Is Digital Marketing the Future of Business?
Asking the Important Questions: Where did Digital Marketing come from?
The term Digital Marketing was first used in the 1990’s. The digital age took off with the coming of the internet and the development of the Web 1.0 platform. The Web 1.0 platform allowed users to find the information they wanted but did not allow them to share this information over the web. Up until then, marketers worldwide were still unsure of the digital platform. They were not sure if their strategies would work since the internet had not yet seen widespread deployment. Then In 1993, the first clickable banner went live, after HotWired purchased a few banner ads for their advertising. This marked the beginning of the transition to the digital era of marketing.
In the year 1998, the world saw the birth of Google. Microsoft had launched the MSN search engine and Yahoo brought to the market Yahoo web search. Two years later, the internet bubble burst and all the smaller search engines were either left behind or wiped out leaving more space for the giants in the business. The digital marketing world saw its first steep surge in 2006 when search engine traffic was reported to have grown to about 6.4 billion in a single month.
What is Digital Marketing?
Experts define digital marketing strategy as using online resources to reach the target customer. For digital marketers it is important in their strategy to identify where, why, and how a company makes a profit. This helps formulate a marketing plan that aligns with the business goals and customer requirements.
The following are some of the different types of digital marketing:
· Content Promotion: Content marketing is a type of digital marketing that focuses on the creation and distribution of content for a specific audience.
· Search Engine Marketing (SEO): Search Engine Optimization, popular as SEO, is the process of obtaining high-quality traffic from free, or organic, search engine results.
· Search Engine Marketing (SEM): "Search Engine Marketing" refers to obtaining paid and free search traffic.
· Social Media Marketing (SMM): Social Media Marketing is the process of attracting traffic and attention through social media platforms.
· Affiliate Promotion: Affiliate marketing is a popular way for people to make money online these days.
Learn More on 2023 Digital Marketing Statistics.
What does the Future hold for Digital Marketing?
After the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been numerous effects on our lives, one of which is the way virtual spaces have been given a new license to be seen as a marketing channel. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns allowed the need for an online presence was felt more than ever by businesses. The pace with which technology is progressing is resulting in intense competition in the global market.
The future of digital marketing is highly dependent on the evolving of technology. Digitally connected future generations secure digital marketing success and efforts are being made by businesses to meet the mood of future consumers. Marketing is shaping into virtual format in which to interact with customers. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are playing a vital role in building business success. Graphical representation of products answers many customer queries. The techniques are changing every day, with the developments in technology allowing marketers to adopt new strategies to connect with the audience.
How Does Digital Marketing Affect Businesses?
Digital marketing is helping businesses reach a larger audience than through traditional methods and target the prospects who are most likely to buy their product or service. Additionally, it's often more cost-effective than traditional advertising and enables businesses to measure success on a daily basis and pivot where they see fit.
Here are a few major benefits of digital marketing:
1. You can focus your efforts on only the prospects most likely to purchase your product or service.
2. It's more cost-effective than outbound marketing methods.
3. Digital marketing evens the playing field within your industry and allows you to compete with bigger brands.
4. Digital marketing is measurable.
5. It’s easier to adapt and change a digital marketing strategy.
6. Digital marketing can improve your conversion rate and the quality of your leads.
7. You can engage audiences at every stage with digital marketing.
Conclusion: Why Should you Take Advantage of this?
Overall, yes, Digital Marketing is becoming the new future for the business world while also rising as a new demanding role in businesses. The Digital Marketing market is further expected to scale with a CAGR of 32.1% by 2028, with a value of USD 24.1 billion. There will be close to 6 billion internet users by 2027. The demand for skilled digital marketers will only increase in the coming years. According to LinkedIn, Digital Marketing is also one of the top skills to learn in 2023 to boost your career.
Any opportunity where you can connect to your audience is an opportunity to convert a lead or acquire a customer. Digital marketing creates so many more of those opportunities by allowing businesses to reach prospective buyers through a wide variety of channels. Whether it’s social media platforms, websites, text messages, or any online medium, it’s an invaluable way to promote your business, service, or product.
Outline the best possible experience your business could offer online customers; define the challenges your product could help them solve and then go back over this virtual journey and pinpoint the potential sticking points. Whether business want their customers to try on merchandise virtually, take their shopping cart with them as they shift from one platform to the next, ask their friends’ opinions or smell your latest perfume, these things are all possible, and it’s important to think ahead.
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Citations:
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Davis, J. (2022, May 25). Council Post: What Is The Future Of Digital Marketing? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/05/25/what-is-the-future-of-digital-marketing/
Duggal. (2016, July 29). Why Choose a Digital Marketing Career in 2023. Simplilearn.com. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from http://www.simplilearn.com/why-choose-a-career-in-digital-marketing-article
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Monnappa. (2015, July 8). The History and Evolution of Digital Marketing. Simplilearn.com. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://www.simplilearn.com/history-and-evolution-of-digital-marketing-article