# Digital marketing: the whole picture in one guide

URL: https://tnb-tech.com/en/digitalen-marketing-vsichko-koeto-tryabva-da-znaem/

- Published: 2023-06-20
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Author: Boryana Balcheva

**A guide for anyone who wants to understand digital marketing before putting money or years into it: what it is, what it is made of, how it is measured and where to start.**

## What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is the work a business does to find, persuade and keep customers online. It covers the website and what is on it, visibility in search engines, social media, email and paid advertising. Two things set it apart from traditional marketing — television, radio, print and billboards: the message reaches people who are already searching or showing interest, and almost every step from the first impression to the purchase can be measured.

The word “digital” describes the medium, not the goal. The goal is the same as in any marketing: the right person hears about you exactly when they need you, believes you, buys and comes back. What is new is that almost every action leaves a trace, and the trace shows what works.

This guide is for owners and managers who are considering digital marketing for their business, and for people who want to understand the field before they choose it as a career. Terms are explained where they appear or link to [our glossary](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/).

## How it differs from traditional and online marketing

“Online marketing” and “internet marketing” are other names for the same thing, and in Bulgaria all three are used interchangeably. Strictly speaking, “digital” is the widest of them: it also covers channels outside the browser, such as mobile apps, text messages and screens in shops.

The difference from traditional marketing is real, and it shows in four places:

- **Who the message reaches.** A TV spot or a billboard speaks to everyone who watches or walks past. Online, the message is shown to people chosen by what they search for, what interests them and where they are.
- **How you pay.** Airtime and ad space are bought in advance, for a fixed period. Online you pay per impression, per click or per result, and a campaign can be stopped or changed the same day.
- **What you learn afterwards.** With a billboard you know roughly how many people pass it. With an online campaign you know how many saw it, how many clicked and how many bought.
- **Which way the conversation flows.** Print and broadcast speak in one direction. Online, people answer back — with a comment, a message or a review — and their answer stays visible to everyone.

None of this makes traditional channels redundant: for a local business with a broad audience, radio or outdoor advertising often does a job the internet cannot. The two approaches complement each other.

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/475/conversions/digital-marketing-card.webp)

## Why does digital marketing matter for a business?

Because buying decisions now start online. Before someone calls, orders or walks into a shop, they search, compare and read reviews — and if they do not find you, they compare everyone else. Digital marketing is how you are there at that moment, and how you know what it cost you to be there.

For a business, that means four practical things:

- **You reach people who are already looking.** A search query is a need put into words: you are not interrupting anyone, you are answering a question.
- **You can start small.** One channel can be tested on a small budget and expanded only once it shows results.
- **You see what comes back.** Spend and results sit in one report: how much was spent, and how many enquiries and sales came in.
- **You stay in touch with the customer.** Email and social media let you keep talking to people after they have bought, and that is where repeat sales and recommendations come from.

There is a price too. A competitor is one click away, platforms change their rules without warning, and some channels take months to deliver. That is why digital marketing is not a one-off campaign but ongoing work.

![Digital marketing: managing the Facebook page of Radans OOD](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/484/conversions/Top-View-2-scaled-card.webp)

*Pictured: managing the Facebook page of [Radans OOD](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/radans/).*

## Types of digital marketing

Digital marketing is not one tool but several channels with different jobs. Some capture demand that already exists — search engines. Some create it — social media and video. Others keep in touch with people who already know you — email.

![Types of digital marketing](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/478/conversions/digital-marketing-with-icons-business-people-scaled-card.webp)

### Search and SEO

SEO (search engine optimisation) is the work of getting your site into the unpaid results when someone searches for what you offer. It covers the technical state of the site, the content of its pages and the links from other sites to yours. Its strength is that it puts you in front of people with a clear need, and the visits do not stop when the budget does. Its weakness is that results take months, not days.

What this work looks like now that some answers come from artificial intelligence is described on our page on [SEO and AI search](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/seo/).

### Content marketing

Content marketing means publishing something people would look for even if you were not selling to them: an answer to a question, a comparison, a guide, a video on how to use the product. It works twice — it brings visitors from search engines and it persuades those who are already comparing. It asks for consistency more than budget: one good page brings visits for years, ten shallow ones bring nothing.

How to plan it and where to begin is covered in the article [What content marketing is and how to put it into practice](https://tnb-tech.com/kakvo-e-content-marketing-i-kak-da-go-prilozhim-na-praktika/) (in Bulgarian).

![Video content in digital marketing](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/486/conversions/brands-people-FJDuN4eQEO8-unsplash-scaled-card.webp)

### Social media marketing

On social media people are not looking for anything in particular, so that is where you earn attention rather than wait for demand. A page on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn does three things: it shows the company is alive and answers, it builds a community around it, and it gives paid advertising an audience. Which network is yours depends on where your customers are, not on which one is newest.

