What Is Digital Marketing? Key Channels, Examples, and More

Digital marketing is the practice of promoting brands, products, and services through digital channels and technologies, such as web, email, and social media, in order to engage target audiences. Unlike traditional media like print, radio, and TV, digital marketing relies on the internet to reach customers online and meet them on their smartphones, computers, and tablets.

This form of marketing also generates a wealth of marketing analytics, which allows marketing professionals to quickly learn what's working and what's not. Thanks to those immediate insights, they can adjust their strategy in real-time and improve impact.

Learn about digital marketing and its key channels. Afterward, if you're ready to build skills in this lucrative field, consider the Google Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Professional Certificate, where you'll learn how to attract and engage customers through digital marketing channels.

What is digital marketing? 

Digital marketing (sometimes called online marketing) involves using digital channels, like web, social, and email, to sell or promote products, services, and brands to customers. It's typically part of a larger marketing strategy and requires a deep knowledge of different channels to create and leverage the most effective messaging across each one. These channels are considered owned media because companies own them outright, meaning it may cost less to acquire customers.

Digital marketing includes strategies and best practices for interacting with customers at every stage of the buying journey. Watch this short video from Google's Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate on how digital marketing creates value:

Examples of digital marketing in the real world

Digital marketing spreads brand messaging through images, text, or video, and offers companies an opportunity to reach and engage with their customers through a variety of platforms. It can take many forms, including blog content, videos, social media posts, display ads, paid media, or email newsletters.

Whether you've realized it or not, you've undoubtedly interacted with online marketing many times before. While some might be glaringly obvious (like flashy banners that flank the side of online articles) others may not even register as marketing at all. Content marketing, for example, often focuses on generating free online content, like articles, blog posts, and videos, with the intent of raising brand awareness and engaging a particular target market.

At a glance, some of the many different ways marketers use it to actually attract customers online today include:

• Patagonia sends out emails to consumers, highlighting new clothes and videos showcasing outdoor enthusiasts who use their products.

• Language learning app Duolingo leverages its social media, including TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages, to reach potential users on the channels they spend their time.

• The New York Times Wirecutter provides reviews and independent testing of products online, which also sometimes includes links that pay them a commission for any purchased items.

Digital marketing analytics

Data plays a big part in digital marketing—no matter which channel you manage. With marketing analytics, marketers can collect valuable information by tracking a customer’s journey in real-time and target specific audiences by tailoring content to their preferred digital channels. For example, Starbucks has collected data from its rewards mobile apps to help identify seasonal trends and create tailored promotions [1]. 

Some of the key metrics that may be important to monitor in digital marketing include:

• Traffic

• Page views

• Bounce rate

• Conversion rate

• Email open rates and clickthrough rate (CTR)

• Social media engagement

• Mobile app use

• Generated leads

Online marketing benefits

Digital marketing has many benefits for brands and consumers alike. While brands can leverage online marketing channels and analytics to reach consumers who are actually interested in their goods or services, consumers are better matched with products and content they actually like. For marketers, this helps reduce costs and increases the likelihood that consumers will make a purchase.

Furthermore, online marketing also makes it easier for brands to re-engage previous consumers, which improves their chances of making a sale again and deepening customer loyalty. Analytics make it easier for brands to target specific kinds of ads to particular consumer groups. For example, a marketer may create different email campaigns for various target audiences, which can be sent out in email blasts to specific consumers using their demographic information.

7 digital marketing channels

We've outlined seven of the more popular and impactful digital channels in use today.

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a technique that seeks to improve the ranking of online material on search engines such as Google or Bing. If you have ever searched for something on Google, you’ve likely noticed that even the simplest search can yield millions of results. Yet, you probably rarely go past the first few suggestions. 

In such a highly crowded space, SEO strategists use SEO marketing principles to ensure that their web pages rank high in Google searches so potential customers actually find their products or services. Generally, SEO marketing targets organic search terms, meaning marketers create content that naturally aligns with and ranks for top search terms related to their product. Search engine marketing (SEM) strategies typically incorporate both organic and paid media, such as buying ads on Google.

SEO responsibilities can include:

• Creating quality content that meets searcher intent 

• Researching relevant keywords to develop content accordingly

• Using long-tail keywords (specific phrases that searchers use) to help content reach its target audience

• Ensuring that content loads quickly and is compatible with mobile devices 

SEO marketing job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• SEO content writer: $60,408

• SEO specialist: $71,551

• SEO manager: $105,044

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

Learn more: SEO Jobs: Types, Salaries, and How to Get Started

2. Content marketing 

Content marketing connects with target audiences through original content, such as blogs, articles, and newsletters. While content can be used to market specific products and services, more often it is used to raise brand awareness, build trust with new and returning customers, and establish authority in a particular field.

