User:Memf2020

**anything bolded are my own edits** (all sources are my own)
Digital marketing is the component of marketing that utilizes internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media platforms to promote products and services. Its development during the 1990s and 2000s, changed the way brands and businesses use technology for marketing. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent. These campaign typically employ combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e–books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback, and on-hold mobile ring tones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online marketing.

History
In the 1990s, the term Digital Marketing was first coined,. With the debut of server/client architecture and the popularity of personal computers, the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications became a significant factor in marketing technology.

In the 2000s, with increasing numbers of Internet users and the birth of iPhone, customers began searching products and making decisions about their needs online first, instead of consulting a salesperson, which created a new problem for the marketing department of a company.

These kinds of databases allowed companies to track customers' information more effectively, thus transforming the relationship between buyer and seller. However, the manual process was not as efficient. (grammatical errors)

These problems encouraged marketers to find new ways to integrate digital technology into market development (re-phrasing).

In 2007, marketing automation was '''developed as a response to the ever evolving marketing climate. (grammatical errors)'''

Developments and strategies
Influencer marketing: Important nodes are identified within related communities, known as influencers. This is becoming an important concept in digital targeting. Influencers allow brands to take advantage of social media and the large audiences available on many of these platforms.  (added citation). It is possible to reach influencers via paid advertising, such as Facebook Advertising or Google Adwords campaigns, or through sophisticated sCRM (social customer relationship management) software, such as SAP C4C, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage CRM and Salesforce CRM. Many universities now focus, at Masters level, on engagement strategies for influencers.

*  Data-driven advertising:  Users generate a lot of data in every step they take on the path of customer journey and brands can now use that data to activate their known audience with data-driven programmatic media buying. Without exposing customers' privacy, users' data can be collected from digital channels (e.g.: when customer visits a website, reads an e-mail, or launches and interact with brand's mobile app), brands can also collect data from real world customer interactions, such as brick and mortar stores visits and from CRM and sales engines datasets. Also known as people-based marketing or addressable media, data-driven advertising is empowering brands to find their loyal customers in their audience and deliver in real time a much more personal communication, highly relevant to each customers' moment and actions.

Channels
'''9. Native Advertising- involves the placement of paid content that replicates the look, feel, and oftentimes, voice of a platform's existing content. It is most effective when used on digital platforms like websites, newsletters, and social media. Can be somewhat controversial as some critics feel it intentionally deceives consumers. '''

'''10. Content Marketing- an approach to marketing that focuses on gaining and retaining customers through offering helpful content to customers that improves the buying experience and creates brand awareness. A brand may use this approach to hold a customer’s attention with the goal of influencing potential purchase decisions. '''

'''11. Sponsored Content- content created and paid for by a brand to promote a specific product or service. '''

'''12. Inbound Marketing- a market strategy that involves using content as a means to attract customers to a brand or product. Requires extensive research into the behaviors, interests, and habits of the brand's target market. '''

Planning[ edit]
Digital marketing planning is a term used in marketing management. It describes the first stage of forming a digital marketing strategy for the wider digital marketing system. The difference between digital and traditional marketing planning is that it uses digitally based communication tools and technology such as Social, Web, Mobile, Scannable Surface. Nevertheless, both are aligned with the vision, the mission of the company and the overarching business strategy.

Stages of planning[ edit]
Using Dr Dave Chaffey's approach, the digital marketing planning (DMP) has three main stages: Opportunity, Strategy and Action. He suggests that any business looking to implement a successful digital marketing strategy must structure their plan by looking at opportunity, strategy and action. This generic strategic approach often has phases of situation review, goal setting, strategy formulation, resource allocation and monitoring.

1) Opportunity[ edit]
To create an effective DMP, a business first needs to review the marketplace and set 'SMART' (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-Bound) objectives. They can set SMART objectives by reviewing the current benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs) of the company and competitors. It is pertinent that the analytics used for the KPIs be customized to the type, objectives, mission and vision of the company.

Companies can scan for marketing and sales opportunities by reviewing their own outreach as well as influencer outreach. This means they have competitive advantage because they are able to analyze their co-marketers influence and brand associations.