How to choose the network and the content is explained in our article on [social media marketing](https://tnb-tech.com/social-media-marketing-zashto-e-vazhen-za-savremennia-biznes/) (in Bulgarian). What running them looks like as a service is described on the page on [social media management](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/upravlenie-na-socialni-mrezhi/).

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/480/conversions/Screenshot-2023-08-23-163746-card.webp)

![Digital marketing: managing the Facebook and Instagram pages of Podo centre](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/481/conversions/Top-View-Landscape-scaled-card.webp)

*Pictured: managing the Facebook and Instagram pages of [Podo centre](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/podo-centre/).*

### Email marketing

Email marketing means sending messages to people who signed up to receive them: news, offers, a reminder about an abandoned basket, advice after a purchase. It is the channel for repeat sales, and on your own ground — the list is yours and does not depend on someone else’s algorithm. It works for as long as every email is worth opening.

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/479/conversions/amazon-email-marketing-card.webp)

### Paid advertising in search and on social media

Paid advertising buys a place in front of a precisely chosen audience. In search engines the ad is shown to someone who is searching for your term right now, and you pay per click — hence the name PPC (pay per click). On social media, ads are shown by interest, behaviour and location to people who have not been looking for you. The third variety is [remarketing](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/remarketing/): ads aimed at people who have already been to your site.

The strength of paid advertising is speed — the first data arrives within days — and precise measurement. Its weakness: when the budget stops, so do the visits. When every campaign is judged by orders and revenue rather than impressions, that is [performance marketing](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/parformans-marketing/).

How a search campaign is planned is described on our page on [Google Ads management](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/google-reklama/). If you are torn between SEO and advertising, we compare them in the article [SEO or paid advertising: which to choose](https://tnb-tech.com/seo-vs-paid-advertisements-koe-da-izberete-za-vashia-biznes/) (in Bulgarian).

When the question is no longer “what is it” but “who will plan and run the campaigns”, the answer is on our page on [digital advertising](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/digitalen-marketing/).

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/482/conversions/google-ads-card.webp)

![Avtokompleks Haris: PPC ads on Google](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/483/conversions/google-ads-01-card.webp)

*Pictured: Google Ads for [Avtokompleks Haris](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/avtokompleks-haris-google-ads/).*

### Affiliate and influencer marketing

In [influencer marketing](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/influensar-marketing/) you pay someone with a social media audience to present your product to it. In affiliate marketing you pay a site or an author a commission on every sale that comes through their link or discount code. Both channels borrow someone else’s trust: they work when the partner’s audience matches your customers and when the paid partnership is disclosed openly.

![Social media marketing](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/485/conversions/influencermarketing-card.webp)

## How do the channels work together?

People rarely buy the first time they come across a company. Usually they see it on social media, search for it on Google later, read a page or a review, get an email or see an ad again — and only then buy. The channels do not compete with each other: each one carries a different part of that journey.

The four stages of that journey are known as the customer journey:

1. **Awareness.** The person learns that you exist — from a post, a video, an ad or a search result.
2. **Consideration.** They compare you with others: they read the site, the reviews and the terms, and watch how you answer questions.
3. **Purchase.** They decide. A clear offer, an easy order and a quick reply carry the weight here.
4. **Retention.** They come back and recommend you — if the product kept its promise and you stay in touch.

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/476/conversions/user-path-card.webp)

The same journey, seen from the business side, is called the [marketing funnel](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/marketingova-funiya/) or sales funnel. Many people enter at the top as they first notice you (TOFU — top of the funnel), those who are comparing stay in the middle (MOFU), and the ones ready to buy reach the bottom (BOFU).

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/477/conversions/sales-funel-card.webp)

The funnel is useful for one thing: it shows at which stage you lose people. If many see you and few ask, the problem is in the middle — in the site and the offer, not in the advertising. That is also why channels are chosen by stage. Social media and video work at the top, content, SEO and reviews in the middle, search ads and remarketing at the decision, and email after the purchase.

All of them lead to one place: your website. If it is slow or unclear, every channel in front of it works at half strength — which is why [website development](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/izrabotka-na-sayt/) and marketing are planned together.

## Examples of successful marketing campaigns

The most quoted examples in marketing were not born digital — and that is exactly why they are useful: they show that the channel does not replace the idea. Below are five well-known campaigns, each with one lesson, and three measured examples from our own work.

### Apple: “Think Different”

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/487/conversions/Apple-Think-Different-Campaign-card.webp)

At the centre of the campaign are not computers but people who changed the world — scientists, artists, musicians. The brand stands next to them. The lesson: people choose what a product says about them before they compare its specifications.

### Nike: “Just Do It”

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/488/conversions/nike-card.webp)

Three words addressed to the person, not the shoe, and the same in every channel for decades. The lesson: a brand that says the same thing for long enough does not have to introduce itself again.

