The word ‘digital marketing’ has been in the air for a quite a long time. This word brings the feeling that somebody uses technology or visual display to market their products or services. Even though, the traces of digital marketing can be tracked in early 1980s, this word was not used much till around 2006.
By 1980 computers became sophisticated enough to store huge volumes of customer information. This prompted the usage of computer in marketing to store data and retrieve the same as and when needed. Robert and Kate pioneered database marketing with electronic database of customers, prospects, and all commercial contacts in 1980. The first database marketing software was brought by ACT! In 1986, and technology was used to define new buyer-seller relationships with the tracking of consumers. This shift in technology corresponded with a shift in mindset from pushing product to “relationship marketing,”. Further the introduction of personal computers and server/client architecture brought the revolutionary marketing technology known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in 1990s. This has later brought the birth of Salesforce.com in 1999, first Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, another tool for sales and marketing.
By mid-2000s, digital behavior of consumers changed as well. Now, the consumer became more smart and enlightened. Consumer started researching products and making decisions even before ever talking to a salesperson. Marketers started talking suddenly about the digital body language of their prospects and tried to re-invent the buying cycle. The principles of marketing started falling down. What used to be taught in academy about marketing lost importance suddenly?
Meanwhile, search engines like Yahoo!, InfoSeek, AltaVista, Lycos and WebCrawler and business directories stared placing static web advertisements without any effective tool to measure the output. However, advertisers did not find it so attractive compared to their traditional advertisement. It was a hard selling those days to convince the power of web for placing ads.
Meanwhile Open Text paid ads and GoTo (Overture) ads gave an indication about the paid ads in the market in early 1998. The real revolution happened on October 23, 2000 when Google search engine launched AdWords(TM), a new program that enables advertisers to purchase individualized and affordable keyword advertising that appears instantly on the google.com search results page. These ads were subsequently converted to content targeting services in 2003, and with that users start to view ads based on their browsing pattern. In 2004, Google started using advanced ranking algorithms and browsing online became more personal. Meanwhile, the social media platform started coming up. LinkedIn was founded in 2002 and Facebook in 2004 even though none were popular during that time as medium to place ads.
This is followed up with marketing automation and ads from other providers on pay per click and per impression models. It enabled marketers to launch multi-channel campaigns, segment their audiences, and serve up highly personalized content. This almost became the evolution of digital. The impact on this on business was immense. Being able to target browsers and develop strategies based on search patterns led to a whole new way of selling and communicating.
The first official usage of the word digital marketing can be found in a digital marketing conference in 2006 in Canada. Now, the term Digital Marketing is about reaching customers with your marketing campaigns through digital channels, such as web, mobile, interactive billboards, and social media. Meanwhile, Digital media turned out to an ever-growing source of entertainment, news, shopping and social interaction, and consumers are now exposed not just to what your company says about your brand, but what the media, friends, relatives, peers, etc., are saying as well. People want brands they can trust, companies that know them, communications that are personalized and relevant, and offers tailored to their needs and preferences. These turn of events have further pushed the importance of digital marketing. More traditional forms of marketing like print and TV ads are proving less effective as users are choosing web content over newspapers and magazines. At the same time, users are increasingly expecting companies to have an online presence. Over the years, digital marketing has developed enormously, and it continues to do so.
Digital marketing is a process of promoting a product or a service with the help of electronic media. It can be done without internet – on TV, Radio, etc. Or it can be done using internet – Computers, Smartphones, etc. Most of the digital marketing agencies provide following services under digital marketing now.
- Social Media
- SEO
- Keyword research
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
- Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
- Newsletters
- Text messaging
- Blogging, RSS & News Feeds
- Viral marketing
- Video promotion
Digital marketing is further associated with Analytics. Analytics counts the metrics associated with the spending of your money and the return.
In addition to the above services there are multiple services associated with digital marketing. There are agencies which provide 360 degree view of your website presence and its usability to customers. Global Reviews, Australia performs website benchmarking, studies the behavior of users deeply, and provides updated feedback about your online presence periodically. They provide such services to premium clients across the globe.
Digital Marketing Strategies is another evolution of Digital Marketing. DART Consulting , Bangalore specializes in providing digital marketing strategies to their clients. The business plan services of DART consist of an exclusive chapter about the performance of competitors in the digital world and strategies for digital marketing.
There are training centers which provide course on digital tools, such as the Internet, smartphones, which the world of marketing and provide targeted courses.
While entering into digital marketing it is advisable to hire professional services to reap the benefit of each penny you are spending for it.
This blog is written by Jaya of AdsOnSearches.com. She can be reached at jaya@adsonsearcehs.com.
