The History of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing first became popular in the early

2000s, but it’s been around much longer.

Like, WAY longer. About 100 years longer, to be exact.

Here’s a pic of the first digital marketer in history:

His name was Guglielmo Marconi, and he was born in

1874.
In 1896, Marconi became the first human to
demonstrate a “public transmission of wireless signals”
when he invented the radio.

While it would take another ten years for the radio to

reach the general public, it sure didn’t take the
creators long to realize they could use it to sell stuff.
The digital age dawned with the advent of the

internet and the Web 1.0 platform, which enabled

users to find information; however, there was no

option to share this information. At this stage,

marketers were wary of using the digital platform

for marketing, as the internet itself was not

deployed widely.

Digital Marketing as a term was coined in the ’90s,

with the advent of server-client architecture, and

the rising prevalence of personal computers.

It was at this age that the Archie search engine was

developed, to index FTP sites. The storage capacity

of computers in the 1980s had already been

increased to store voluminous data, and companies

started switching to database marketing and other

online techniques.

As to who is the father of digital marketing, it’s a

pen for debate; some argue that it should be

Marconi, as he sent the first radio signal; some

opine that as Ray Tomlinson sent the first email in

1971, it should be attributed to him. Others feel

that nobody has knowledge on this subject like

Philip Kotler, and he is the actual founder.

The first live broadcast was from an opera

performance at the Met, and guess what people did
after it?
They bought show tickets!

Digital marketing was born.

4 Steps To Build Your Digital Marketing
Strategy

1. ReseaRch and UndeRstand YoUR aUdience

Whether you are an established business or a small

start-up, wasting time and money on marketing
campaigns is a common brand fear. A well-executed
digital marketing strategy is needed to help you
achieve your marketing objectives and grow your
business.

If you’ve never developed a digital marketing strategy,

the process can feel a bit intimidating. Fortunately,
there are really only four key steps to keep in mind.

Let’s discuss each one in more detail.

1. Research and Understand Your Audience

Before diving into digital marketing strategy, let’s
spend some time unpacking the concept of target
audiences. This infographic from Search Engine
Journal does a great job explaining the difference
between your target market, target audience, and
target persona.
Typically, you would target audiences by specific data
points, like:

• Gender
• Age
• Education
• Purchasing power
• Location
This precision allows you to spend your ad budget
efficiently by marketing to the people most likely to
buy your product or service.
Of course, this leads us to the most challenging aspect
of targeting: properly defining your audience. Don’t get
overwhelmed, though. Instead, follow these pointers
to reach your ideal customers.

Start by analyzing your market. Are you operating in a

well-established market or a developing one? Is your
industry mainstream? Who are your major
competitors? Which types of content work well for
them?

Having defined your market, think about the kind of

customer you’re looking for. Start with a general idea
of your ideal customer,, then use data points to narrow
down your audience. For example, a possible target
audience for your product might be men, 25 to 35
years old, living in Colorado, with a monthly income of
$4,000 to $6,000.

Finally, find the most popular blogs in your industry,

the e-commerce stores they shop at, like REI, and the
YouTube videos they watch. Keeping track of this info
gives you insight into what they like to consume,
making outreach and content creation significantly
easier. Use tools like BuzzSumo or Ask the Public to
pick up on trending content and for social listening.
2. set digital MaRketing stRategY goals
and kPis

There’s a trend I’ve noticed when discussing a digital

marketing strategy: marketers often gloss over the
concept of goal-setting. This is a shame because a well-
defined marketing plan can empower your brand.

For example, this visual from Moosend details the

numerous strategies you could include in your
marketing plan.
Having goals ensures that your digital marketing
strategy is easy to monitor and update.

However, you must set up your marketing plan in the

right way.

When the average person thinks about setting goals,

they tend to be qualitative goals. An example of a
qualitative goal would be to improve your brand image
or increase your brand’s position within your industry.

However, there’s a problem with these types of aims,

as they’re notoriously challenging to measure.

Abstract concepts are generally not useful for an

average brand’s digital marketing efforts as they are
difficult to measure and improve. Instead, it is better to
focus on quantitative goals.

Here’s an example: Brand A wants to improve

customer perception, but after spending a significant
amount on advertising and promotion, it doesn’t know
why they are receiving so much traffic or how much
traffic led to conversions.

In contrast, Brand B wanted to increase conversions of

its key product X by five percent over the next six
months. It’s established tangible milestones for each
abstract goal that it can easily measure and experiment
to improve its marketing campaign.

By establishing clear and measurable goals

and identifying KPIs, brands can make long-term
experimentation and growth possible.

3. cReate YoUR digital MaRketing

stRategY

Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to build

and implement a digital marketing strategy.