Content marketing responsibilities can include:

• Developing a strategy for the type of content best suited to your customers

• Working to either produce or oversee production of different content types

• Monitoring the performance of content and adjusting your strategy

Content marketing job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• Content writer: $69,958

• Content strategist: $91,434

• Content marketing manager: $102,160

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

3. Email marketing 

Marketers send out timely emails to large groups of people who have signed up for their contact list to inform potential customers of sales, discounts, and product launches. The impact of email marketing is clear: When used strategically, it can have an average return on investment (ROI) of 4,200 percent for every dollar invested [4].

Email marketing responsibilities can include:

• Developing a strategy for different email journeys based on a user's position in the funnel

• Targeting emails to send personalized offers and messages to specific groups on an email list 

• Testing email components, such as images or headlines, to improve metrics

• Monitoring performance and adjusting email content or timing to increase effectiveness

Email marketing job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• Email marketing strategist: $78,938

• Email marketing manager: $84,406

• Director of growth marketing: $165,092

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

4. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a digital marketing model that involves an advertiser paying a publisher each time their ads are clicked. Typically, the publisher is a website owner, search engine operator, or social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram.

PPC advertising responsibilities can include:

• Identifying which platforms will be best to advertise to new and existing customers

• Reviewing banner ad designs to align with campaign needs

• Researching keywords to inform ad placement strategy on search engines, such as Google

PPC advertising job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• Paid media specialist: $61,678

• Paid media marketing manager: $82,823

• Director of marketing, paid media: $125,798

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

5. Social media marketing 

Social media marketing is a form of digital marketing that uses social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, to reach customers. It leverages the reach of social media channels with data-driven efforts to reach targeted consumers. 

Whether through computers, mobile devices, or mobile apps, social media offers the opportunity to reach a wide—and targeted—audience of possible consumers. 

Social media marketing responsibilities include:  

• Developing a social media calendar to outline monthly, quarterly, or annual posting schedules

• Producing or overseeing the production of social media content

• Paying attention to social media trends

• Monitoring performance to refine strategy and improve execution

Social media job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• Social media manager: $59,798

• Social media strategist: $74,606

• Brand manager: $94,238

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

6. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is when brands partner with popular social media influencers to promote products and services. Influencers use their expertise, experience, and content creation skills to connect with other social media users. Through their authentic and relevant content, influencers can drive traffic to the brands they represent and even inspire their audiences to purchase products and services.

Influencer marketing responsibilities can include:

• Developing an influencer marketing strategy

• Identifying which influencers will be best to promote your brand

• Reviewing their posts to ensure brand alignment

• Monitoring performance to adjust which influencers you work with or their efforts

Influencer marketing job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• Influencer marketing assistant: $50,341

• Content creator (influencer): $57,891

• Influencer marketing consultant: $107,910

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

7. Affiliate marketing

Similar to influencer marketing, affiliate marketing refers to when a business rewards third-party affiliates, often influencers or content creators, to promote the business's products and services. Typically, affiliates have used and enjoyed the product or service and create content on digital channels like social media, blogs, and email to tell their audience about their experience and entice them to buy. The affiliates then receive compensation such as a percentage of sales, free products, or other rewards.

Examples of affiliate marketing include:

• Developing affiliate marketing campaigns

• Managing affiliate marketing partners

• Ensuring all campaigns and affiliates follow industry regulations to avoid fraud

• Monitoring key campaign metrics to adjust strategy as needed

Affiliate marketing job titles & average base salaries: entry-level to advanced

• Affiliate marketing specialist: $63,173

• Affiliate marketing manager: $78,096

Salary data is from Glassdoor as of April 2025.

Important digital marketing skills to develop

Many employers prefer candidates with a bachelor’s degree in either business or communications, but a degree isn’t always necessary, especially if you have the right skills. You can build digital marketing skills by taking courses or getting a certification in various areas of digital marketing. Here are some skills to prioritize:   

• Communication 

• Collaboration with designers, strategists, and product developers

• Creative thinking

• Data analysis and familiarity with marketing analytics

• Social media marketing

• Content creation

• SEM/SEO

• CRM tools

• Mobile marketing

• Video editing

• Generative AI

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