You’ve started your new business and you’re thrilled to begin growing it into an empire. And how do you do that — through marketing, of course.
There are many different types of marketing, but virtual marketing might be the most important of all. Businesses nowadays need to exist online to exist at all. But just what is virtual marketing?
We’re here to guide you through the basics.
What Is Virtual Marketing?
Virtual marketing goes by many names including digital marketing and viral marketing. It’s an all-encompassing term that refers to any kind of marketing done within a digital space.
Since the dawn of the internet back in the early 1990s, virtual marketing has only grown in popularity. It provided an affordable alternative to traditional marketing for many businesses.
By traditional marketing, we mean things like print advertising, television advertising, and billboards. These were formerly the only marketing routes available to businesses and they came at a steep price.
Virtual marketing on the other hand is low cost or even free in some instances, making it an appealing prospect for businesses with a smaller budget. There are many different types of virtual marketing available, but we’ll cover the most popular ones.
PPC Marketing
PPC stands for pay-per-click. It refers to any of the adverts you see pop up when you’re browsing the internet. This could be the adverts you see when you’re searching for something on Google or it could be an image-led advert you see while you’re on another website.
By far the most popular PPC advertising network is Google Ads. This is because of the monopoly Google has on the search engine market.
They’re by no means the only PPC network though. Other popular options include Microsoft Ads and Amazon Ads.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has grown in popularity as much as social media itself has. There are many platforms to pick from like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat to name just a few. The platforms you choose to use will depend on the demographics of your audience.
One of the most appealing things about social media marketing is it’s free to use. All you need is an account and you can start trying to connect with your potential customers.
There are also PPC options within social media platforms, where you pay for your content to appear within users’ news feeds. It’s a great option for building brand awareness with potential customers.
Content Marketing
Last but by no means least, is content marketing. You might think content marketing is as simple as blogging, but it’s not. In reality, content marketing refers to publishing content across many platforms to raise awareness of your business and engage potential customers.
Blogging is certainly part of content marketing. This is creating content to rank naturally within search engine results for terms you know your users are searching for.
But blogging isn’t the only medium content marketing focuses on. A good virtual marketing strategy will utilize rich media such as videos, podcasts, and infographics as well as text.
There’s More to Learn
Though we’ve covered the basics of “what is virtual marketing’” we’ve only touched the surface! These are the most popular virtual marketing examples, but the internet is an endless realm full of different ways to promote your business. You can find more helpful advice and guides on virtual marketing in the technology section of our blog.