The biggest challenge here is determining which digital

marketing channel to focus on. If this step stresses you
out, you’re not alone. One of the reasons this decision
can feel so intimidating is the fear of investing in a
channel that won’t work.

Fortunately, our framework for digital marketing

strategies minimizes that risk dramatically. By starting
with small, hyper-focused campaigns, brands can track
a particular channel’s effectiveness without
spending thousands of dollars.
Are you interested in paid social media ads, for
example? You could set a goal, implement a small
marketing push, and analyze how valuable Facebook
ads are to your brand. Then, you can use that data to
predict how effective future campaigns within that
channel will be.

In fact, by using this approach for multiple channels,

you’ll quickly develop a clear sense of which channels
your audience responds to. It’s beneficial to constantly
test both marketing tactics and different target
audiences to collect as many relevant data points as
possible.

Within a year, you’ll have a collection of data points

that are easy to interpret and leverage into successful
marketing campaigns.

Creating Content That Resonates

Regarding content creation, there are generally two

schools of thought- entertaining or educating your
audience. If your audience wants to be entertained, it’s
brand appropriate, and you feel confident in your
content crafting abilities, fun content can be a
powerful tool.

Maybe it’s a funny video ad, or perhaps it’s some

memes on social media. It’s certainly not the right
approach for everyone, but it’s effective when used
correctly. Take a look at Old Spice and see how its
unusual humor perfectly captures its brand voice.
Let’s say you aren’t confident in your comedic timing,
or your brand just doesn’t lend itself to absurdist
internet humor. That’s where the second school of
thought comes in. Educating your audience can be just
as powerful as entertaining them.

To be clear, when we talk about educating your

audience, that doesn’t mean educating them solely on
your brand. Consumers have pain points that they
need to address, no matter the industry. Typically,
they’ll have industry-related pain points that you might
not be a direct solution for.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re selling those hiking
backpacks again. Could you stick to making content
about hiking backpacks? Absolutely, but there’s so
much more you can discuss!

If you’re selling to the hiking community, they have all

sorts of questions about what kind of grills to use, tips
for first-time hikers, what they should look for in a
sleeping bag, etc. If you’re an expert in your field, you
probably have an entire blog’s worth of content in your
head right now!
A good rule of thumb is if you wish you had known
about it when you first started, it will be helpful to
someone. You don’t need a massive ad budget to
connect with consumers. You just need to create
marketing content that feels legitimately helpful. If you
can do that, you can build genuinely impactful
marketing campaigns.
Adapting Your Digital Marketing Strategy for Seasonal
Trends
You’ll also want to adapt your digital marketing
strategy to include major holidays and occasions. That
way, you can maximize your sales throughout the year
for occasions like Black Friday and Valentine’s Day, etc.

Here are some tips to maximize holiday sales:

• Start early and have a plan: Start your holiday

digital marketing plan months in advance to beat
the competition. Research keywords by
using Ubersuggest for seasonal SEO. Outline
achievable goals, plan tactics, list assets, and
create a realistic timeline.
• Host a contest: Hosting an online contest is
quick, easy, and cost-effective. Tease upcoming
holiday deals and events and keep the prize
simple—a free product is all it takes to get your
campaign going.
• Use paid campaigns to increase awareness:
Create awareness-based campaigns on major
paid ad channels such as Google, Facebook, and
Instagram. Also, be thoughtful with your budget
and account for higher CPCs leading up to
certain holidays.
• Use promotions but use them carefully: Rather
than trying to compete on price, why not deliver
value in another way? Free shipping, gifts, and
other rewards are a great way to retain brand
value while offering the discounts holiday
shoppers are eager for.
• Create holiday gift sets: Increase conversions and
average order value (AOV) by bundling products
into gift sets at a discount. Use inventory
analytics to determine which products
consumers often buy together.
• Create laser-targeted email campaigns: With
every brand utilizing email marketing, standing
out in a sea of sales messages is vital. Segment
your audiences, personalize your offers, and
remember to optimize for mobile.
• Try new platforms: Consider trying a new
marketing channel this holiday season by
launching a TikTok or Instagram Live campaign.
Who knows, you might come across a profitable
platform for long-term advertising.
• Make a plan for long-term success: Use holiday
marketing to increase brand awareness and site
visits. Retargeting ads on Google and Facebook
are cost-effective and, for best success, aim to
target visitors who have visited your site in the
past. This will keep your brand top-of-mind well
beyond the holiday season.
4. continUe iMPRoving

Many brands struggle with achieving long-term growth

despite collecting the right data points. Turning data
into the next quarter’s marketing campaign can be
frustrating due to issues such as:

• Not knowing which problems need fixing

• Not fully understanding the audience
• Too much data leads to confusion
• Limited marketing budget
Setting clear and tangible goals and tracking results can
simplify the process, yet some brands need help
understanding the idea of long-term growth and what
it entails. Growth is not always linear, and
experimentation is necessary to identify successful
components.

