The main advantage of digital is that it allows for advanced system support that humans cannot provide. For example, it is possible to improve customer experience and increase conversions by making personalized suggestions based on web behavior history.
There are already an increasing number of cases where IT companies are using customer data from CRM and CMS to carry out personalized digital marketing. However, the fact remains that there are still many companies that want to implement this in the future.
This article is aimed at corporate representatives who want to undertake more advanced digital marketing or are considering introducing digital marketing. It greece telegram phone number list provides an overview of digital marketing, provides success stories, and provides points to keep in mind when formulating and implementing measures.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing refers to marketing using digital means.
Digital marketing became common in Japan in the 1990s. With the huge success of Windows 95 and the spread of mobile phones and the Internet, ordinary consumers began to see digital media such as corporate websites, web advertisements, and e-mail newsletters.
From a modern perspective, "digital marketing" and "web marketing" are often perceived as the same thing, but they are actually different concepts.
Digital marketing is a general term for "marketing methods that use the Internet and IT technology." Web marketing, on the other hand, is "marketing methods that are centered around websites."
This is because digital refers to a general concept that contrasts with analog, while web is limited to internet-related things.
First, let's take a look at "digital marketing," a concept that goes beyond web marketing. Furthermore, let's take a look at the development of digital marketing and roughly check what methods are available.
Digital marketing is a higher concept than web marketing
Digital marketing and web marketing concept illustration
(Source: Conceptual diagram of digital marketing and web marketing )
Digital technology is not limited to the web (internet). Modern big data utilization technology and AI processing are also digital technologies. Digital terrestrial broadcasting can also be viewed through an app because it is digitally distributed, and the use of TV media is also a type of digital marketing.
Digital marketing literally means "digital marketing," that is, it refers to all marketing methods that utilize digital technology.
Marketing that utilizes digital technology covers a fairly wide range of areas, including the Internet, apps, digital signage, IT technology, and AI technology.
Digital marketing is a higher concept than web marketing, and the relationship between the two is as follows:
Digital Marketing
Web Marketing
Web media (web advertising, websites, SNS, email, etc.)
Non-Web Channels
SMS (mobile lines), terrestrial digital (TV), etc.
System-based marketing
CMS, MA and other systems
Big Data
AI
Nowadays, when we think of digital, we tend to think of the Internet, and we tend to think of digital marketing and web marketing as synonymous. However, digital also includes technology in general, and we should not forget the perspective of system utilization in particular.
Digital Marketing Development Stages
In order to clarify the types of digital marketing, let's take a look at the history of digital marketing.
From a modern perspective, it makes sense to think of the development of digital marketing as having gone through the following four stages:
Digitalization of advertising media (late 1990s onwards)
Digitalization of purchasing channels and customer service (since 2000)
Management analysis, digitalization of policies (2000s~)
Fusion of online and real life (2010s~)
This will provide an overview of the history of digital marketing, including examples from Japan, which was described as at the forefront of mobile technology in the 1990s and was a pioneer in digital marketing.
Digitalization of advertising media
In the 20th century, advertising was dominated by the four major media (TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines). However, from the mid-1990s, the number of users of digital devices and web services increased worldwide, and digital media began to attract attention as an advertising medium from industries other than telecommunications companies and web services.
Specifically, it was the worldwide spread of personal computers and the Internet, and the sudden spread of mobile phones in Japan. Internet hyperlinks were a groundbreaking technology that allowed people all over the world to access the Internet, but the number of users worldwide was limited. In Japan, the "i-mode" mobile phone was introduced, and mobile Internet services were already in use.
Initially, due to limitations in communication infrastructure and hardware performance, simple methods were used, except for some content industries. Typical examples include banner and text link advertisements, and information provision via email and websites. Currently, the media and means of web advertising have become extremely diverse.
Digitalization of purchasing channels and customer service
In the 2000s, websites were established as a sales channel (EC site) in addition to providing information. As we entered an era where everyone has a smartphone, consumers began to take their time to carefully consider products and services by checking reviews and EC sites before purchasing them.
In addition, the means of communication with consumers have shifted from traditional telephone and letter to digital means. At the time, text communication via web forms and email was mainstream, but now we can use real-time two-way communication such as video calls and chats, as well as AI-based automated response tools.
Management analysis and digitalization of measures
As companies have begun to systematize their business processes and utilize data, the wave of digitalization has also spread to marketing operations.
As customer information becomes increasingly organized into databases, systems are able to provide individually optimized responses, such as product recommendations based on purchasing history and targeted advertising based on browsing history.
Nowadays, companies of all sizes and types can use web and data processing technology to carry out efficient marketing. A dedicated MA (marketing automation) system can be used to identify and analyze the existence of "existing customers" and "anonymous potential customers," and can be used to plan and implement measures, as well as to automatically execute measures.
