Are Advertising Agencies Dying: Types of Digital Marketing Channels

As the challenges facing marketers increase, agencies’ solutions shrink. It’s time for them to step up.

There’s a strange tension in the current agency landscape. There’s a wide mismatch between clients’ needs and what agencies are working on, and the gap seems to widen.

Companies have never struggled with big problems, as chief marketing officers face the toughest challenges of a lifetime, but interestingly, agencies are offering smaller solutions than ever before. They seem to do. Isn’t it time for the agencies to step up?

The Internet is a mixed blessing, a volatile combination of incredible new possibilities, tremendous change, and some of the most disruptive forces the marketplace has ever seen. On the communications front, we have many new media channels, memes travel worldwide in seconds, the app of the moment hits the scene, and trends like content marketing, native advertising, and influencer marketing are there to navigate and leverage.

The options seem more surprising and sudden than ever, all in a context where the focus is shifting to platforms that make it even harder to connect with people.

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing, also known as online marketing, promotes brands to connect with potential customers using the Internet and other forms of digital communication. It includes email, social media, and web-based advertising, as well as text and multimedia messages as a marketing channel.

If a marketing campaign involves digital communication, it is digital marketing.

What Is a Digital Marketing Agency?

A digital marketing agency is a firm that deals exclusively in marketing to consumers through digital channels. It includes creating and launching campaigns for corporate clients through social media, pay-per-click ads, videos, and websites.

Types of Digital Marketing Channels

Marketing was traditionally done through print (newspapers and magazines) and broadcast advertising (TV and radio). These are the channels that still exist today.

Digital marketing channels have evolved and continue to do so. The following are eight of the most common ways companies can take to enhance their marketing efforts. Keep in mind that some companies may use multiple channels in their efforts.

1. Website Marketing

A website is the hub of all digital marketing activities. It’s a very powerful channel in its own right, but it’s also an essential tool for running multiple online marketing campaigns. A website should represent the brand, product, and service clearly and memorably. It should be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to use.

1. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising enables marketers to reach Internet users on multiple digital platforms through paid advertising. Marketers can set up PPC campaigns on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook and show their ads to people searching for terms related to products or services.

PPC campaigns can segment consumers based on their demographic characteristics (such as age or gender) or even target their specific interests or location. The most popular PPC platforms are Google Ads and Facebook Ads.

1. Content Marketing

The goal of content marketing is to reach potential customers through the use of content. Content is usually published on a website and then promoted through social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, or PPC campaigns. Content marketing tools include blogs, ebooks, online courses, infographics, podcasts, and webinars.

1. Email Marketing

Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels. Many people confuse email marketing with spam email messages, but that is not what email marketing is all about. This type of marketing allows companies to stay in touch with potential customers and anyone interested in their brands.

Many digital marketers use all other digital marketing channels to add leads to their email lists. Then, through email marketing, they create customer acquisition funnels to convert those leads into customers.

1. Social Media Marketing

The primary goal of a social media marketing campaign is to build brand awareness and social trust. As you get deeper into social media marketing, you can use it to get leads or even as a direct sales channel. Promoted posts and tweets are two examples of social media marketing.

1. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and the Internet has breathed new life into this old standby. With affiliate marketing, influencers promote other people’s products and earn a commission every time a sale is made, or a lead is introduced. Many well-known companies like Amazon have affiliate programs that pay millions of dollars monthly to websites that sell their products.

1. Video Marketing

YouTube is one of the most popular search engines in the world. Many consumers turn to YouTube to learn something, read reviews or relax before making a purchase decision.

There are many video marketing platforms, including Facebook videos, Instagram, and even TikTok, to run a video marketing campaign. Companies successfully integrate video with SEO, content marketing, and broader social media marketing campaigns.

1. SMS Messaging

Companies and non-profit organizations also use SMS or text messages to send information about their latest promotions or opportunities to interested customers. Political candidates also use SMS messages to spread positive information about their respective platforms. As technology has advanced, many text-to-give campaigns also allow users to pay or give directly with a simple text message.

What is SEO in Digital Marketing?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is how companies can increase their traffic through search engines to get their websites and names to the top of any search results page. It can be through organic or editorial search results; when companies successfully implement SEO into their digital marketing strategies, their names and websites become increasingly visible to more customers.