Digital advertising is the practice of promoting a brand, product, or service through online channels such as websites, search engines, social media, and streaming platforms. These promotions can take many forms—including text, image, audio, and video—and are often delivered to highly specific audiences based on their interests and online activities.
At its core, digital advertising is a multi-faceted process built on several key pillars. These components work together to create effective campaigns that reach the right people with the right message. Understanding them is crucial for any successful online promotion.
The most significant trend is the ongoing shift from traditional advertising to digital channels. As consumers spend more time on computers, smartphones, and streaming devices, brands are following them online. This move allows for greater precision in targeting and real-time campaign adjustments, making advertising more accessible for businesses of all sizes.
New technologies are also shaping the landscape. Generative AI is being used to create more dynamic ad content, while interactive formats like audio and streaming video ads are becoming more common. This focus on data-driven targeting and engaging formats helps brands connect with audiences in more relevant ways.
While often used interchangeably, digital advertising and online marketing have distinct scopes and strategic applications.
While digital advertising offers immense opportunity, navigating its landscape comes with significant hurdles. The same features that make it powerful, like vast options and data, also create major challenges for advertisers.
The future of digital advertising is increasingly automated and personalized. Technologies like generative AI will create dynamic, interactive ads for platforms like streaming TV and smart devices. This shift allows for hyper-targeted campaigns that adapt in real-time, delivering more relevant and immersive experiences to consumers as online engagement continues to grow.
Is digital advertising effective for B2B companies?
Yes, it's highly effective. B2B campaigns leverage platforms like LinkedIn and account-based marketing (ABM) to target specific job titles and industries. This precision allows companies to reach key decision-makers directly, generating high-quality leads and driving significant business growth.
How is the end of third-party cookies affecting digital advertising?
It's shifting the focus to first-party data and contextual advertising. Brands are now building direct relationships with customers to collect data ethically. Ads are increasingly targeted based on the content of a page rather than individual user history, prioritizing privacy while maintaining relevance.
With the rise of ad blockers, is display advertising dead?
Not at all. While ad blockers are a challenge, advertisers are adapting with native ads, sponsored content, and video formats that integrate more naturally into the user experience. The emphasis is on creating less intrusive, value-driven ads that audiences are more willing to engage with.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) software helps teams coordinate personalized marketing and sales efforts to land high-value customer accounts.
A sales coach is a mentor who trains and guides sales reps to enhance their skills, boost performance, and ultimately close more deals effectively.
Chatbots are AI-powered programs that simulate human conversation. They interact with users via text or voice, typically for customer support.
Internal signals are data points from your own systems, like website visits or product usage, that indicate a customer's buying intent.
Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) is a query language used to search your organization's Salesforce data for specific information.
Warm outreach is contacting prospects with whom you have a pre-existing connection, like a mutual contact, making your message more personal and effective.
Learn about branded keywords, including identifying your branded keywords, & strategies for optimizing branded keywords.
A sales cycle is the series of steps a company takes to close a new customer. It starts with prospecting and ends with a signed deal.
A Software Development Kit (SDK) is a set of tools that allows developers to create applications for a specific software package or platform.
Buying intent is the collection of online cues and behaviors that signal a prospect is actively researching and moving toward a purchase decision.
Marketing analytics involves measuring and analyzing marketing data to understand campaign performance and improve return on investment (ROI).
OAuth is an open standard for access delegation. It lets you grant apps access to your data on other services without sharing your password.
A Data Management Platform (DMP) is a tech platform used to collect and manage data, mainly for digital marketing and advertising campaigns.
Customer Data Management (CDM) is the process of collecting, organizing, and analyzing customer data to create a unified view of your audience.
Content syndication is the process of republishing your web content on third-party sites to reach a much wider audience.
Content Rights Management involves controlling the use and distribution of copyrighted digital media to protect intellectual property.
GPCTBA/C&I is a sales qualification framework for understanding a prospect's goals, plans, challenges, timeline, budget, and authority.
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue kept from existing customers, including upsells, downgrades, and churn.
