Evolution of Digital Marketing

Do you own a company and want to advertise your product and services to people all around the world?

In that case, digital marketing is the best platform that you can use to reach your targeted audience in no time. We currently live in an era of the internet, where everyone is using social media platforms. Due to which digital marketing has become the easiest and fastest way to advertise your brand.

But, what most of the users forget while campaigning, is that digital marketing was not born yesterday. It has a separate history dating back to decades of research and evolution in technology.

So, in this article, we have articulated a comprehensive research analysis about the evolution of digital marketing. In addition, this article covers all the pivotal developments which occurred in the evolution of digital marketing. By the end of this article, you will acquire explicit knowledge about the history of digital marketing and how it became what it is today, so let’s begin.

 

What Exactly is Digital Marketing?

The process of selling products, goods, and services through the internet is referred to as digital marketing. Digital marketing seems a bit different from traditional marketing, but the end goals are similar. This funnel operates to generate awareness about the marketed product or service.

Thus, it allows users to reach a broader market in less time. In addition, traditional advertising firms and groups have seen significant customer churn due to technical advancements.

After which, users shifted to tablets, smartphones, and laptops, where online businesses have made their most progress.

In the present era, digital marketing is teeming with ever-increasing advantages, and every firm wants to take advantage of them because they know how powerful they can be.

As most potential customers are already online, brands have no option but to integrate digital marketing and enhance their efforts to target these individuals.

In addition, a large number of college students are interested in learning about the fundamentals of digital marketing. With that, you have a clear picture of what strictly digital marketing is. Now let’s know more about its progression and evolution.

 

Digital Marketing’s Origins and Progression

Today in this article, we will learn about how digital marketing was introduced in businesses and how it went.

The era of the 1980s 

Several advances and breakthroughs were accomplished throughout the 1980s. IBM introduced the first desktop computer in 1981. The American National Standard Institute or ANSI adopted SQL as a guideline in 1986, and machine memory space was expanded to 100MB later in 1989.

All of these advancements enabled computer technology to advance to the point where someone could record client data.

However, during the 1980s, businesses began to understand the importance of developing client connections rather than focusing solely on product sales.

For a fixed number of clients, the marketers started information management and engaged in modest tactics. Businesses began to keep track of their clients, opportunities, and business partners in computers through databases.

Due to this, ACT, a customer relationship control firm, released commercial database software to the industry.

Program management, marketing intelligence, sales automation, management of resources, and information strategy optimization were all included in these business automation packages.

These computerized databases radically transformed buyer-seller interactions.  Businesses began retaining client information and keeping track of their transactions.

Furthermore, the development of personal computers and client platforms changed the marketing scene and abolished the need for human workers, after which came the evolution of the internet in the 90s.

The era of the 1990s.

In this year, the phrase “digital marketing” was coined. With the introduction of the internet facility and Web 1.0 architecture, the digital era exploded.

The Web 1.0 site allows people to locate and exchange data, but it does not permit them to distribute it across the internet. Companies all around the country were still apprehensive about the online platform at the time.

In 1993, HotWired took a big step into online marketing by purchasing banners and adverts for their promotion.

Businesses began using Search Engine Optimization which is popularly known as SEO, to improve their web browser ranks after introducing search engines in 1994 after Yahoo was established. In 1996, several minor search engines were also introduced.

The advent of the most prominent web-based web browser – Google – in 1998 was a watershed moment for internet advertising since it profoundly altered the fundamentals of online commerce.

That same year, Microsoft introduced MSN, and Yahoo introduced Yahoo! web search.

Customer Relationship Management, also known as CRM tools, introduced its pinnacle in the 1990s, and many firms were using them widely.

This software kept track of all interactions between current and potential clients. Marketers saw an excellent opportunity in making advertisement through online platforms which were continuously connected to the internet, which was eventually revolutionized to in the 2000s

The era of the 2000s.

When the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, minor search engines were shuttered, as well as the social media platform SixDegrees.com was shuttered as well.

This provided many opportunities for the market’s more prominent players to broaden their presence.  By the year 2002, the total number of internet users reached 560 million.

Later emerged Web 2.0, which encouraged individuals to be more actively engaged instead of passive consumers. Web 2.0 enabled users to communicate with one another as well as with companies.

The internet came to be labeled as a “super information highway.” As a result, the data transmission expanded, and digital marketers exploited various new digital platforms.

Meanwhile, in 2002, the popular social networking website LinkedIn was created, which served as an excellent way for business people to interact with one another.

During the year 2003, the very first online networking platform, MySpace, was launched.

