The term digital marketing refers to the use of digital channels to market products and services in order to reach consumers. This type of marketing involves using websites, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other similar channels. Digital marketing became popular with the advent of the internet in the 1990s.
Digital marketing involves some of the same principles as traditional marketing and is often considered a new way for companies to approach consumers and understand their behavior. Companies often combine traditional and digital marketing techniques in their strategies.
Marketing refers to any activities a company uses to promote its products and services and improve its market share. In order to be successful, marketing requires a combination of advertising savvy, sales, and the ability to deliver goods to end-users. This is generally undertaken by specific professionals or marketers who can work internally (for companies) or externally with other marketing firms.
Traditionally, corporations focused on marketing through print, television, and radio. Although these options still exist today, the rise of the internet led to a shift in the way companies reached consumers. That’s where digital marketing came into play. This form of marketing involves the use of websites, social media, search engines, apps—anything that incorporates marketing with customer feedback or a two-way interaction between the company and the customer.
Increased technology and newer trends forced companies to change the way they marketed themselves. The email was a popular marketing tool in the early days of digital marketing. That focus shifted to search engines like Netscape, which allowed businesses to tag and keyword stuff to get themselves noticed. The development of sharing sites like Facebook made it possible for companies to track data to cater to consumer trends. Smartphones and other digital devices are now making it easier for companies to market themselves along with their products and services to consumers. Studies show that people prefer using their phones to log on to the internet. So it should come as no surprise that 70% of individuals make buying decisions (usually on their phones) before they actually hit the purchase button.
