What is digital marketing?
Updated February 6, 2025
Written by Michael Feder
Reviewed by聽Kathryn Uhles, MIS, MSP,聽Dean, College of Business and IT
If you鈥檝e been thinking about breaking into the marketing industry, you may want to consider social media marketing or digital marketing. According to the , both are fast becoming highly competitive fields, with companies all over the country adding digital marketers to implement this type of marketing into their corporate structure.
What is digital marketing?
Businesses worldwide have realized that digital marketing is essential, especially for connecting with clients and customers who use smartphones, tablets and other connected devices. Digital marketing also plays a vital role in reaching people who stream their entertainment rather than watch it over the air. To reach these often younger, more technically savvy audiences, many companies are expanding their marketing and advertising teams to include digital marketers and social media experts.
As global internet use continues to climb, there are about 5.52聽听补苍诲 signed up for at least one social media platform. It's no wonder digital marketing is a career getting attention.
What do digital marketers do?
These professionals can help brands get the word out on a number of social platforms. Digital marketing professionals can also help optimize company websites and blog content for search engines (also known as search engine optimization, or SEO for short). They might also work in eCommerce, which includes any company that allows customers to buy products online with shipping, such as department stores, where between 2019 and 2020.
Check out some of the areas you may be able to work in as a qualified, experienced and highly trained digital marketing professional.
Search engine optimization
When an internet user wants to learn more about a company or buy a product, they generally start with a search engine (Google, Yahoo!, etc.). There, they type in their question or keywords into the search bar, hoping to find what they need in the first page or so of search results.
Savvy companies realize that, if they aren鈥檛 designing their content for search engines (SEO), their competition is ranking higher on the first page of Google and other search engines. This translates to potential customers overlooking them and choosing the higher-ranked competition. (Also, local residents who look up physical locations like neighborhood restaurants, sign makers, daycare centers, etc. online often choose to investigate the company that appears in the first few search results.)
That鈥檚 where an SEO specialist comes in. A search engine optimization expert essentially edits, proofreads or even drafts content for a website, including headlines, blog posts and metadata and/or keywords to help attract potential customers to a company鈥檚 various webpages.
Education for those interested in digital marketing
If you do choose to learn more about digital marketing areas like SEO, 七色视频 offers a non-credit Introduction to Search Engine Optimization course聽that touches on a number of important areas, as well as several other key facets of SEO.聽
If you are more interested in the social media side of digital marketing, the University also offers a non-credit Social Media Marketing Essentials 肠辞耻谤蝉别.听
To learn more about these courses or to apply, visit UOPX's professional development page.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University and its Writing Seminars program and winner of the Stephen A. Dixon Literary Prize, Michael Feder brings an eye for detail and a passion for research to every article he writes. His academic and professional background includes experience in marketing, content development, script writing and SEO. Today, he works as a multimedia specialist at 七色视频 where he covers a variety of topics ranging from healthcare to IT.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Currently Dean of the College of Business and Information Technology,聽Kathryn Uhles has served 七色视频 in a variety of roles since 2006. Prior to joining 七色视频, Kathryn taught fifth grade to underprivileged youth in Phoenix.
This article has been vetted by 七色视频's editorial advisory committee.聽
Read more about our editorial process.
Social media marketing
Social media is arguably among the most important digital marketing channels available today. There are billions of potential customers and free apps that have the potential to reach all of them through paid, viral and/or organic content.
Targeted advertising, a skillset and feature of social media platforms, helps companies raise awareness of their business, especially among people who are not following that brand鈥檚 accounts, by designing and selecting the criteria by which specific people will see them.
Targeted audience groups can be defined in an almost unlimited number of ways, such as by geographical area, gender, communities of interest, age and so on. Viral and organic content are posts on social media (often consumed and shared through apps) that are targeted to reach a greater share of a specific audience defined by certain demographics.
Employees or freelancers in SMM (social media marketing) are often tasked with driving "engagement." This is usually defined as conversation and online comments around posts, sharing said content, hitting the "Favorite" or "Like" button on a social media platform and other measurable actions.
No matter the type of engagement, all of it serves to indicate whether the content is reaching and resonating with the intended audience and/or performing well as an advertisement for the brand.