One of the first things to understand about digital marketing is the increased prominence and importance it plays particularly when compared to the demise of more traditional advertising channels like television and newspapers.

21st Century consumer behaviour has fundamentally changed forever. Just like the introduction of machiner led to an industrial revolution which changed society in the 19th Century, the digital revolution has had an even greater impact. Every aspect of how we live today is ultimately influenced and guided by technology.

From an entertainment point of view, the era of programmed, linear and scheduled content has been replaced with non-linear and on demand services. Television has become a victim to "zipping & zapping" - the fast forwarding of advertisements due to the increased number of digital plus services which offer live recording or series link. Consumers can also, of course, bypass television altogether and watch content with services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, RTE Player and even YouTube.  All of this, of course, enables the consumer to avoid the expensive advertisements messages.

Newspaper advertising has also suffered due to the decreasing numbers of readers and customers. While the content and analysis of newspapers are often excellent, the fact remains that the printed versions are essentially selling yesterday’s news in an era of real time news access via websites, apps and social media.

Companies have recognised that traditional channels are no longer providing the same reach or impact and are looking at alternative ways in which to reach their markets. This is where we introduce digital marketing.

There is an old advertising saying, ‘half your advertising budget is wasted…the question is which half?’ Well with digital marketing we can identify which half is waste…and eliminate it.

Ultimately the key selling point of Digital Advertising is that it allows businesses to see how many people have seen their advertisement, how many people clicked on their advertisement and how many people bought their product.

In part 2 of the Rise in Digital Marketing series, we’ll explore more about what digital marketing actually is and how it works.