10 Types of Digital Marketing Strategies You Should Know!

As the internet continues to grow and change, there are more and more ways to share information. We’ve gone beyond just traditional newspapers and books to include things like audio, images, and videos. This means that there are now more ways to market products and services than ever before. Digital marketing has become a really important way for businesses to reach people online, especially for companies that sell products or services internationally.

But with so many different types of digital marketing strategies out there, it can be hard to know which ones are the most effective. Each strategy has its own strengths and weaknesses, depending on who you’re trying to reach and what you’re trying to sell. That’s why it’s important to learn about different digital marketing trends and strategies so that you can pick the ones that work best for your business. When you choose the right marketing approach, you can help your business grow and succeed.

10 Types of Digital Marketing Strategies

Content Marketing

Content marketing has become a core marketing strategy for many companies and businesses. According to Content Marketing Institute, a well-known overseas marketing media website, 81% of digital marketers believe that content marketing is currently the core strategy for achieving business growth.

Content marketing involves creating valuable and informative content that addresses the questions and preferences of target audiences, which can help users solve problems or gain professional knowledge. Generally, when creating content, it is necessary to develop different types of content based on specific marketing goals and different consumer groups. For example, content such as informational knowledge and product operation tutorials tend to be at the top of the marketing funnel, while professional knowledge, industry reports, and data charts tend to be in the middle and lower stages of the marketing funnel. Therefore, it is important to develop different types of content based on marketing goals and the sales funnel.

Pros:

• Free and user-friendly
• High-quality content can help enhance brand awareness
• Content marketing can lead to long-term brand effects

Cons:

• There is a high level of competition
• Producing high-quality content requires more time and effort.

Search Engine Optimization Digital Marketing

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is a vital digital marketing tool for businesses to get their brand recognized online. Currently, search engines remain a rather important online tool. According to relevant data, 53.3% of internet traffic currently comes from search engines, and this traffic does not require any additional payment. It is mainly because businesses or company brands can obtain free exposure through search engines that many companies or enterprises provide high-quality articles optimized for SEO targeting their desired audience. As a result, the competition for search engine rankings is also very high.

At the same time, for the current search engine market, Google Search Engine still leads by far with a market share of 92.9%. Therefore, Google SEO optimization is one of the main strategies for overseas digital marketing. Google SEO is not just in traditional marketing article form. Currently, images and videos are also part of Google search engine optimization.

Pros:

• Free and easy to operate
• Snowball effect, helping brands gain exposure
• Higher return on investment in the long term

Cons:

• Requires consistent output of high-quality content over a long period of time
• Slow to see results, requires a long-term commitment.

Email Marketing

Email marketing, which is also known as EDM marketing, is a pretty common digital online marketing strategy that’s used overseas. This is because there’s an old saying in English that goes, “Money is in the list.” It means that if you have a lot of people on your email list, you can make a lot of money through email marketing.

That’s why when you visit overseas blogs or business websites, you’ll often see a pop-up or some other kind of reminder asking you to sign up for their email newsletter. This marketing tactic is to keep you engaged with their website and their business because lots of people visit websites and then never come back.

But email marketing isn’t as simple as just sending emails to people. There are different kinds of emails that you can send, depending on what kind of website or business you’re running. For example, you might send emails that teach people how to use your website or emails that let people know about new products or promotions. Whether it’s effective digital marketing will be decided by if you find the right kind of email to send to the right people at the right time

Pros: 

• Easy to establish contact and maintain communication with users
• Close interaction with users makes remarketing easier

Cons:

• Low email open rates 
• Excessive email sending may result in emails being marked as spam

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a way of marketing that takes place on social media platforms commonly used by the target audience and can take the form of both organic content creation or paid advertising. Because social media is a platform that many consumers frequently use and different countries and regions have their own popular social media, companies or businesses need to choose different social media strategies based on the actual situation.

