Digital Marketing: A Brief History & How It Has Changed

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Digital Marketing was first coined in the early 1990s. The 'digital age" began with the advent of the internet and the creation of the Web 1.0 platform.

 Web 1.0 was the first platform that allowed users to search the internet and find information, but it did not allow them the ability to share information like we do today. This point will be agreed to by even an employee of a digital marketing agency.

Marketers around the world were unaware of the digital platform in the 1990s and had no idea how it would evolve. Because the internet was still in its early stages, marketers didn't have a clear strategy for how to market over it.

The advent of clickable banners in 1993 opened the door to the banner ads we see today on various websites. This was the beginning of the digital era in marketing. Many new technologies were introduced in 1994 and the digital market began to develop.

Companies began optimizing their websites to achieve higher search engine rankings. This was the birth of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Hotbot, Alexa, and Looksmart were some of the first search engines to be created in 1996.

Google, the search engine company giant, was founded in 1998. Yahoo introduced web search to the market with Microsoft's MSN Search engine. The smaller search engines were gone within two years leaving only the major ones.

Even the most well-respected digital marketing agency can agree that this is because search engine giants have been marketing via online platforms that have thrived. In 2006, the marketing industry saw its first major surge in traffic. It was estimated that it reached 6.4 billion within a single month.

The internet developed gradually and became what we now call Web 2.0. The next generation of web-enabled users to communicate with businesses and other users and even allowed them to share information. Many companies saw their profits rise and they grew naturally. In 2004, companies in the US spent around 3 billion dollars on advertising and marketing via the internet.

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With the rapid rise of social media sites, digital marketing has become more sophisticated. New sites were created that opened up new opportunities for both businesses and consumers to sell a wide range of products and services. It was easy to connect with sellers and buyers online, opening up a new era of online business. Slowly, social networking platforms became a hotbed of product promotion.

E-commerce platforms have grown in popularity since 2006. E-commerce platforms are a great way to get the products delivered straight to your destination. Sellers were able to sell their products easily without any hassle. E-commerce companies began to market themselves via social media.

This was also the time when placing advertisements on search engines became more popular. More digital marketers began to use Adwords, and similar web applications. Ask any digital marketing Agency and they will give you strategies to increase your business via advertisements on search engines, as well as social networks. This is how digital marketing has grown over the years.