That same year, another online platform, WordPress, was also found. Businesses began to notice that all of these emerging platforms and sites offer new marketing and sales opportunities.

In 2012, companies boosted their digital marketing through social media platforms and invested more of their advertising campaigns on social networking sites.

In that year, Facebook and Google came out publicly. YouTube, in 2005, arrived on the scene and transformed video advertisements.

Consumers’ purchasing habits altered in the mid of 2000s, as they began exploring products online before making a purchase. Many sellers found it challenging to understand their clients’ purchasing habits.

This problem was handled with marketing automation. It aided advertisers in segmenting their markets, launching multi-channel operations, and providing customized content.

Another watershed moment in the history of internet marketing was the introduction of Cookie. Initially, they have been used to store viewers’ habits.

However, their purpose has evolved, and they’ve been used among advertisers to track, individualize, and save data about each subject’s session. This allows advertising and marketing activities to be tailored to the individual’s preferences.

Microsoft introduced MSN Live Search around 2006 to vie with Google and Yahoo, and Twitter, small blogging and social networking site, was presented at the same time.

These are all about the past histories of digital marketing platforms.

 

Current position and importance of digital marketing

Online marketing in modern days is such a marketing technique that every company is doing right now. Every business uses both online and offline marketing techniques.

However, we all recognize that offline or traditional marketing is impractical at this time when the entire world is in quarantine due to the COVID-19 virus. Internet advertising is indeed the only best possible technique to approach your prospective buyers in these circumstances.

You could think that because it’s called digital marketing, it’s solely for digital devices. However, because digital technologies have worldwide coverage, digital marketing can give your firm a strong brand identity simply by using the web.

How to Use Digital Marketing More Efficiently:

Digital marketing is the simplest and most cost-effective approach to promote your company, and when there are no other options, it is the only way to succeed. In the following section, you will see how Digital Marketing can assist you in establishing a broad identity.

1. Make Contact with Potential Clients Quite easily 

Traditional marketing makes it difficult to reach a large number of potential clients. However, in digital marketing, the very same task is significantly easier. Even now, the majority of people are active on at least one digital media platform.

By building targeted online promotional activities and paid adverts, it is simple to approach them digitally. These advertisements can simply reach your target audience because you can seek them on social media based on their preferences and tell them about your brands and facilities.

2. Digital Marketing Is Budget-Friendly 

When it comes to promoting its products, a company always wants to save money.

Because advertising does not generate an immediate income stream, it is prudent to spend only a tiny amount of funds on product offering marketing.

Digital marketing is a low-cost method of advertising a company that allows you to be recognized by a significant number of people.

3. React Quickly to Customer Issues 

It is usually relatively easy to answer clients’ concerns or complaints instantly, whether through direct mail or online marketing.

You may even offer consumers a live chat feature to answer their difficulties. It’s also simple to allow people to ask questions through your online presence.

4. Attract a Constantly Growing Audience 

The field of promotion where you will never go out of opportunities in digital marketing. People are going to come online for a variety of reasons each day, regardless of the scenario.

Furthermore, the number of social media users continues to rise. Your intended audience is growing every day, just like the rest of the audience—these aids in developing a gradual curve for brand awareness.

5. Make it easy for your users to find you

The most crucial and beneficial advantage of digital marketing would be that you do not need to contact your consumers to sell your offerings.

You may show and tell them what you’re doing. Make your details visible on the Internet so that people concerned about your goods or services easily find you. Using digital marketing, your target consumers can access you quickly.

 

How to take digital marketing to the next step in the coming days

On the principle of existing patterns, we may make some educated guesses about the future of digital marketing. Digital marketing has come a far way over the years, and it will continue to do so in the upcoming days.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will most certainly become more widely used. Chatbots are also becoming more popular for customer service.

The popularity of voice control has been on the rise, and it is anticipated to continue.

To stay consistent with their clients’ inevitable implementation of technology and activities, digital marketers must keep a watch on changing dynamics, new technology, and search engine methods.

 

Up-Shot

It’s imperative to understand where it all began and how it progressed in an attempt to discover your way ahead. This is true in business as well. Looking at the evolution of digital marketing is essential for determining how to use most of these new technologies.

Digital marketing promotes both firms and individuals by providing potential job prospects. Thousands of people are pursuing jobs in digital marketing, and the popularity of digital marketing courses is on the rise.

Soon I will be coming up with my book on the Evolution of Digital Marketing in which you will find many more interesting facts about digital Marketing, its history, future, different aspects of Digital Marketing, and much more.

Do drop your comments/suggestion in the comment box to let me know about the next topic you want to read about.