What is Digital Marketing? A Primer for Business Leaders
By: Crystal Bosch
October 21, 2026
Digital marketing is a regular topic in business meetings these days, but if you’re a business leader who doesn’t work these tools every day, keeping up with the terminology can be a challenge.
So, what is digital marketing, and what should you understand about it? You don’t need to become an expert in every platform or technology to have productive conversations with your marketing team. But understanding the fundamentals can help you make more informed decisions, ask better questions and recognize how digital marketing contributes to your organization’s success.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Simply put, digital marketing is the practice of promoting products, services or brands through digital channels. That includes advertising on search engines, websites, social media, streaming television and other online platforms. The big difference between digital marketing and traditional advertising methods is its ability to reach specific audiences and measure how they respond.
For example, rather than running a TV ad intended to reach everyone in a particular market, digital marketing can help you reach people based on their interests, online behaviors or geographic location. It also gives marketing teams the ability to monitor campaign performance and make adjustments while ads are running.
That combination of targeting, flexibility and measurement makes digital marketing a valuable part of today’s marketing mix.
Understanding the Different Types of Digital Marketing
One reason digital marketing can seem complicated is the sheer number of channels and tactics available. Each serves a different purpose, and you’ll likely hear your marketing team discussing several of them.
Here are some of the most common:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO/AEO): Helping your business appear in traditional search results and AI-generated answers when people look for relevant information, products or services.
- Paid Search: Purchasing ads that appear in search engine results when people search for specific keywords.
- Display Advertising: Placing visual ads across websites and apps to build awareness and encourage engagement.
- Social Media Marketing: Using paid ads and organic content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn to connect with audiences.
- Video Advertising: Reaching audiences through video ads on YouTube, social media and other digital platforms.
- Connected TV (CTV): Delivering television commercials through internet-connected streaming platforms rather than traditional broadcast or cable.
- Content Marketing: Creating blogs, articles, videos and other resources that inform audiences and build credibility.
- Email Marketing: Communicating directly with customers and prospects to strengthen relationships and encourage action.
- Programmatic Advertising: Using automated technology to purchase digital ads and reach specific audiences efficiently.
- Retargeting: Reconnecting with people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand.
Some of these tactics are better for introducing your brand to new audiences, while others help turn existing interest into action. Understanding those differences makes it easier to evaluate why your marketing team might recommend one channel over another.
How Digital Marketing Fits Into the Media Mix
Digital marketing complements traditional advertising channels by providing additional targeting, engagement and measurement opportunities.
Consider a business launching a new product. Television and outdoor advertising might introduce it to a broad audience. Social media and display ads can reinforce that message, while paid search helps potential customers find the product when they’re ready to learn more.
The most effective media strategies consider how these channels work together rather than treating digital and traditional advertising as separate efforts.
Understanding Digital Marketing Performance
You’ll probably hear your marketing team talk about metrics like impressions, click-through rates (CTR), conversions and cost per acquisition (CPA). These numbers help explain how campaigns are performing.
Impressions measure how often an advertisement is displayed. CTR shows the percentage of impressions that generate clicks. Conversions track desired actions, such as purchases or form submissions. CPA measures how much it costs to generate each acquisition.
But these individual metrics don’t tell the whole story. A campaign designed to build awareness should be evaluated differently than one focused on generating sales leads. That’s why establishing clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) before launching a campaign is so important.
Connected analytics and dashboards bring performance data from multiple channels into one place, helping marketing teams and business leaders see how their investments are working together.
The most valuable question you need to answer is whether the campaign is helping accomplish your organization’s business objectives.
Making More Informed Marketing Decisions
Business leaders don’t need to understand every technical detail behind digital marketing; that’s what marketing professionals are for. But having a working knowledge of the different channels and how results are measured makes it easier to participate in strategic conversations.
It also helps shift the discussion from individual tactics to bigger questions about audience reach, marketing effectiveness and business growth. Ultimately, understanding digital marketing is about recognizing how the right combination of strategy, technology and media can help your organization connect with customers and achieve its goals.
Make Your Digital Marketing Work for Your Business
The right digital marketing strategy can help your organization reach new audiences, strengthen customer relationships and drive measurable growth. At Odney, we help businesses make smarter marketing decisions by connecting the right channels and tactics to their goals. Contact us and let’s talk about how we can put digital marketing to work for your business.