Since high-quality content posted on social media has the characteristics of fast spread and wide influence, and social media posts have a huge user base, companies or brands can gain exposure by creating content with broad dissemination on social platforms. Currently, there are more diverse types of content posted on social media, including text, images, and videos. Therefore, companies or brands can embed their products or brands in social media content based on the actual situation. This not only attracts consumers but also increases the exposure of the company or brand.

Pros: 

• The spread rate is rapid, and the impact range is extensive.
• Conversion rates are relatively high.

Cons: 

• The algorithms of social media platforms are constantly changing, resulting in a decrease in the reach of content.
• Content that spreads virally needs to be carefully planned.

Paid Ads Digital Strategy

Paid advertising is a popular form of digital marketing for many companies and businesses looking for rapid growth. Its effectiveness and scalability make it an ideal way to quickly test products or services. With the variety of digital media available, companies can choose from text, image, audio, and video-based forms of paid advertising, depending on their product or service.

However, as paid advertising requires a certain investment, it is important to calculate the costs and profits and to control the advertising budget reasonably. Additionally, different paid advertising platforms have their own advertising policies and payment rules, so it is crucial to ensure legal compliance when carrying out paid advertising campaigns to prevent financial losses.

Pros: 

• The turnaround time is quick, allowing for rapid testing of products and services.
• It is scalable.

Cons: 

• There is significant competition, and the costs are relatively high. 
• There is a need for ongoing tracking of paid advertising effectiveness, along with continual adjustments to advertising strategies.

Influencer Marketing

In China, influencer marketing is commonly referred to as “Wang Hong” marketing and has become a very popular way of promoting brands. Due to the high level of loyalty of influencers’ fans and the close relationship between the influencers and their followers, the conversion rate of influencer marketing is also relatively high. Therefore, influencer marketing is one of the important strategies for digital marketing in overseas e-commerce.

In the Chinese market, the use of influencer marketing, or KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing, is even more common. Additionally, since there are various social media platforms globally, and rankings of social media platforms differ in different countries and regions, it is generally necessary to research the popular foreign social media platforms in the target audience’s country or region before selecting an influencer for marketing. This can help to find the right influencer that matches the product or service being offered. To obtain better statistical analysis data, third-party tools can be used to obtain the true data of influencer social media accounts, and suitable KOLs can be selected based on the data for collaboration.

Pros:

• High fan loyalty and conversion rates
• Quick results that can help facilitate fast transactions

Cons:

• Finding the right influencer can be time-consuming
• Requires a certain level of expenditure.

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a way for companies to advertise their products or services online. It involves bidding for placement on search engines like Google or Bing. In China, Baidu is the most common search engine for SEM, while Google is more popular overseas. Because Google is the top search engine globally, many international companies and cross-border e-commerce sellers prioritize Google SEM. SEM also appears to be a very effective digital marketing strategy among the variety of marketing tactics.  

However, the competition for SEM is fierce, and many companies are vying for top placement. This is especially true for cross-border e-commerce sellers, who see Google Shopping as a key platform for competition. Google Ads offers various ad formats, such as search, display, and video ads, so it’s important for companies to choose the right format to promote their products.

Pros:

• Fast results and quick testing of products
• Easy scalability
• Precise targeting of audiences

Cons:

• High competition for products or brands
• High advertising costs, which require careful management of return on investment.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a really popular way for lots of companies to promote their products or services. It actually started out with the big online retailer Amazon, where anyone who signs up to promote products through their own unique link can earn a commission if someone clicks on that link and makes a purchase. And now, affiliate marketing is also becoming more popular in China, with the Taobao platform being an earlier example.

These days, companies can either create their own affiliate marketing platform or use third-party software services. Alternatively, they can join existing affiliate marketing promotion platforms, where lots of different traffic sources are already gathered together. There’s actually quite a bit of overlap between affiliate marketing and influencer marketing in this regard.

