Digital Marketing is the idea of promoting your business online on the internet. This is why it is also referred to as online marketing or internet marketing. With the help of digital marketing, marketers leverage various digital marketing channels like social media, google ads, SEO, YouTube marketing, email marketing and many more.
We can say the very first digital marketing started in 1971 when the first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson across a network. Whatever the purpose was whether testing or simply message transmission from one computer to another digital media was already born then.
Did you know:
- The World Wide Web, as we know it now was not invented until 1989 and the first page was published in 1991. As of January 2021, there are 4.2 billion pages on the web as per the hosting tribunal.
- Amazon didn’t begin selling products until 1995, not as a one-stop emporium but rather as a virtual bookstore.
- Google’s first search took place in 1998
- iTunes didn’t launch until 2003
- Facebook wasn’t invented until 2004
- YouTube was available to the public from December 2005
- Twitter wasn’t open for business until 2006 and the first tweet from the account wasn’t sent until 2009.
- Instagram started in 2010
Things are moving fast on the web and so is digital media. The way consumers today have changed their buying behavior has created complexity for brands to understand the buying pattern and keep customers loyal. With the evolution of many digital media, digital processes, analytics and behavioural tracking digital marketing now requires more and more technical knowledge and understanding of consumer behaviour.
Colleges and universities have started offering digital marketing courses to meet the demand for skilled human resources in the field. Being an expert in all categories may not be possible but finding the right fit as per individual interest will open doors as opportunity is directly proportional to the number of brands existing in the market.
The 4Ps of marketing price, place, product and promotion have been game changer in marketing. This 4’ps has now been modified as a process, people, platform and performance in the digital world.
“It’s hard to find things that won’t sell online.” – Jeff Bezos
Seven categories of digital marketing:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
- Content marketing
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
- Affiliate marketing
- Email marketing
With people spending more time on electronic devices digital marketing plays a vital role for brands and even individuals to convey their message. Whether it is to generate awareness, inform people, sell a product or service or display your resume online it’s hard to imagine a world without digital media.
