There are those who think, and not a few, that digital marketing is completely unrelated to marketing, and that marketing, often also called traditional marketing, has nothing to do with digital marketing.
It is a mistake. It is possible to assume that those who think this way believe that marketing has become obsolete with the emergence of digital marketing, to the point of thinking that digital marketing is not marketing.

The Marketing

There are several concepts about marketing. One of them, well recognized, is the concept of Philip Kotler, an American considered a great specialist in marketing.

According to Kotler, marketing is the social and managerial process through which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, exchanging and freely trading products, services and values.

For Philip Kotler, needs describe basic human requirements, such as food, water, air, shelter, but there is also a need for recreation, education and entertainment. These needs turn into desires when they are addressed to specificities capable of bringing satisfaction.

To exemplify the need that turns into desire, it is appropriate to mention Marcos Henrique Cobra, a Brazilian specialist in marketing, author of several books on the subject. Marcos Cobra says that needs turn into desires when they are directed towards the satisfaction of specific objects. Someone may be thirsty, which is a need, but they may have a desire to quench their thirst with a specific drink.
In the definition of marketing by the American Marketing Association (AMA), in addition to being a series of activities, marketing is also a set of processes and institutions, focused on creating and communicating offers that have value not only for consumers, but for those who produces and for society as a whole.

The Digital Marketing
There are some interesting concepts and definitions about digital marketing.

Tânia Limeira, a Brazilian author specializing in cultural marketing, points out that with the evolution of information and communication technology, especially the internet, marketing has evolved into the so-called electronic marketing, e-marketing or digital marketing, a concept that expresses the set of actions of marketing mediated by electronic channels such as the internet, in which the customer controls the amount and type of information received.

The Brazilian author and communication specialist Regina Marteleto says that this new marketing tool involves the company and the consumer in a way that makes it possible for the market environment to reach previously impossible points with its product or service, and also allows the customer the power of choice and acceptance. In addition, the internet drives growth and makes a service or product known in the market, as well as destroying in a short time the reputation of years conquered with traditional media.
Wagner Patrick Oliveira, a Brazilian journalist specializing in new educational technologies, says that digital marketing has the same concept and focus as traditional marketing, what makes it different is the communication and information distribution tools, which are carried out through digital resources. for the promotion of products, brands, ideas and other actions. These tools include the internet, web sites, blogs, social media, e-commerce, mobile marketing, email, and other formats that appear every day.

Philip Kotler says that digital marketing has become a tool of great importance, and with it new challenges have arisen, such as new information technologies, which have made instant, international and decentralized communication possible.
According to Kotler, digital marketing should look for a lasting relationship with the customer. In the digital age, it is very important that companies, in addition to winning new customers, seek to reduce customer turnover, with loyalty, as possible.

Englishman Neil Patel, renowned digital marketing entrepreneur, has his definitions of digital marketing. For Patel, digital marketing is the set of digital tactics that businesses, or individuals, use to achieve their marketing goals. These tactics are instituted through channels such as SEO, paid media, email and their main goals are: acquiring customers, developing a brand and connecting with the target Audience. Patel believes that digital marketing is a set of strategies aimed at generating results online and offline for companies, brands and individuals.

It is often difficult to say, determine or point out a concept or definition about something. So much so that the definition or concept of something today does not necessarily make much sense in the future.
And Patel also believes that digital marketing should be understood as a dynamic concept. According to Neil Patel, digital marketing is renewed at every moment, and in the digital universe, there are constant changes, with strategies, audiences, channels, etc.

Neil Patel has another more synthetic definition of digital marketing. For him, the best definition of digital marketing is: a means of communicating with potential customers in an online and dynamic way, following technological trends.

Digital Marketing and Ethics

Brazilian lawyer and author Jean Erenberg argues that the use of the internet as an advertising medium does not always bring good results. According to Jean Erenberg, the reasons are essentially the lack of authorization to establish commercial contact, and the inappropriate use of marketing instruments. Erenberg emphasizes that electronic mail is the target of harmful activities to customers, such as spam, civil and criminal torts, offering illegal products and services, misleading and abusive advertising.

Argentine lawyer and author Ricardo Luiz Lorenzetti taught that in the digital age, the right to computer privacy should be the individual surfing the internet without the risk of their data being guided and sent to an unknown location. The right to purchase a product or service in the virtual environment without the obligation to provide sensitive, personal and professional data, habits, etc., and without a breach of confidentiality of consumer data by the supplier.

Danilo Doneda, Brazilian author and lawyer specializing in data protection and privacy, argues that it is terrible when the individual, in addition to not being aware of the purpose of the data, still does not know that they are captured without prior notice, without consulting if the client wants to provide personal data and allow its use for numerous purposes.

The digital marketing professional

About the digital marketer, Neil Patel says something that is also true for the marketer and the entrepreneur. Patel says that the digital marketing professional must always be up to date, act in a relevant way towards the customer, the competition and other marketing operators in the digital world.