The definition of eMarketing

Before we can delve into digital marketing, it’s important to understand the
fundamentals that underpin marketing itself. After all, digital marketing has the
same purpose, intentions and objectives.Dr Philip Kotler defines marketing as follows, “Marketing is that function of the organisation that can keep in constant touch with the organisation’s consumers,
read their needs, develop products that meet these needs, and build a programme
of communications to express the organisation’s purposes”.

How does digital marketing fit into this definition? There is, in fact, no basic
difference between ‘traditional’ marketing and digital marketing. They are one
and the same. Ultimately, the aim of any type of marketing is to keep customers and stimulate
sales in the future. Digital communication tools make it possible to connect and
build long-term relationships with customers.
Digital marketing helps to create consumer demand by using the power of the
interconnected, interactive web. It enables the exchange of currency but, more
than that, it enables the exchange of attention for value. This is referred to as the
attention economy.Digital marketing is powerful in two fundamental ways. First, the audience can be
segmented very precisely – even down to factors like current location and recent
brand interactions – which means that messages can (and must) be personalised
and tailored specially for them.
Second, the digital sphere is almost completely measurable – every minute and
every click by a customer can be accounted for. In digital you can see exactly how
various campaigns are performing, which channels bring the most benefit, and
where your efforts are best focused.

Source: Rov Stokes, eMarketing: the essential guide to marketing in a digital world, p 4-5