Direct sales involves selling products directly to consumers in a non-retail setting, such as at home, online, or person-to-person.
Demographic segmentation divides a market into groups based on traits like age, gender, and income, allowing for more targeted marketing efforts.
Video hosting is a service that allows users to upload, store, and share video content online, making it accessible for playback anywhere.
Inbound leads are potential customers who proactively reach out after finding your business through content, social media, or search.
A competitive landscape is an analysis of your direct and indirect competitors, revealing their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning.
Functional testing verifies that software performs its intended functions as specified in the requirements, ensuring it works as users expect.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.
A decision-maker is an individual with the authority to make significant choices for a company, especially regarding purchases or strategy.
Responsive design is an approach where a website's layout adapts to the user's screen size, providing an optimal experience on any device.
A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.
Average Customer Life is the average time someone remains a customer. It's a key metric for predicting revenue and measuring customer loyalty.
Consumer buying behavior is the study of how individuals select, buy, and use products and services to satisfy their needs and desires.
A sales sequence is a series of automated touchpoints sent to prospects over time to guide them through the sales funnel.
A sales funnel is a model illustrating the customer's journey from initial awareness to the final purchase, narrowing down leads at each stage.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused B2B strategy where marketing and sales collaborate to target and convert high-value accounts.
An Account Development Representative (ADR) identifies and qualifies new business opportunities, creating a pipeline for account executives.
Average Selling Price (ASP) is the average price at which a particular product or service is sold across different markets and channels.
A System of Record (SoR) is the authoritative data source for a specific type of data. It acts as the single source of truth for an organization.
Marketing Operations (MOps) is the engine of a marketing team, managing the technology, processes, and people to run campaigns effectively.
A cloud-based CRM is a customer relationship management tool hosted online, letting teams access and manage customer data from anywhere.
Learn about B2B data solutions, including unlocking the power of B2B data, & key components of effective B2B data solutions.
API security is the practice of protecting application programming interfaces from attacks, preventing data breaches and unauthorized access.
Email marketing is a digital strategy where businesses send targeted emails to prospects and customers to build relationships and drive sales.
The buyer journey maps the path a potential customer takes, from first learning about a product to the final decision to buy.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud model where a provider delivers a platform for users to develop, run, and manage applications online.
AppExchange is Salesforce's cloud marketplace, offering a vast ecosystem of apps and expert services to extend Salesforce functionality.
A sales presentation is a formal pitch by a salesperson to a prospective customer, showcasing a product or service to secure a sale.
A value statement is a clear, concise declaration of the unique benefits a company provides to its customers, outlining its core purpose.
User Experience (UX) refers to a person's overall feelings and perceptions while interacting with a product, system, or service.
Edge locations are globally distributed data centers that cache content close to users, reducing latency and delivering web content much faster.
Sales training is the process of honing a salesperson's skills and knowledge to enhance their effectiveness and drive sales success.
Lead generation software helps businesses automate finding and capturing potential customers' contact information to build sales pipelines.
Sales operations analytics is the practice of analyzing sales data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire sales process.
On-Target Earnings (OTE) is a salesperson's total potential pay, combining base salary and commission for hitting their sales quota.
Order management is the end-to-end process of tracking customer orders from placement to fulfillment, ensuring a seamless customer experience.
A weighted sales pipeline forecasts revenue by assigning a closing probability to each deal, giving a more accurate picture of potential income.
Channel partners are third-party firms that help market and sell a company's products or services, acting as an indirect sales force.
An on-premise CRM is a system hosted on a company's own servers, offering complete control over data, security, and system maintenance.
Learn about brand awareness, including understanding its importance, building an effective strategy, key metrics to track, & examples in the real world.
An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
Learn about B2B marketing KPIs, including identifying key B2B marketing KPIs, setting achievable KPI targets, B2B vs B2C marketing KPIs: understanding the differences.
Lead management is the process of capturing, nurturing, and qualifying leads to guide them from initial interest to sales-ready.
