1. The history of digital marketing is a short one, but, with continual changes in this domain
always being made, the progression has been fast. The beginnings of this exciting industry can
be traced back to the early 1980’s. It was during this time that the development of computers was
allowing people with the ability to replace paper filing of mass amounts of physical information
with digital formats, and the possibilities were endless.
There was a notable event which took place in 1983. This is when the company
Compuserve introduced the first email product when they sent an advertisement to a large group
of people with email addresses. There weren’t many included in that mailing, but it planted the
seed for a concept that would later grow at an exponential rate.
The growth of Internet marketing increased substantially about a decade later. This is
when Tim Berners Lee’s hypertext protocol hit the market. Through the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications, he offered the first downloadable application known as Mosaic.
This web browser allowed an increase in the number of online users, and it was at this time when
the Internet was essentially born on the public domain.
In its early years, business owners, for the most part, didn’t see this new concept as being
anything that would change their marketing plans or pose any kind of threat as far as introducing
an increase in competition. While this may seem to be an archaic way of thinking, even
Microsoft failed to see the true scope of the marketing possibilities at this early time in the
development of the industry. Even when Jeff Bezos introduced Amazon in 1995, the majority of
business analysts predicted that the idea would prove to be a bad one as they didn’t think
customers would be willing to provide their credit card and other personal information online
(History).

2. Although the early days of Internet marketing were marked with skepticism, Google
launched an innovative and revolutionary tool with Google Adwords. While there were several
other search engines available at the time, Google was the first to give businesses the ability to
personally operate marketing campaigns with strategy by offering the tools necessary to
complete tasks such as keyword research. With this, marketers could quickly access real-time
user information to devise educated campaigns that would pay off in the long run. User tools
such as these were a large part of the reason Google quickly made its way to its current
popularity in search engine marketing today.
Another area of marketing that stood to reap significant benefits from this new outlet in
the industry was relationship oriented. This type of marketing involves the process of gaining a
customer’s trust, creating an online image of authority on the industry represented, and creating
happy customers who are likely to come back for more business and tell their friends and family
about their positive experiences. This was an early type of social marketing, and it proved to
work well within a geographic area. However, the Internet allowed for clever marketers to
substantially spread their reach and connect with more potential customers than ever before.
When sites such as Facebook and Twitter became main stream, marketers could easily interact
quickly with anyone searching for their products and services no matter where they were in the
world (Jenkinson).
According to Kotler, it requires five times the marketing dollars and time to acquire a new
customer than it does to keep a current one satisfied. Therefore, social marketing could provide
an excellent opportunity for businesses to stay in touch and interact with their clients on a regular
basis without ever having to leave the office. Just a few of the aspects covered in relationship
marketing include:

3.  Open communication
 Employee empowerment
 Teamwork
 Customer interaction and the overall planning process
The Internet offers a number of possibilities, and there are inevitably those that have yet
to be discovered that will progress modern Internet marketing techniques even further. However,
there was one that was notable and made a big difference in the advancement available for
business owners around the world. Mobile apps allow for marketers to have at their fingertips
and often free of charge a variety of exciting opportunities. This development occurred largely in
2007 when Apple overtook the control upon the introduction of the iPhone. Previous to this,
mobile applications were controlled primarily by the carriers. However, with the iPhone, third-
party developers were able to create and market their own mobile apps. This put more power in
the hands of marketers as they could now make their own decisions regarding how to utilize
services on the go (Marketing).
Mobile marketing took off quickly. Within just a few short years of the introduction of
Apple’s iPhone, marketers were able to quickly customize content to fit their products, services,
and geographical needs while also allowing them to present the most relevant offers and specials
based on the data they could easily obtain in regards to the preferences of their target audiences.
Another innovative advancement that made a large impact on Internet marketing was the
“Like” button made available on Facebook. Using this tool, potential customers voluntarily
provide their identity to marketers all across the web. This tool is known as Open Graph, and it
was launched in April 2010. All a marketer has to do is create a public profile for the business,

4. and they can begin developing a large list of leads without ever having to spend a single dollar
out of their marketing budget.
Marketing techniques have been used since ancient times, and we have always been a
race of beings possessing the need to buy and trade products and services in order to create the
civilized societies we enjoy. However, we can now present anything we have to offer quickly
and to a larger audience than ever before. In fact, many of the techniques that are available to be
utilized by anyone with Internet access cost nothing at all to employ. This means it’s feasible for
anyone with an idea to present it online. However, this doesn’t mean all efforts made will be
successful ones. There are certain strategies that must be employed in order to best ensure a
successful online marketing campaign, and these must be made on a regular basis in order to
develop organic search engine results.
One of the most fundamental techniques that must be made in order to create a reliable
presence online is blog postings. These should be updated on a regular basis such as twice per
week. While some marketers will employ shady tactics in order to update their content such as
spinning articles already present on the web, hard work and dedication pays off. For those who
do take the time to update their sites with fresh content full of relevant material potential
customers are searching for, the results can prove to be astounding. However, when presenting
new material, research is necessary.
That’s where tools like Google AdWords come in handy. Using this tool, marketers can
seek out terms that their audience is using to find the particular words and phrases commonly
being typed into the search engines. The tools provide valuable data such as the frequency a
specific phrase is used and the amount of money that can be expected to generate from each.

