In today’s time, where more than half the world population is using the internet, the concept of digital marketing is not going anywhere for several decades to come. But, have you ever wondered where and when the concept actually came from. If no, this article will help you out as it will let you get a sneak peek into the history of digital marketing and its evolution.
In a layman language, digital marketing is the promotion of products and services over the internet. There are several digital marketing channels that you can use to reach out to your target audience and persuade them to go for your brand. There are several digital marketing services in Dubai that implement the best strategies to get your brand noticed in the online marketplace. If you also want to create a secure and reputed digital space for your business, it’s better you go for the best digital marketing company that fulfills all your digital requirements.
As the concept of digital marketing evolved, the traditional marketing method has seemed to take the corner. The time is not far when the traditional marketing methods will disappear, and the digital methods will completely take over. But we are here to discuss the history of digital marketing and its evolution.
History of Digital Marketing
The term digital marketing was first used after the introduction of the internet and the development of the Web 1.0 platform in the 1990s. The platform allowed users to find information on the topics they wanted, and at the same time, didn’t allow them to share the information on the web. By then, the marketing sector was unsure what the digital platform has brought for them.
The Internet
The World Wide Web, abbreviated as www, was created by a scientist named Tim Berners with the goal to connect networks at his employer CERN (Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nulceaire). In the year 1991, a set of individuals, for the first time, was invited to join. By the year 1994, the first mass-market browser was released. Within another two, the number of internet users grew spontaneously from 16 to 70 million people.
The instantaneous growth in the number of internet users revolutionized the digital landscape and for good. This was the time when the use of email and search engines like Google and Yahoo! begin. Apart from this, many eCommerce sites like eBay and Amazon sprouted up in the digital realm and reached customers for sales. Email became a marketing tool, and search engines became a way for brands to reach their target audience and persuade them to purchase. As time moved on, basic SEO techniques also came into the picture, which mainly included keyword stuffing, use of backlinks, and excessive tagging.
Data as fuel
As the volume of digital activities paced up, the need for data recording and storage developments came in. Many data platforms were developed to store and analyze consumer activities on different digital channels. The data integration technology proved a boon for businesses as it provides them with valuable insights about who their customers were and what were the best ways to connect with them. Social media sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter also came into existence and gave rise to the words “Big Data.” The complex data was broken down into valuable information that helped businesses find new ways to thrive in a competitive environment.
With data from social media channels, companies were able to understand their customers’ behavior, make more effective marketing strategies, and even perform predictive analysis.
The grand entry of Smartphones
The first Smartphone technology was Blackberry, released in the year 2003. With this device, for the first time, users can send and receive emails on their phones. Then, in 2007, Apple released the iPhone, and this was when the actual smartphone era began, and until now, new technologies are making their way in the digital world.
Digital Marketing at Present
In the present time, digital marketing has become a much broader term than ever. Now, the number of internet users worldwide has surpassed the count of 4 billion, and the number of active users on social media is around 3.2 billion. The trends in digital marketing have also evolved, and now no matter how large or small a business is, it has a robust digital presence.