Dynamic pricing is a strategy where businesses set flexible prices for products or services based on current market demands and other factors.
Outbound sales is when reps proactively contact potential customers through cold calls or emails to generate leads and build a sales pipeline.
CRM hygiene involves regularly cleaning and updating your customer data to ensure your CRM system remains a powerful and reliable tool.
The sales pipeline velocity formula is a key metric that measures how quickly deals move through your pipeline and turn into revenue.
Your email deliverability rate is the percentage of sent emails that successfully land in a recipient's inbox, rather than bouncing or going to spam.
Customer churn rate is the percentage of subscribers or customers who cancel their service with a company during a given time frame.
Generic keywords are broad search terms that lack specific details like brand or location. They attract a wide audience with less specific intent.
Custom Metadata Types store application configurations as metadata. This makes them easily deployable between different Salesforce environments.
"Smile and dial" is a high-volume sales tactic where reps make numerous cold calls from a list, often with little to no prior research.
A weighted pipeline forecasts sales revenue by assigning a closing probability to each deal based on its stage in the sales funnel.
Unit economics are the direct revenues and costs of a business calculated on a per-unit basis, revealing its fundamental profitability.
Trigger marketing uses customer actions or events to automatically send highly relevant, personalized messages at the perfect moment.
Closed Won is a CRM status for a sales deal that has been successfully concluded, resulting in a signed contract and a new customer.
Customer Retention Rate (CRR) is the metric that measures the percentage of customers a company has kept over a specific period of time.
Email engagement measures how your audience interacts with your emails. It includes key actions like opens, clicks, replies, and forwards.
Reverse logistics is the process for goods moving from the customer back to the seller, covering returns, repairs, recycling, and disposal.
Event tracking is the method of collecting data on specific user actions, or 'events,' on a website or app, such as clicks or downloads.
A tire-kicker is a prospect who shows interest in a product but has no intention of buying, wasting a salesperson's time and resources.
Dark social is the sharing of content through private channels like messaging apps or email. This traffic is hard to track as it lacks referral data.
Sales compensation is the total pay a salesperson receives, including salary, commissions, and bonuses, structured to motivate performance.
A sales territory is a specific group of customers or a geographic area that a salesperson or sales team is responsible for managing.
Predictive lead scoring uses AI to analyze data and rank leads by their likelihood to convert, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts.
Network monitoring is the continuous process of tracking a computer network's performance and health to detect and resolve issues proactively.
Sales forecast accuracy is a key metric that compares your predicted sales revenue against the actual sales revenue you ultimately achieve.
A Data Management Platform (DMP) is a software that collects and organizes audience data from various sources for targeted marketing efforts.
Enrichment is the process of adding third-party data to your existing customer profiles to get a more complete picture of your leads.
Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) is the portion of the market you can realistically capture with your current resources, sales, and marketing.
Total Addressable Market (TAM) represents the maximum revenue a company can earn by selling its product or service in a specific market.
Content curation involves gathering, organizing, and sharing the most relevant online content on a specific topic for a particular audience.
A Request for Quotation (RFQ) is a document that a company sends to one or more suppliers to get a quote for specific products or services.
SQL (Structured Query Language) is the standard language for managing and querying data within relational databases.
Territory management is the process of segmenting customers into groups by geography or other factors to optimize sales efforts and resources.
The marketing mix is the set of marketing tools a company uses to sell products, defined by the 4Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
Sales partnerships are strategic alliances where two companies co-sell products to expand their reach, generate new leads, and increase revenue.
Revenue forecasting is the process of estimating a company's future revenue, using historical data and market trends to guide strategic planning.
Virtual selling is the process of selling to customers remotely using technology like video calls, rather than meeting them in person.
An objection is an explicit expression by a prospect that presents a barrier to moving forward in the sales process.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) is a document declaring the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another, outlining the chief terms.
Email personalization uses subscriber data—like their name, interests, or past behavior—to create highly relevant and targeted email campaigns.
Fault tolerance is a system's ability to continue operating without interruption when one or more of its components fail.