### Coca-Cola: “Share a Coke”

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/489/conversions/coca-cola-campaign-card.webp)

The logo on the label gives way to first names, and people start looking for their own, photographing the bottle and showing it to others. The lesson: personalisation works when it gives customers a reason to talk about the brand themselves.

### Dove: “Real Beauty”

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/490/conversions/dove-campaign-card.webp)

Instead of models, the ads show women of different ages and looks. The lesson: a stance on a subject that matters to customers sets a brand apart more than any product description.

### Red Bull and extreme sports

![](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/491/conversions/redbull-card.webp)

Red Bull says little about the drink itself: it organises and films competitions people want to watch anyway. The lesson: a brand can be a publisher — creating the content instead of paying to interrupt it.

### Three examples from our own work

Big campaigns show the idea; small ones show the numbers. Three of our projects with a measured, published result:

- The Facebook campaign for the van and truck dealer [123Vans&Trucks](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/123-vans-trucks-lead-generation/) brought in more than 180 enquiries in under a week.
- For the online shoe store [Alesimo](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/alesimo-meta-ads/), a new structure for its Facebook and Instagram ads brought +220 % in sales over two months and +25 % in return on ad spend (ROAS).
- For the leather shoe brand [Demetra Shoes](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/demetra-shoes/), the Facebook and Instagram campaigns brought in more than €12,700 in revenue in the first month of advertising.

All three are paid social advertising — the channel where results show fastest. With SEO and content the arithmetic is the same, but the timescale is different.

## How are results measured?

With a few numbers, chosen in advance. Before the campaign you decide which action counts as a result — an order, an enquiry or a call — and set up tracking for it. Then each channel is judged by how many of those actions it brought and at what cost, not by impressions and likes.

Five numbers matter:

- [Conversion rate](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/protsent-na-realizatsia/) — the share of visitors who take the action you want. It shows whether the site and the offer persuade.
- [Cost per acquisition](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/tsena-na-realizatsia/) (CPA) — how much advertising money one order or one enquiry costs.
- [ROAS](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/roas/) — how much revenue each euro spent on advertising brings back. Read it together with the margin: high revenue without profit is not a result.
- [Clickthrough rate](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/chestota-na-klikvane/) (CTR) — the share of people who saw the ad or the result and clicked. It shows whether the message matches what they expected.
- [Customer lifetime value](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/lifetime-value/) (LTV) — how much one customer brings in over the whole time they buy from you. It decides how much you can afford to pay to win them.

Followers, likes and impressions are left off the list on purpose. They are [vanity metrics](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/suetni-metriki/): they grow easily and do not tell you whether anyone bought.

None of these numbers is accurate down to the last customer: some people decline tracking, others buy on a second device. That is why the ad platform’s report is checked against your own orders and enquiries.

## How does a business get started with digital marketing?

With a goal and measurement, not with a channel. The most common wrong first move is “let’s run some ads” before it is clear what is being sold, to whom, and how you will know it works. The order below is the same for an online store, a service company and a local business.

1. **Set the goal as a number.** “More sales” is not a goal. “Twice as many enquiries by the end of the year” is.
2. **Describe the customer.** Who buys, what they look for and what stops them. If you do not know, ask your last ten customers.
3. **Review the website.** Does it load quickly on a phone, is it immediately clear what you offer, is it easy to order or ask?
4. **Set up measurement.** Before the first campaign: which action counts as a result and how it is recorded.
5. **Choose one channel.** If people are already searching for what you sell — search engines. If they first need to notice you — social media. One channel run well teaches you more than four at once.
6. **Set a test budget and a review date.** The budget has to be enough to collect data; on the date you decide what continues, what stops and what changes.

At this point the question usually shifts from “what is digital marketing” to “who is going to do it”. There are three options: you, an employee of your own, or an agency. The first two work when someone can set aside time every week. The third works when you want the plan, the delivery and the report in one place. What that looks like with us is described on the page on [digital marketing services](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/digitalen-marketing/).

## What are the most common mistakes?

Most campaigns that fail do not fail because of the platform but because of a decision made before it. The five mistakes we see most often:

- **Advertising without measurement.** The budget gets spent without anyone knowing which ad brought an order.
- **Every channel at once.** Attention and money are spread thin, and no channel gets enough to show a result.
- **Sending visitors to a weak site.** The ad brings people to a page that does not deliver what the ad promised.
- **Patience in the wrong place.** SEO is stopped in the third month, while a losing ad runs for half a year.
- **Accounts in someone else’s name.** The ad accounts and the analytics belong to an agency or a former employee, and when you part ways the history stays with them.

For the mistakes outside the channels — in positioning and the message — there is a separate article: [5 marketing mistakes that cost you customers](https://tnb-tech.com/%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3-%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8/) (in Bulgarian).

