The world-wide digital marketing industry reached a value of nearly 321 billion in 2022. 

In January 2023, there were 4.67 billion social media users worldwide.

SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate.

50% of companies that keep a blog say the leads it generates cost much less. 

Well, there are quite a few reasons you would like to go digital for your business or private marketing. Let’s start off with a bit of the history of digital marketing technologies, then let’s move on to what Digital Marketing is all about and then we will answer the question we have asked ourselves – Why Digital Marketing?

A brief History of Digital Marketing Technologies

The Internet

The internet enables Digital Marketing.  Developed by the US military in 1969, somehow it was not off the great start we would expect considering its fundamental value in today’s world. In fact, it all started off with a big crash.  Alarmingly, the first message to ever be communicated over the internet was supposed to be the word LOGIN, but only two letters made it through before both computers crashed. Off to humble beginnings, the noble internet was on the path to greatness.  Many noble people have made notable contributions to its development, like the pioneers in the internet hall of fame. 

This was only the start of the technologies and tools that make up today’s digital marketing landscape. Email and social media technology make communication possible, design and video software make content creation possible, dashboards make marketing strategy possible and CRM software make managing all of this easier.

Email

The first email was more like an electronic desknote than the intricately designed emails that land in our inboxes today. The academia used electronic notes in 1965 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  As with the internet it developed from there, with many contributors guiding electronic mail to what we know it as today. Ray Tomlinson was one of them and he came up with the idea of the @ in an email address in 1972. This communicated where the email was going. Emails are created with HTML code and are transmitted through MTA, SMTP and server technology. API’s are individual email addresses. 

Social Media

The first social media site was started in 1997, our friend the hashtag was born in 2007 and the party has gone wild since then. 2014 was considered the year of the selfie and the bash got bigger in 2016 when fake news was discovered.  The socials – everyone loves to hate them and no one can do without them (not even for a day according to the stats). 

CRM’s

The first CRM (called ACT!) was invented in 1987.  ACT! Made it much easier to manage than the data management systems of the past. In fact, the technology only gained real popularity and widened its use in the 1990’s. 

Traditional Marketing Defined

Traditional Marketing is when we use traditional marketing channels to communicate with our consumers.  They may be adverts or editorial on:

• TV or Radio

• Direct mail

• Magazines

• Billboards

• Cold calling

Digital Marketing Defined

As defined by Investopedia, Digital Marketing is the use of digital channels to market products and services to reach consumers.  This may be websites, social media, email, messagers, apps and so on.  

When we go digital, we still use traditional marketing theories and strategies, we only use them in the digital space.  Value is still value and the consumer is still king, only a Polo kind of king. 

Communications may include adverts or informational content on:

• Social Media

• Websites (SEO & PPC)

• Email

• Messengers

• Apps

So then, why would I want to go digital?

Digital Marketing offers cost benefits.  The reach vs cost digital marketing is giving you is many fold better than traditional forms of communications.  Adverts in physical publications used to out-price most start ups and they were confined to the wanted and found columns of these publications. Reach was limited by the audience’s physical location.  In fact, the advent of digital communications and systems like PPC reduced costs and amplified reach. Literally, the average CPM for cable TV was $17.50 in 2018/2019.  In the first quarter of 2018 the average CPM on GoogleAds was $2.80.  With this is the global nature of the internet and a much wider audience for the spend. 

Indeed, reporting is also way simpler and easier to manage.  Stats are generated for you and it only takes a quick glance to fix problems, make improvements and, if need be, turn your strategy around. Client responsiveness is also a game-changer when out in the markets.  In addition, real-time responsiveness has made the brand ladder easier to climb and improved engagement levels. This means we are able to communicate with our consumers extensively when they want to communicate with us.  Targeting is also more precise, enabling businesses to only spend on reaching their exact target market.  Digital Marketing is also much more flexible, allowing changes in content after publication and easy adjustments or edits.  All of this leads to improved ROI and a better bottom line. 

Get in touch by clicking below if you are ready to Go Digital!