Digital Marketing Overview

Principles

Definition

Digital marketing is an academic field and methodological approach that investigates the strategies, techniques, and impact of promoting brands, products, and services through digital channels and technologies. It examines the effective use of online platforms to understand consumer behavior, optimize communication, and achieve organizational objectives.

Ontological type

Core Channels

Key Strategies

Measurement Metrics

Key developments

Key Figures

Analytic Diffusion Foundations era

Eric von Hippel [1] is associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [3] during the Analytic Diffusion Foundations era. Eric von Hippel [1] articulated the Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts [6] (1986), a contribution that reframed product concept generation as a measurable, diffusion-relevant driver in this era. Everett M. Rogers [2] is associated with Harvard University [4] and Stanford University [5] during the Analytic Diffusion Foundations era. Everett M. Rogers [2] introduced New Product Adoption and Diffusion [7] (1976), a foundational diffusion theory that shaped adoption modeling and the measurement of campaign effects in this era.

Networked Trust and Engagement era

Thomas W. Valente [1], associated with the University of California, San Francisco [2] and Johns Hopkins University [3], exemplifies the networked trust and engagement era. His 2003 work Diffusion of innovations [4] advances our understanding of how ideas and behaviors diffuse through social networks, clarifying diffusion mechanisms and the role of influencers, which was pivotal for shaping trust-building and peer-to-peer engagement in mediated spaces. Valente [1] argues that network structure, diffusion dynamics, and peer effects are central to trust signals in online communities and platform-mediated marketing, providing metrics that informed networked marketing practice. In this era, Valente [1]’s insights help practitioners operationalize trust, measure perceived risk, and design interventions that leverage endorsements and peer influence to sustain engagement.

Platform-Driven Marketing Ecosystems era

David B. Nieborg [1] is associated with the University of Toronto [3] and the University of Amsterdam [4] in this era. His key contribution in this era centers on The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural commodity [6], articulating how platform governance and algorithmic attention shape value, visibility, and monetization in platform-driven marketing ecosystems. Thomas Poell [2] is associated with the University of Pennsylvania [5] and the University of Toronto [3] in this era. His contribution in this era centers on The platformization of cultural production: Theorizing the contingent cultural commodity [6], co-authored with Nieborg, which further illuminates how platform-driven ranking, influencer economies, and data governance reconfigure creative production and measurement norms.