Article by: RMIT
If you work in marketing or are looking to move into a more senior marketing role, you already know how competitive and ever-changing the industry is. The game has shifted significantly since the advent of digital marketing some 30 years ago, and to stay ahead of the pack, you need to know the trends and tactics that actually work.
Upskilling your marketing career starts by having a solid understanding of digital marketing. Then, by adding the top performing strategies to your marketing toolkit, you’ll set yourself up for success in what is one of the most fast-growing industries in the world.
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What is digital marketing?
Marketing has always involved figuring out the right time and place to connect to customers. In the past, this typically involved newspaper advertisement, or flyers delivered directly to mailboxes. Today, in order to connect to customers, you need to meet them where they spend most of their time: online.
Digital marketing is any kind of marketing performed online, and it has been around in large part since Google burst onto the scene back in the 1990s. The most successful digital campaigns exist across multiple platforms and use a combination of both paid and free channels.
The evolution of digital marketing has brought us so many exciting opportunities that have been born out of the need to keep up with technology. Now known as “Martech,” marketers have more tools than ever before to help brands and customers achieve their goals.
And while there are so many different types of marketing, here are five popular digital marketing strategies we’ve explored below.
1. Acquisition marketing
If your business goal is to attract new customers or clients to your website, then acquisition marketing strategies are a good place to start. You could invest in search engine optimisation (SEO) for content, hire a copywriter to produce content marketing (e.g. blog posts), or create a freemium product like email marketing platform MailChimp does. The basic version of their product lets users send up to 12,000 emails each month and add up to 2,000 subscribers for free.
2. Brand marketing
In 2019, many successful, well-known companies used brand marketing to boost the public perception of their brand. Leading companies are turning to storytelling, humour and creative campaigns to foster an emotional connection with their customers.
As an example, global experience brand Airbnb has built their entire business on their customer – whether host or guest, the customer is the hero. You can visibly see this in Stories from the Airbnb community, where the real story of Airbnb is told through the experience of the customers, not the brand. When storytelling is done right, it can be incredibly powerful.
3. Affiliate marketing
This type of marketing is a little different than brand or acquisition marketing, and it has received a lot of negative attention over the years. Affiliate marketing works on customer referrals and sales and is best explained using an example.
Popular flight search website Skyscanner is an affiliate website. They get paid a commission from the airlines that participate in their flight searches for every customer that books flights. Affiliate marketing can work really well and there are a lot of trusted brands that use this form of marketing (or exist purely as an affiliate for other brands).
4. Email marketing
If you’ve checked your email inbox in the past hour, chances are you’ve received an example of email marketing. This form of marketing uses entertaining or promotional messaging to capture people’s attention (and email addresses). Once subscribed, brands can market directly to users and push customers along in their buying journey using targeted content and campaigns.
Leading digital media agency, BuzzFeed, has an incredible email newsletter called ‘BuzzFeed Today’. The punchy subject lines and often cheeky preview texts are expertly crafted, and the email content itself is even more rewarding. BuzzFeed proves that you can have a successful marketing campaign that doesn’t solely rely on “selling.”
5. Social media marketing
Social media has easily become one of the most exciting opportunities for digital marketers. Leveraging the various platforms – like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – to create promotional content for brands, marketers can truly meet their customers where they spend the majority of their time.
A far-reaching and successful example of social media marketing, fashion retailer Anthropologie ran a campaign on Instagram that asked shoppers to tag photos of themselves wearing the brand’s clothing using the hashtag #AnthroOpenCall. Customers had the chance to become an Anthropologie model if their photo was chosen, driving brand awareness using a big reward. Another example of how social media has been used to boost brand awareness and loyalty is Frank Body, a skincare brand that leveraged content marketing (using Instagram as one of the main channels of customer communication and interaction) to make $20 million in sales.
Tips for upskilling your marketing career Aside from working in the field, studying your Master’s in Marketing online can add valuable skills and knowledge to help you succeed in this ever changing industry. And as the digital world continues to expand, it’s important to make sure you’re well equipped for challenges that lie ahead.
About RMIT:
RMIT is one of Australia’s top 15 universities, and rank 16th worldwide among universities under 50 years old. . An RMIT online intensive program lets you balance work, study and life commitments. It’s the perfect fit for a fast-paced lifestyle.