New non-linear marketing approach
To engage customers retailers have shifted from the linear marketing approach of one-way communication to a value exchange model of mutual dialogue and benefit-sharing between provider and consumer. Exchanges are more non-linear, free flowing, and both one-to-many or one-on-one. The spread of information and awareness can occur across numerous channels, such as the blogosphere, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and a variety of other platforms. Online communities and social networks allow individuals to easily create content and publicly publish their opinions, experiences, and thoughts and feelings about many topics and products, hyper-accelerating the diffusion of information.

Use in the Digital Era
It is increasingly advantageous for companies to use social media platforms to connect with their customers and create these dialogues and discussions. The potential reach of social media is indicated by the fact that in 2015, each month the Facebook app had more than 126 million average unique users and YouTube had over 97 million average unique users.

Benefits of social media marketing

 * Allows companies to promote themselves to large, diverse audiences that could not be reached through traditional marketing such as phone and email based advertising.
 * Marketing on most social media platforms comes at little to no cost- making it accessible to virtually any size business.
 * Accommodates personalized and direct marketing that targets specific demographics and markets.
 * Companies can engage with customers directly, allowing them to obtain feedback and resolve issues almost immediately.
 * Ideal environment for a company to conduct market research. 
 * Social platforms can be used to promote brand events, deals, and news.
 * Platforms can also be used to offer incentives in the form of loyalty points and discounts
 * Can be used as a means of obtaining information about competitors and boost competitive advantage. 

Understanding the market
'''Consumer behavior: the habits or attitudes of a consumer that influences the buying process of a product or service. Consumer behavior impacts virtually every stage of the buying process specifically in relation to digital environments and devices. '''

'''Predictive analytics: a form of data mining that involves utilizing existing data to predict potential future trends or behaviors.  Can assist companies in predicting future behavior of customers.'''

'''Buyer persona: employing research of consumer behavior regarding habits like brand awareness and buying behavior to profile prospective customers.  Establishing a buyer persona helps a company better understand their audience and their specific wants/needs.'''

'''Marketing Strategy: strategic planning employed by a brand to determine potential positioning within a market as well as prospective target audience. Involves two key elements: segmentation and positioning.  By developing a marketing strategy, a company is able to better anticipate and plan for each step in the marketing and buying process.'''

Sharing Economy
The "sharing economy" refers to an economic pattern that aims to obtain a resource that is not fully utilized. Nowadays, the sharing economy has had an unimagined effect on many traditional elements including labor, industry, and distribution system. This effect is not negligible that some industries are obviously under threat. The sharing economy is influencing the traditional marketing channels by changing the nature of some specific concept including ownership, assets, and recruitment.

Digital marketing channels and traditional marketing channels are similar in function that the value of the product or service is passed from the original producer to the end user by a kind of supply chain. '''Digital Marketing channels, however, consist of internet systems that create, promote, and deliver products or services from producer to consumer through digital networks. Increasing changes to marketing channels has been a significant contributor to the expansion and growth of the sharing economy. Such changes to marketing channels has prompted unprecedented and historic growth. '''

'''Digital marketing channels within the sharing economy are typically divided into three domains including, e-mail, social media, and search engine marketing or SEM. '''


 * E-mail: a form of direct marketing characterized as being informative, promotional, and often a means of customer-relationship management. Success is reliant upon a company’s ability to access contact information from its past, present, and future clientele.
 * Social Media: Social media has the capability to reach a larger audience in a shorter time frame than traditional marketing channels.  This makes social media a powerful tool for consumer engagement and the dissemination of information.
 * Search Engine Marketing or SEM: Requires a more specialized knowledge of the technology embedded in online platforms. This marketing strategy requires long-term commitment and dedication to the ongoing improvement of a company’s digital presence.

'''Other emerging digital marketing channels, particularly branded mobile apps, have excelled in the sharing economy.  Branded mobile apps are created specifically to initiate engagement between customers and the company. This engagement is typically facilitated through entertainment, information, or market transaction.'''