If a company decides to build its own affiliate marketing platform, it will need to spend time and effort finding and managing promoters who can help promote the products or services. But the good news is that there are lots of resources available to help companies get started and find success with affiliate marketing.

Pros:

• Helps the company’s products or services to quickly achieve growth
• Contributes to enhancing brand effect and establishing a good reputation

Cons:

• Requires sharing commissions with affiliates
• Requires managing multiple affiliate channels

Video Marketing

With the popularity of short videos and the emergence of various short video platforms, video marketing has received more attention from companies and enterprises.  Video marketing is a very popular type of digital marketing, they allow you to show off your products or services in a more authentic way, and they can get a lot of exposure on social media platforms. These days, brands are really getting creative with their videos and tailoring them to their target audience’s preferences and interests. Video content digital marketing allows companies to expand their business in different digital marketing channels.

If you’re doing video marketing overseas, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, make sure you’re publishing your videos on popular short video platforms. But don’t stop there! Video advertising is also a really effective type of digital marketing strategy to get your marketing message out there. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram all offer video advertising options that can help you reach a wider audience. The best part is that major video advertising platforms offer data analysis tools to help you get more insights into your audience and create more accurate user profiles for your marketing efforts. 

Pros: 

• Customers perceive it as low-cost, simple, and straightforward. 
• Fast dissemination speed and broad impact range.

Cons: 

• Requires highly creative video production.
• Relatively high production costs.

Audio Marketing

The main form of audio marketing currently is through podcasts, which also have many similar platforms in mainland China, such as Himalaya FM, Lizhi FM, and Qingting FM. However, there are even more podcast platforms overseas, in addition to Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Many creators have even built their own podcast platforms. Audio marketing is a great digital marketing tactic that also can be posted on different social media platforms.

When it comes to audio marketing, there are a couple of ways to do it. One way is to work with a company directly and include their ads in your content. Another way is to create really good audio content that connects with your target audience, building trust with them and boosting the reputation of your brand or product.

Pros:

• Low production cost
• Wide reach, as users can listen anytime and anywhere

Cons:

• Slow to show results
• Less direct impact compared to video

Smart Mobile Marketing

With the development of the internet, the number of people who own smartphones has become very large. According to statistics from Statista, the number of smartphone users worldwide is projected to reach 6.84 billion by 2023. As a result, smartphone marketing has become a field that many companies or businesses want to enter. In mainland China, many online services require phone number verification, and service providers generally use SMS for marketing promotions.

However, smartphone marketing is not just limited to SMS. In fact, there are many other forms of marketing, such as mobile apps and mobile search engines. According to Google’s research report, nearly 30% of users are accustomed to using voice search on mobile devices. Additionally, companies or businesses can stay in close contact with consumers through push notifications or SMS on mobile devices, which can help improve product engagement.

Pros:

• Staying in close contact with consumers
• Through mobile phones, precise targeting of the desired market

Cons:

• Consumers are sensitive to mobile phone number leakage 
• Frequent push advertisements may disturb users

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is a new form of online marketing that has evolved from traditional marketing methods with the development of Internet technology. Its promotional media has shifted from traditional promotional pages, newspapers, and television to websites, internet images, internet videos, and Internet audio. Due to the integration of internet technology, digital marketing has the characteristic of fast spread and wide influence.

Currently, there are many ways of digital marketing encompassing SEO, SEM, email marketing, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, audio marketing, and mobile marketing, among others. Each marketing method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you need to choose the appropriate digital marketing plan based on the actual situation of your company or brand.

Digital marketing FAQ

Summary

The selection of digital marketing strategies is constantly changing with the innovation of new media for online promotion. Each digital marketing strategy has its own characteristics and advantages. Among the many overseas digital marketing strategies, you need to choose different marketing strategies based on the advantages of your product or service. Additionally, tracking relevant marketing data is also a crucial part of digital marketing. This can help you understand the return on investment (ROI) of digital marketing, while also helping companies or businesses achieve rapid growth by controlling costs effectively.