Digital marketing is a form of marketing that uses digital technologies to connect with customers and create customer experiences. There are many types of digital marketing. It can be divided into four main categories:
1. Email Marketing
2. Media Marketing
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Content Marketing
Digital marketing campaigns are personalized and often use data from web analytics. Digital marketers can extract insights from these data and tailor their campaign messages to the customer’s needs.
It helps companies to grow their brand awareness, reach potential customers, increase sales, and generate revenue. Today’s technologies and the digital world have opened up many possibilities for businesses that they previously couldn’t take advantage of without the Internet. This blog post focuses on digital marketing and how it has changed since I started my journey in the design industry three decades ago!
I remember being in India and doing everything by hand — research, initial brainstorming of ideas, sketches, drawings, illustrations, writing content, pitches, campaigns, etc. Library and one-on-one interviews were our best buddies back then. I saw my first computer in 1992, and Corel Draw was my first design application. Back then, the industry split between desktop publishing, advertising, and fine artists. There was a clear distinction; you could only choose to be in one of these three lanes. Today, all three can co-exist, thanks to technological advancements and the Internet. Companies use digital marketing to broaden their customer base by reaching more people online. A company creates content for its product or service to make them more attractive to consumers in the digital world.
In the past, marketing was limited to traditional media, such as advertising on TV or billboards, radio ads, and print advertisements like newspapers and magazines. However, as digital marketing tools have advanced, marketing strategy has become more sophisticated and complex. Digital marketing, most definitely, is a subset of brand management now, which aims to have a substantial effect on the online behavior of your intended target audiences. This includes using paid search results, email campaigns, and advertising through social media platforms.
The first instance of digital marketing was in 1984 when Apple released an advertisement about its personal computer by sending faxes to 300 journalists. Digital Marketing is now one of the most popular advertising channels for both customers and businesses. Then there was the first digital marketing email campaign in 1989 with a Compaq computer. It used an email to create a sense of urgency with deals that would expire soon. They also offered free shipping and handling on orders over $25 for those who wanted their computer sooner than later.
The history of digital marketing cannot be complete without mentioning the most influential social media platform — Facebook. It was started in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg when he was only 19 years old. A few years later, in 2011, Google released its own social media platform called Google+, which they shut down in 2019. Almost everyone is on different social media platforms nowadays. Therefore, digital marketing has become the most efficient way to market new products and services.
Marketing has always been a part of human culture. The marketing history can be traced back to ancient times when people would use images on cave walls to advertise their products. The first-ever documented marketing instance was seen in Ancient China, where merchants would use long poles to publicly announce their goods for sale, which are considered the world’s first billboards.
Marketing has evolved over the years with the evolution of technology. The traditional marketing mix, product, price, place, and promotion are being replaced by a digital marketing mix that includes social media, mobile marketing, and content creation. The digital world is changing how marketers operate in that it’s no longer just about what message to use in a traditional advertisement. It’s also about what message resonates best in a specific niche group or on a particular social media platform. Digital marketers need to be aware of these changes to stay relevant and competitive when approaching clients or customers.
Digital marketing is the use of digital technologies in marketing and advertising to facilitate direct and measurable actions. The goal of digital marketing is to generate a return on investment, be it in the form of increased awareness, increased transactions, or improved general business results through an understanding of customer needs and wants.
Digital marketing became more prevalent in the early 2000s as households gained access to high-speed internet connections and computer ownership became standard. I remember the dial-up modem, and rotary phones. As such, digital technologies such as social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., search engines (Google), and banner advertisements (YouTube) were used by marketers to reach audiences that were not within their physical proximity.
With the rise in popularity of digital marketing came a surge in casualties. The casualties ranged from companies who failed to implement a strong marketing strategy, manage their brand awareness and integrity online, and using various forms of digital marketing platforms.
The rise of digital media has changed how marketers operate. Digital media is now the best way for marketers to reach people worldwide, from customers in a small town to customers on another continent.
Test your digital marketing understanding.
