The term digital marketing was first used in the 1990s, when the digital era took off with the arrival of the Internet and the development of the Web 1.0 platform. With the launch of the first web browsers, personal use of the Internet skyrocketed and sellers quickly adopted the idea of selling products online. In 1991, Computer Literacy, a Silicon Valley bookstore, began selling books to local consumers over the Internet, and Amazon followed suit in 1995. This marked the beginning of e-commerce and affiliate marketing, one of the most lucrative types of digital marketing.Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses digital technologies and platforms to promote products and services. Before the Internet, marketers began to collect information (research) about their customers' interests, habits and demographics, which allowed customers to feel more involved in the buying process.
This is when inbound marketing began to take shape. Nowadays, marketing automation platforms like Marketo, Act and Pardot have made it easier for companies to track patterns of human behavior and offer predictive analytics. Data-driven marketing has gained enough momentum for several companies to emerge that specialize in leveraging this technology. SEO improvements have made keyword stuffing and backlinks with spam a thing of the past, paving the way for real value and good content to become the new style of marketing. Digital marketing strategies may include the use of one or more online (omnichannel) channels and techniques to increase brand awareness among consumers.
Undoubtedly, social media has become a game changer in marketing over the past decade. A good digital marketing strategy has become the cornerstone of success for many brands and businesses. An important consideration today when deciding on a strategy is that digital tools have democratized the promotional landscape. Partnering with a digital marketing agency can help you grow your online presence and build lasting connections with your customers. No matter how you cut or dice it, there is no limit to what your business can achieve when you have a solid digital marketing strategy in place.
