Marketing has been around for ages, from people going door to sell Tupperware to paper boys yelling on the street trying to sell a newspaper. Digital marketing however is much newer since it was invented with the growth of the internet. One of the key points noted as the start of the internet was in 1971, when Ray Tomlinson sent the very first email. Although Tomlinson sent the email to himself, his technology set the platform to allow people to send and receive files through different machines.

the history of digital marketing

After that, technology was a machine to be reckoned with. The first search engine was called Archie. The search engine Archie was going to be named Archives, but the name was to long, so they shortened it. While the world wide web was not invented yet, around the time that Archie was live, so files were sent using file transfer protocol. This was set up by someone starting a file transfer and another person had to connect with a file transfer client. Leading up to that the first clickable ad banner went live in 1993. While everything else was what enabled the start of digital marketing, the first clickable ad banner was the start a transition to selling product online.

According to Isidro Fierro, Dean of the international studies at Holy Spirit University, digital marketing was first used in the 1990s to advertise to customers. Later digital marketing grew into a tool to engage with customers. Digital marketing grew into a tool to engage with customers because the internet was a way to store customer information easier than paper forms. This in turn caused businesses to be able to continuously interact with their repeat customers and form a connection. By the year 2000, iPhone and Google became popular causing people to search for products anywhere instead of only in their homes. Between the years 2000-2006 was when multiple social media websites were born, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

the history of digital marketing

To survive this boom in social media digital marketing adapted by having 4 aspects to make their work successful, this was web/mobile marketing, search engine optimization, social networking, and customer relationship management. Web/mobile marketing is the mobile or web platform that allows business to sell their product. Search engine optimization is about how people use search engines and how businesses pay to move their business to the top.  Social networking is about building a network with people through social media. Lastly, Customer relationship management is about creating a bond with the customers and building a network.

To learn more about how digital marketing can impact your business, be sure to reach out to Workspace Digital today!

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