I have a simple three word mantra that cuts to the heart of successful website promotion. If you are ever asked to describe the essence of digital marketing in three words, use these ones. Attract, Retain, Convert.

The search and Internet marketing sector has been a defining presence in the digital marketing space for over a decade. Most search marketing firms of note have been around long enough to understand the digitalization of all things media. For advertisers, the media is the medium in that its the places advertisers spread their messages.

What used to be the media; billboards, handbills, newspapers, radio and television is now (or soon to be), every surface imaginable. Four years ago, my father treated me to a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Our first-base line tickets gave us a great view of the left-field outfield fence in which a series of massive screens scrolled through ads. These screens were embedded in the outfield fence and built to take the punishment of a 225lb athlete running headlong into them in pursuit of a long fly ball. Even more interesting, the ads tended not to repeat themselves. They were being drawn from what must have been a massive database of digital messages.

We are rapidly moving towards the digital personalization of advertising, much like Google and Yahoo! serve text ads based on user behaviours. A few years from now when you are waiting for a bus, the digital access device you’re using might be fed ads generated by your personal proximity to that particular bus stop. Imagine if those screens at Rogers Centre could be programmed that way. Now, imagine if the ads in the bus or on the subway changed based on the proximity of unique observers. The proximity of web-capable devices sending specific consumer information to the database of ads. Heck, if Google can do it for web surfing, why can’t the digital signal providers do it for subscribers? They can and in some baby-step ways they already are. Digital advertising is increasingly relying on the laws of proximate attraction.

Attraction, Digital Marketing and ROI
The first law of digital marketing is the law of attraction. Because digital marketers know far more about their prospective audience than traditional marketers did, it is far easier to put messages in front of consumers who are truly interested in the product being advertised. It is also far easier for those consumers to find information about products through search engines and social media.

In traditional media channels, the onus was on the advertisers to create compelling images and copy to attract the attention of consumers. That part of the equation has not changed. What has changed is the number of channels or venues available to marketers in a digital age, and how marketers are better able to use consumer information to push messages to consumers.

On the Internet, well designed websites, social media campaign and destination pages are essential to providing an attractive, compelling and generally helpful environment for the consumer to visit. Online advertisers have a larger tool chest available to them to craft and deliver their messages. The art of attraction is actually easier today than ever before though the number of attractive options for advertisers can appear to be overwhelming. Because digital marketing is far less expensive than traditional marketing, a lower investment of hard dollars is required for entry thus making a return on that investment simpler to realize.

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