5. While it would seem that a commonly sought word or phrase would be the best to utilize in an
online marketing campaign, there’s much more to it than that. For example, there could be too
much competition to make a difference with particular keywords.
Furthermore, others may not be worth as much in the long run if they use phrases such as
“free clothes” as those using such keywords aren’t typically in the market to make a purchase.
That’s what makes proper keyword research detrimental. However, once the right keywords and
phrases are researched and confirmed, they should be included in the content of the updated
posts as well as in the titles, subtitles and meta descriptions.
Another important aspect of online marketing is backlinks. This is the process of
including a link to your site on those of others, and there are a number of ways in which this can
be achieved. It takes daily effort, but, slow and steady wins the race. Those who put a priority on
Internet marketing in the business world will employ a staff dedicated to online efforts, and this
best ensures they develop the continual and steady online presence necessary to capture the
attention of search engines.
Networking is a great way to create solid, reliable links to a marketing website. For
example, someone working in an attorney’s office may be seeking new clients. They could write
an article regarding the process of bonding out of jail and link out to a local bail bondsman. The
bail bondsman, in return, will often allow the marketer to place their own link on their website,
and a new marketing relationship is formed. As can be seen in this example, those seeking
attorneys are also often looking for a bail bondsman. When the links are already provided, they
are more likely to visit both websites. Furthermore, when sites such as Google and Yahoo see

6. that a business’s link exists frequently throughout web, more precedence will go toward them
when their keywords are typed for a search query.
Online marketing is still a relatively new industry, so there’s a lot to be discovered and
learned. In this business, marketers need to be aware of when and how things can go wrong and
make sure they do their best to learn from the mistakes of others. There have been a number of
businesses whose marketing campaigns failed and significantly impacted their overall success.
One aspect that has made a negative impact on more than one business is the different
ways large amounts of people will interpret an article, image, or video choosen to post. For
example, Home Depot, in response to an upcoming college sporting event, posted a picture on
Twitter featuring two African Americans seated with a man dressed up in a monkey suit between
them. The post inquired, “Which drummer is not like the others.” While the company claims the
message was not intended to be racist, a large group of consumers were highly offended, and
they protested the marketing attempt using social media to the extent that Home Depot was
forced to remove the image as well as issue public apologies and even fire the marketing agency
in control of their content management.
This is a wonderful example of how, if Internet marketing campaigns are going to be
managed by outside sources, they must be monitored in-house to ensure quality of content as this
is the image current and future customers will use to form their opinions of the business overall.
Another great example of Internet marketing gone wrong is J.P. Morgan and their attempt
to engage angry customers in a question and answer session facilitated online. It was their goal to
get the chance to have a company representative personally address questions and concerns.
However, they failed in their market research to discover the overall attitude at the time of their

7. brand to the millions online. The result was a six-hour session of harassment of the company,
and among the people participating even included respected journalists. The lesson to be learned
from J.P. Morgan is to make sure you use the tools available online to get a better understanding
of current public opinion as this data can help lead you to improved products and services that
will increase overall consumer morale.
It’s important to maintain a professional image no matter how intense a situation may
become. A couple in Scottsdale, AZ was featured on an episode of Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen
Nightmares.” The company, Amy’s Baking Company, received a harsh analysis by Ramsey, and
the public responded negatively to the way the business was run after the show was aired. Rather
than using this negative feedback to make the necessary improvements, the business owners
instead invested time and effort into turning to social media in defense of their business using
harsh language, all CAPS to express anger and outrage, and even expletives. It’s important to
understand that those hidden behind a computer screen feel braver in expressing their negative
feelings. Rather than letting it slow the business down, however, these expressions should
instead be used as constructive criticism to further grow the business (Schultz).
The world of online marketing is still young, and there is much more in the days, weeks,
months and years to come. With new innovations continually being introduced, it can prove to be
an exciting industry. By understanding the history of Internet marketing, being aware of the
types of mistakes that can be made, and being prepared for what new innovations are in store,
marketers will be better able to face the challenges that await in their endeavors to offer
marketing skills to business owners attempting to increase their online sales and traffic.