When it comes to marketing your business, you may have heard the terms “digital marketing” and “digital advertising.” But do you know the difference between them? In this blog post, we’ll break down the differences between digital marketing vs digital advertising, so you can figure out which strategy is right for business owners like you. Keep reading to learn more!
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for all kinds of online marketing strategies. These strategies aim to reach the target audience for big or small businesses’ products and services.
The 4Ps of marketing, which includes Product, Promotion, Place, and Price, are also covered in digital marketing. However, with digital marketing, these are covered on digital platforms like social networks, mobile apps, or company websites.
Moreover, digital marketing is the new way to reach your customers. It’s also more effective than ever, thanks to tools like video advertising on mobile devices or social media posts that can be seen by thousands of people at once!
A lot has changed in marketing since traditional advertising was first introduced decades ago—including how people get their information about products and services. Nowadays, computers or mobile devices are used for information and shopping more than traditional methods like newspapers and TV commercials.
Despite the changes, one thing remains constant: You need a well-thought-out plan if you want any chance of success online. Of course, this is partly because there are so many different channels available.
But what are the different types of digital marketing that can help reach potential customers?
Here are some key examples of Digital Marketing:
1. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tool that aids digital marketing. It helps make a website’s content rank higher in search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Opera. The elements of SEO to consider are the following:
- Content Quality
- User Engagement
- Mobile-Friendliness
- Inbound Links
Still, ranking high in search results has no definite pattern. This is why it’s important to monitor your website’s metrics when doing search engine marketing.
2. Social Media Marketing
Most people use different social media platforms for entertainment, information, or connection. For this reason, social media marketing is one of the most commonly used marketing strategies for small businesses. Not only is it easy to reach people on these platforms, but there’s also typically a lower cost compared to other marketing methods.
Plus, since social media allows you to reach a wide and active audience, many business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers are becoming increasingly active with social media marketing. Also, this form of digital marketing has built-in metrics where businesses can actually see how many social media users have interacted with a page or a post.
3. Content Marketing
Content marketing typically incorporates content creation with SEO. This strategy uses relevant content made available online to attract leads who fit into a specific audience. As a result, instead of enticing customers to purchase, content marketing offers free written information that potential buyers find valuable. However, it can be tricky to use content marketing as your main strategy because it aims to rank high in search engines, which can take a lot of time and skill to achieve.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when a third party promotes a product or service and gets paid for it. Generally speaking, the affiliate earns a commission whenever a customer buys items from the merchant through a tracking link or by using a special coupon code that tracks the sale.
5. Email Marketing
An email marketing campaign is when promotional messages are emailed to online users with the aim that they click on them, engage with the content provided, and possibly make a purchase. This is a very useful type of marketing because of its effectiveness in lead conversion. Plus, email marketing is so effective that it’s nearly replaced direct mail when it comes to the best method for sending out promotions, discounts, or sales.
Digital marketing is an efficient and cost-effective way to connect with your audience. You can target prospects that are most likely going to buy, and measure success on a daily basis in real-time through analytics tools like Google Analytics or Facebook Ads Manager – all while reaching more people! In contrast, traditional media can usually only reach a local audience, while digital marketers can promote businesses on a global scale.
What is Digital Advertising?
Digital advertising, also known as online advertising, web advertising, or internet advertising, is a subset of digital marketing. In short, it can simply be defined as an ad found online. Also, since it’s a form of digital marketing, it encompases similar types of marketing. Some examples of digital advertising are pay per click (PPC), display ads, and paid social media ads.
Still, the main difference between digital marketing vs digital advertising is the purpose. To put it simply, digital marketing develops the company’s brand awareness while digital advertising campaigns are geared toward enticing customers to make a purchase.
There are also some other differences in digital marketing vs digital advertising, such as the following:
- Digital marketing is a whole process while digital advertising is the promotion stage of the cycle.
- Digital marketing focuses on the audience’s psychology, while digital advertising is focused on increasing sales.
On the other hand, here are some similarities:
- The main goal for both is to boost sales and return of investment (ROI).
- Both are methods for increasing the online presence of a business or brand.
- Both are linked, but digital marketing can exist without digital advertising.
It’s ultimately up to you to decide whether you need digital marketing vs digital advertising, or both. Either way, now is the right time to develop your business’ marketing message. Thankfully, digital marketing agency such as Shelten LLC can help you make that choice.
As mentioned previously, here are some key examples of digital advertising:
1. Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when a business pays every time online users click on their display ads. Usually, these ads are run through a search engine like Google or through a social media channel such as Facebook or Instagram.
It may seem easy enough, but most PPC campaigns have more than one target action that users are supposed to complete after clicking the actual ad. These target actions turn into transactional or non-transactional conversions. The important factors in PPC postings are:
- Landing Page Quality
- Keyword Relevance
- Amount of Bidding
- Quality of Ad
2. Native Advertising
Native advertising is more of an informative or entertaining way to showcase anything promotional. Because of the cynicism that consumers have towards ads, native ads do not rely heavily on promoting the product or service, but instead tend to provide useful content. Also, native ads are required by law to have “promoted ad” or “sponsored ad” indicated near the ad to avoid deceptive advertising.
What can Shelten LLC do for your business?
Shelten LLC is a brand awareness company that can help you with social media marketing, email marketing, event marketing, and content creation. We’re in the business of catering to the needs of B2B and B2C customers.
Shelten LLC will help you establish your brand’s online presence. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about your marketing strategy again. Click here to book a free consultation today!
Conclusion
So, what’s the difference between digital marketing vs digital advertising? In short, advertising is a subset of marketing that uses paid media to drive brand awareness and/or engagement with a product or service.
On the other hand, digital marketing encompasses all tactics that can be used to achieve those same goals, including, but not limited to, paid media. Also, digital marketing refers specifically to marketing efforts that take place online or through electronic devices or channels.
At Shelten LLC, we’re experts in digital marketing strategies and would love to help you learn more about what this unique field can do for your business. Contact us today for more information!
