A history of digital marketing

Digital marketing first appeared as a term in the 1990s but, as mentioned above, it was a very different world then. Web 1.0 was primarily static content with very little interaction and no real communities. The first banner advertising started in 1993 and the first web crawler (called Webcrawler) was created in 1994 – this was the beginning of search engine optimization (SEO) as we know it. This may not seem a deep and distant past but when we consider that this was four years before Google launched, over 10 years before YouTube, and that social media was not even a dream at this point, it shows just how far we have come in a short time. 

Once Google started to grow at pace and Blogger was launched in 1999 the modern internet age began. Blackberry, a brand not connected with innovation any more, launched mobile e-mail and MySpace appeared. MySpace was the true beginning of social media as we define it today, but it was not as successful as it could have been from a user experience perspective and ultimately that is what led to its downfall. Google’s introduction of Adwords was their real platform for growth and remains a key revenue stream for them to this day. Their innovation, simple interface and accurate

algorithms continue to remain unchallenged (although Bing have been making some good steps forward in recent years). Cookies have been a key development and also a bone of contention over recent years with new regulation

and ongoing privacy debates. Whilst cookies have played a role in the ongoing privacy concerns of digital technology, they have also been a key development in delivering relevant content and therefore personalizing user experience.

 Web 2.0 was a term coined in 1999 by Darcy DiNucci but not really popularized until Tim O’Reilly in 2004. With Web 2.0 there was no overhaul of technology as the name might suggest, but more a shift in the way that websites are created. This allowed the web to become a social place, it was an enabler for online communities and so Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Skype and others were born. One trend that has certainly appeared in the last 10 years is an increase in buzzwords. There seems to be a new word or phrase for everything. From ‘big data’ to ‘dark social’, new terms arrive all the time. At nearly every marketing conference these days there is one speaker who is trying to socialize a new phrase they have

coined. Whilst these buzzwords can inspire us and open our eyes to new ways of thinking they rarely change the underpinning strategic planning of an effective marketing-led organization.

 As this are evolving so fast no wonder if you may feel lost between what it is the best approach to do online marketing. Let me give you a counsel. It is not a bad idea to hire professionals for this (I know I am suspect to give this kind of counsel, but hear me out), those professionals need to be on top of their game if they want to stay in business, there are many professional like me who will not make a contract, you can stay as long as you were satisfied and seeing results, that is why I do a report every month to my clients, and the best reason may be… you save your time to do what you do best, to serve your customers.