5 Best Marketing Strategies To Slay 2024

The marketing world is fast-moving. In the 1880s, business marketers relied on direct mail marketing to advertise their products or services. The Sears Catalog, which sold everything from houses to hubcaps, is one of the earliest and most famous examples of a successful direct mail marketing campaign.

As technology progressed, business marketers stepped up their games. They shifted from direct mail marketing to broadcast marketing. Ads on radio and television stations were prevalent in the 20th century.

And in 2020, business marketers started to embrace digital transformation to adapt to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Government restrictions to contain the spread of the disease led to about a 7% increase in Internet usage. Internet users grew from 4.12 billion in 2019 to 4.58 in 2020 and 4.90 in 2021.

Defining Digital Marketing?

The Internet isn’t a relatively new place. Digital marketing took off as the virtual landscape evolved and users increased.

In essence, digital marketing involves promoting products or services to consumers through various digital channels.

Many businesses invest in the most common digital marketing channels: websites, social media platforms, and search engines.

Importance of Digital Marketing

Opening and maintaining an online store can be costly. A business needs to generate sales to cover its expenses. The best way to boost sales is to get the brand known, so one may want to consider investing in digital marketing.

A 14% growth rate in digital marketing budget spending was observed across businesses between 2020 and 2021. Businesses can reap the following benefits from incorporating digital marketing in their strategy plan:

• Measurable results. Can a business quantify how many people have seen their ad on billboards, flyers, and posters? Doing so would take a considerable amount of time (not to mention money). Also, the results may be far from the actual numbers. Digital marketing offers measurable results. A business can determine how many people have visited its website.
• Brand loyalty. Consumers have different preferences. Digital marketing allows businesses to communicate with potential customers directly and enables them to study the sites and the content they frequent. Businesses can use the information to match their interests and satisfy their needs and wants. FYI, satisfied customers create loyal customers.
• Access to a larger audience. As mentioned, Internet usage has grown significantly over the past years. And as of 2022, there are 5 billion Internet users. The number represents 63% of the global population, and each one of them can be reached through digital marketing.

Improving the Digital Marketing Plan

A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t apply in digital marketing. As such, businesses have to be constantly on the lookout for new trends. Below is a list of digital marketing strategies to try in 2022.

1. Social Media Marketing

Social media has been around since 1997. Initially, social media was designed for social networking or connecting with friends.

Over time, businesses utilize social media to market their products or services. Nearly 97% of all companies in the Fortune 500 use at least one social media platform to promote their initiatives and communicate with their customers and other stakeholders.

Social media usage is one of the most popular activities in the digital space. A 2022 survey reveals over 3.6 billion people worldwide used social media in 2020, and experts project an increase to 4.41 billion in 2025. Meaning, that businesses can reach a bigger target audience through social media marketing. They can even venture abroad.

But billions of social media users don’t guarantee instant success. A business to identify the most suitable social media networks to promote their products or services.

Facebook continues to be the most used social media network, with 2.89 billion active users per month. But while Facebook occupies the top spot, businesses can also try YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter for their social media marketing.

2. Video Marketing

Video marketing utilizes videos to advertise company products and services to increase engagement, boost conversions and sales, and educate an intended audience. Done in audiovisual format, this tool is flexible enough to be used on several platforms, like websites or social media outlets.

This digital marketing strategy is one of the most competitive marketing tools to date. Its feasibility for lead generation is also expanding. In 2019, video marketing contributed 5% more lead generation, and in 2021, the estimates increased by another 2%. Experts even think the numbers will keep on growing.

Video benefits most businesses, but its positive impacts are most visible in small to medium enterprises. As long as a video is relevant and eye-catching, it can propel a brand into the mainstream. Eventually, more prolonged exposure and more dynamic engagement will attract more sales.

3. Influencer Marketing

Centuries ago, an influencer was a person capable of altering belief systems. During the 2010s, the word influencer gained a modern meaning. Today, an influencer is someone who utilizes digital platforms, especially social media, to generate interest in selected products and services. Because of their booming popularity, influencers unintentionally built their own marketing scheme.

Influencer marketing is an offshoot of social media marketing. Under this type of marketing, influencers endorse products and services to their followers through different mediums. Influencers popularly feature brand partnerships via outlets like YouTube and Instagram. A simple mentioning of a specific product or service in a video or post may already count as influencer marketing.

Because of its success, businesses also experience notable benefits. Influencer marketing, especially on Instagram, has an 87% chance of convincing consumers to perform specific actions after seeing an endorsement. These actions may range from following a brand to making a purchase.

4. Podcast Marketing

Running out of content ideas? Articles and videos aren’t the only means. This year, get adventurous and go for audio content.

Not all people enjoy or have the luxury of reading articles or watching videos. Some find it damaging to the eyes, especially when done at night. Others find it time-consuming as they can’t be done simultaneously with day-to-day tasks.
Podcasting is the way to go! More and more Americans have been into podcasts in the past three years. About 26% of

Americans 12 years old and above listened to podcasts every month in 2018. The number exponentially grew to 41% in 2021.

Apart from a broad base of listeners, podcast marketing can add customer value. Consumers are likely to purchase when they perceive a product or service to be worth the cost compared to other possible alternatives.

Podcast marketing can be used to communicate value propositions to consumers. Regardless of the nature of the business, it’s a must for businesses to create quality episodes the target audience can relate to.

5. PPC Marketing

Unlike the other mentioned digital marketing strategies in this list, PCC marketing is more technical. PPC marketing stands for “pay-per-click marketing.” In this instance, companies contract Internet publishers to display advertisements over the net. The latter may earn with every “click” a user has made on a targeted link. Brands typically perform this type of marketing through search engines like Google.

PPC marketing can be expensive. In 2017, 7 million advertisers spent more than $10 billion on PPC ads alone. Fortunately, this hefty price tag may come with promising results. PPC marketing may generate up to 80% more brand awareness and a 200% ROI rate per $1 investment on paid advertising.

PPC is more quantifiable compared to other digital marketing strategies. Since PPC marketing involves specific publishing platforms, companies can track engagement, spread, and conversion changes down to the last digit. Tools like Google Ads have built-in monitoring systems that help companies quantify every campaign’s success or loss.

Google Ads can confuse brand owners, especially local companies and small to medium enterprises. Instead of personally managing this tool, others collaborate with a reliable Google Ads agency to make the most of a PPC marketing campaign. This tactic simplifies the process while minimizing the risks of technical errors and similar mishaps.

Bottomline

Marketing trends come and go. Even so, the basics of marketing remain the same. Business owners should understand the needs of their business and identify the demands of their target market. The year’s not over yet, so businesses can still do better.