Google is another good example as you can retarget previous site visitors using ads in the Google Display Network.
The other type of retargeting is list-based retargeting. It allows you to use a list of existing contacts to decide who to target in your campaign.
This list is usually a record of contacts and their email addresses. When you upload this list to a platform like Facebook, they will then match the emails to users and then serve them your retargeting ads.
Retargeting vs remarketing
Retargeting isn’t the only digital marketing technique that re-engages members of your audience. There is also remarketing. While the two are often conflated, there are some important differences between the two.
The main difference is that remarketing focuses on re-engaging past buyers while retargeting focuses on people that have visited your site or social profiles but have not become a customer yet.
Retargeting is typically done through advertisements while remarketing primarily uses email to reach your audience.
5. Email Marketing
Email marketing is a well-established digital marketing technique. It involves building a list of email addresses and then sending targeted messages to those subscribers.
These messages can contain information about new products, promotions, or informative content, intended to educate your audience on the value of your business while keeping them engaged between purchases.
Email is effective because it gives you a direct line of communication with your audience. Many people are more responsive to email messages and you can use this to build a connection with your audience.
Another great thing about email marketing is that it allows you to be very precise with who receives what messages.
With email marketing software you can easily create audience segments to ensure everyone receives the messages most relevant to them.
For example, if you wanted to remarket to past customers, you can create an audience segment that only includes people that have made a purchase.
Types of emails for digital marketing
Here are some of the most common types of email marketing campaigns:
Newsletter emails - Newsletter emails are a widely popular form of email marketing. With them, you send regular communications to your subscribers updating them on your products and services.
Lead nurturing emails - Lead nurturing emails are designed to move prospects through your marketing funnel. These messages help people learn more about your business while gradually increasing interest until they eventually become customers
Promotional emails - Promotional emails make your audience aware of your products and services.
Confirmation emails - Confirmation emails are sent out after specific events like someone placing an order or signing up to an email list. While their main purpose is to provide essential information, they can also be used to market your business.
List Building - List building is an essential part of email marketing. Simply put, you can’t send email campaigns if you don’t have anyone to send them to.
It’s also key to getting the right people on your list. Otherwise, your messages will sit in your recipients’ email inboxes unopened. The most common approach to building an email list is to add an opt-in form to your website. Because most people won’t simply sign up for nothing in return, many businesses choose to give something away for free in exchange for providing an email address.
These free gifts are known as lead magnets. A lead magnet could be an ebook, a webinar, a checklist, or a promotional code.
6. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a digital marketing technique where you use social media platforms to reach and engage your target audience.
Social platforms allow you to communicate directly with your followers while also establishing a unique persona for your business.
This helps you with both growing brand awareness and driving traffic back to your website.
With social media marketing, it’s important to monitor your channels to see who is interacting with your business.
By responding to comments and liking and sharing other content, you can build a community that strengthens the connection with your audience.
Selecting social media platforms
The best social media platform for you to use will depend on your business. Each platform has a unique audience base. For instance, LinkedIn consists mainly of professionals while TikTok has more popularity among younger users.
So, when creating a social media strategy, it’s important to determine which platforms can provide your business with the most value. As your social presence grows, you can always branch out into more platforms.
Tracking social media marketing
As social media marketing can be used to achieve a variety of objectives, there are also numerous ways to track how well your marketing is working.
Below are some common social media metrics to monitor your success:
Reach - Reach measures how many people come in contact with your social media channels. It is a good metric to track if you’re trying to grow brand awareness.
Followers - This metric simply shows how many followers your profiles have. It is also a good indicator of how well you’re reaching and connecting with your target audience.
Engagement - Engagement measures how often people like, comment, and send you direct messages. It is good for showing the quality of interactions with your audience and whether you’re creating a strong connection.
7. Video Marketing
Video marketing is a marketing technique where you use videos to connect with your audience and teach them about your business.
Video is a highly effective tool and it is more accessible than it has ever been in the past. It is no longer difficult or expensive to create a high-quality video. You can even make an awesome video using your smartphone.
Video is versatile in that you can use it on a variety of platforms including on your own website and advertisements.
But the best platform for video marketing is YouTube. The site receives more searches than any other site besides Google.
You can use YouTube videos to provide value to your audience while informing them of your products and services.
When you use Youtube for video marketing, you need to implement many of the same SEO tactics that you would for Google search.
This includes researching the keywords your audience uses to discover content and then optimizing your videos to rank highly for those keywords.
Because it takes some time to make videos, it’s important to have a clear idea of what you want to communicate, who you want to reach, and the best platform to do it.
Types of marketing videos
Here are some of the best types of videos to use for digital marketing.
Demo and explainer videos - Demo videos are where you showcase how your product or service works and how it can help your customers. This could involve testing out a physical item or walking through the main features of the software.
Educational videos - Educational videos let you instruct your audience on a particular topic. This type of content helps provide value that will ultimately build a connection with your viewers.
Testimonial videos - Testimonial videos are a powerful form of social proof. With them, you can walk through the experience with a past buyer to show new viewers how they can also benefit from your business.
Conclusion
You now know the top digital marketing techniques. The great thing about the methods on this list is that they complement each other very well.
By implementing the techniques best suited to your needs, you can create a robust marketing strategy to reach more people and grow your business.