With each new expansion of your digital marketing

strategy, you’ll identify parts that work and that don’t.
Savvy brands understand this and commit themselves
to promoting long-term business growth. So they’ll
explore the latest social media platform. They’ll try the
newest marketing channels and so on until they see
success.
The goal of a solid digital marketing strategy is not to
stumble upon a channel and hope for rapid growth but
instead to collect valuable data and develop a long-
term, sustainable plan for continued success.

Partnering With A Digital Marketing

Agency

Now you have a firm grasp on the ins and outs of

offline and online digital marketing strategies and you
understand the benefits of digital marketing services
and what they can do for your business.

However, you may not want to go it alone and you may

be considering partnering with a digital marketing
agency.

Here are a few key benefits of how an agency’s digital

marketing services can drive your strategy forward.

You benefit from deeper expertise: Digital marketing

agencies have expertise in specific roles or industries
due to their specialization and experience with
multiple clients. When hiring an agency, you gain
access to a team with diverse skills and networks,
allowing for more flexibility and perspectives.
Scalability as you grow: Scaling a business can present
challenges in finding the right talent and acquiring new
customers. Working with a digital marketing agency
can help address both of these challenges.
A dedicated partner: Working with a marketing agency
versus hiring an employee offers different dynamics.
An employee understands their chain of command and
likely won’t provide strategic input unless in senior
management.

how to choose the Right digital MaRketing

agencY

Not sure what to look for in a digital marketing agency?

Here are a few tips to help.

• Know your goals and desired outcomes: When

you know what you want to achieve, finding the
best agency to suit your needs is easier.
• Look for a sizable portfolio or list of past
clients: Professional digital marketing agencies
are proud of who they work with and their work.
Furthermore, they typically display their
partnerships on their website for the world to
see.
• Find experienced and specialized team
members: It’s essential to ensure the agency you
hire has the right team members to suit your
project. Search on Google, ask for a
recommendation, or look on LinkedIn.
• Seek social proof and a strong industry
reputation: Social proof, like testimonials and
previous client reviews, can give you deep
insights into what working with a specific agency
is like.
• See if you have similar core values and company
culture: Working with a digital marketing agency
that values the same things and operates in a
similar environment is crucial. Doing so helps the
agency mesh with your team.
• Look at website design: The best digital
marketers know how essential a well-designed
website is; if they’re not executing internal
projects well, why would you expect them to
deliver something better for yours?
• Ensure they aren’t making outlandish
promises: The type of results an agency
promises on its website strongly indicates how
well they understand the industry. For example,
anyone claiming to fast-track you to the number
one spot on Google doesn’t know that SEO is a
long-term and short-term marketing strategy. Or
that it requires continuous work to maintain.
• Are they easy to contact?: Navigating a website
shouldn’t feel like a maze. The best digital
marketing agencies make it simple for potential
clients to get in touch by providing a clear call to
action.
get the Most oUt of YoUR PaRtneRshiP

Once you’ve found the right digital marketing agency,

you can do several things as a client to maximize your
results and get the most out of your strategic
partnership.

Doing the following things can help set the stage for
effective and successful collaboration through every
project phase.

• Prepare your team and do your homework: It’s

essential to have everyone on the same page;
meet with your team and let them know the
extent of your new project or partnership with
plenty of time to prepare for it.
• Understand the scope, process, and
timeline: Before the project starts, ensure every
stakeholder agrees on the size and timeline
before moving forward. But, again, this is just as
much your job as it is your agency’s.
• Get ready to collaborate: The best digital
marketing projects are highly collaborative.
Furthermore, your input, thoughts, and ideas
help move the project forward in the right
direction to match your desired outcomes.
 • Be ready to forfeit control: You hired the agency
for its expertise. This means giving them
complete control over certain aspects of the
project to let them do what they do best. It’s
also important to listen to what they say.
• Ask questions: If you’ve never worked with a
digital marketing agency, you will see and
experience many new things. If you’re unsure
why the agency is suggesting something, the
best thing to do is ask questions.
•

Conclusion

That’s the scoop on digital marketing. But, as you can

see, the internet is not the only place for marketers to
gain success, even today.

Whether it’s the more traditional offline digital

marketing methods, you’re promoting online, or a
combination of the two, a solid strategy can lead you
to success.

Employing these offline digital marketing tactics can

help diversify your lead generation beyond social
media, content marketing, and the like.
Whatever your aims or budget, you can put a digital
marketing plan in place and start reaching new
audiences.