lanfirst.me
11/09/2025
Digital marketing is basically any form of marketing that happens online. Digital marketing happens on screens—phones, laptops, and tablets—pretty much anywhere people are connected to the internet. This is different from traditional marketing, which happens on billboards, in newspapers, or on TV.
But it’s not just about selling things or services. It’s also about making connections, getting people to know about your brand, and interacting with them in ways that matter. There are a lot of different parts, or “branches,” that make up digital marketing that help with all of that. They all have different goals, tools, and methods, but they all work together to get the right message to the right people.
Search Engine Optimization is what SEO stands for. In short, it’s the process of making a website better so that it shows up higher in search engines like Google.
Think about when you search for “best running shoes for flat feet” on Google. There was a reason why the top results came up. That’s what SEO does. Website owners use certain keywords, write good content, and make their sites fast and easy to use on mobile devices. They do all of this so that Google thinks their site is valuable and gives it a higher ranking.
A blog post called “10 Best Budget Laptops for College Students” is a good example. It has a good chance of being on the first page of Google if it is well-written, answers users’ questions, and uses relevant keywords. And we all know that no one really goes to page 2!
SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is like SEO but uses paid ads. SEM is when you search for something on Google and see results with the word “Sponsored” at the top.
When people search for words that are related to their ads, marketers bid on those words. It’s part of PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising, which means that businesses only pay when someone clicks on the ad.
For instance, Nike might bid on keywords like “best shoes for runners” so that their ads show up before anyone else’s when they want to promote new running shoes. It works quickly and well, but it can get expensive if you don’t keep an eye on it.
To promote content or products on sites like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (or X now, I guess?), you need to use social media marketing.
It’s not enough to just post random things. A good social media plan includes posting often, replying to comments, running ads, working with influencers, and figuring out what kind of content gets the most engagement.
Take Glossier, for example. There are a lot of user-generated posts, product demos, and pretty pictures on their Instagram. By being real and interesting, they’ve built a whole community around their brand.
Affiliate marketing is when a business works with people (called affiliates) who promote its goods in exchange for a fee. It’s like advertising by word of mouth, but online. If someone buys through the link, the person who recommended the product gets paid.
A tech YouTuber might link to a laptop on Amazon in the description of their video, for instance. They get a small cut if you click and buy it. The brand makes a sale, and the creator gets a reward for bringing in traffic.
A lot of bloggers and YouTubers do this, especially in areas like tech, fashion, and fitness.
This is very similar to affiliate marketing, but not quite the same. Brands pay or work with influencers (usually on social media) to promote their products. This is called influencer marketing.
It’s not so much about sales commissions as it is about getting your brand out there. When MrBeast makes a video to promote a new product, it’s not just about getting people to click on it; it’s also about getting it in front of millions of people.
It works even better when the influencer’s followers trust them. Their suggestion might mean more than a regular ad.
Mobile marketing is exactly what it sounds like: marketing to people who use mobile devices. Mobile-friendly content is a must because most people now use their phones to browse the web.
This includes everything from SMS marketing (like the texts you get about a sale) to notifications from apps, websites that work well on mobile devices, and ads that show up in apps.
Starbucks is a great example. Their app sends push notifications with deals or free drink rewards. It’s quick, personal, and very helpful.
Paid ads that you see on websites, apps, YouTube, and other places are all examples of online advertising. These could be ads that show up as banners on a news site, ads that you can skip before YouTube videos, or pop-ups in a mobile game.
There are a lot of different formats, and marketers can be very specific about who they want to reach based on things like age, interests, location, and even past online behavior.
Retargeting is a classic example. If you go to an online shoe store but don’t buy anything, and then you start seeing ads for those shoes on Facebook, that’s not a coincidence. It’s an ad that wants to get you back in.
The goal of content marketing is to make content that is useful, interesting, or fun that people want to read. It’s not about selling something right away; it’s more about gaining trust and respect over time.
This includes things like blog posts, YouTube videos, infographics, podcasts, e-books, and more.
HubSpot is a great example of this. They have a whole library of free tools, guides, and blog posts. They share a lot of helpful information, which makes people trust them and brings them into their ecosystem.
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