## What has changed in recent years?

Two things: some answers now come from artificial intelligence, and tracking depends on the visitor’s consent.

For some searches Google shows a generated answer above the results ([AI Overviews](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/ai-overviews/)), and many people now put their questions straight to an AI assistant. They get an answer without opening a site and see only a few cited sources. For a page to be among the sources in Google’s answers, [according to its documentation](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) (as of October 2026) it has to be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet in the ordinary results; there are no extra technical requirements. Since 31 August 2026 every site also has a [setting](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024) in Search Console that lets its owner decide whether its content takes part in these features.

In practice the weight shifts from “ranking first” to “being cited”: the pages that win are those that answer one question clearly, with specific claims that can be checked.

The second change is in measurement. In the European Union, tracking cookies — for analytics and for behavioural advertising — [are switched on only after the visitor consents](https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/growing/digitalising/online-privacy/index_en.htm); cookies needed for the site to work, such as those for the basket, need no consent. Whatever the visitor declines does not reach the report, and ad platforms learn of the choice through mechanisms such as Google’s [consent mode](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/consent-mode/).

The consequence: the numbers in reports are less complete than they used to be, and [first-party data](https://tnb-tech.com/termini/danni-ot-parva-strana/) — the orders, enquiries and email list you collect yourself — becomes the most reliable thing you have.

## What does a digital marketing specialist do?

A digital marketing specialist plans, runs and measures the work on one or more channels. In a small company that is one person doing a little of everything. In an agency or a large team the roles are separate: an SEO specialist, a paid advertising specialist, a social media specialist, a content writer and a data analyst.

### How to learn digital marketing

The job needs no required degree or licence. People come to it from marketing, journalism, design, economics and programming, and they learn in three ways: courses and university programmes, the training offered by the ad platforms themselves, and practice on a real project with a real budget, however small. The third counts most.

We are an agency, not a school, so we do not recommend particular courses. From the employer’s side we can say one thing: what we look for is someone who can show what they have done and what they measured, not only what they studied.

## How we work at T&B Technology

T&B Technology is an agency with a team across the country and an office in Ruse. We work in the order described above: first the goal and the measurement, then the channels. The plan is weekly, and the report is monthly and in enquiries and sales, not likes. The ad accounts are opened in the client’s name, and the client pays the advertising budget directly to Google or Meta.

What the price of this work depends on is explained on our [pricing page](https://tnb-tech.com/uslugi/tseni/).

![Digital marketing: Facebook ads for the Megaparts scrapyard](https://tnb-tech.com/storage/492/conversions/Top-View-Portrait-scaled-card.webp)

*Pictured: Facebook ads for [Megaparts](https://tnb-tech.com/proekti/megaparts/).*

## Frequently asked questions

### Are digital marketing and online advertising the same thing?

No. Advertising is the paid part of digital marketing — the ads in search engines and on social media. Marketing also covers everything you do not pay per click for: the website, the content, rankings in search engines, email and replies to customers. Advertising without the rest sends people to a place that does not persuade them; the rest without advertising works, only more slowly.

### Do I need a website to start with digital marketing?

You can start without one — with a social media page and a Google Business Profile. There, though, the rules, the reach and the page itself depend on the platform. A website is the place that is yours: every channel leads to it, and it is where you measure what brought an order or an enquiry.

### Is digital marketing worth it without an advertising budget?

Yes, but then you pay in time. SEO, content, email and regular social media posts need no ad budget, only hours of work every week and patience — the results build up over months. Advertising buys speed: within days it shows whether your offer interests anyone.

### Can I do digital marketing myself, without an agency?

You can, and for a small business that is often the right start. A page, a profile and a first campaign can be launched without a specialist. The hard part comes later: setting aside time every week, reading the data and changing things accordingly. An agency or a specialist of your own makes sense once marketing needs more hours than you can give it.

### Does digital marketing work for a small local business?

Yes. For a local business it usually starts with two things: a Google Business Profile with correct opening hours, photos and reviews, and a website that says clearly what you do and where. People search by town name and “near me”, and paid ads can be limited to your town or neighbourhood.

### Is digital marketing suitable for companies that sell to other companies (B2B)?

Yes, but it looks different. The decision is made by several people, takes weeks or months and rarely ends in an online order. So the goal is an enquiry, not a sale on the first visit: pages that answer the technical questions, examples from practice with figures, and search ads on the exact terms of the trade.

### Will artificial intelligence replace digital marketing specialists?

For now it changes the work rather than removing it. AI writes drafts, suggests ad variations and summarises data in minutes. It does not know, however, what your business has promised its customers or which claim is true. You still need a person who sets the goal, checks the facts and takes responsibility for what is published.

## Sources

- [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) — Google Search Central, 2025-12-10
- [Search generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024) — Google Search Console Help
- [About consent mode](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10000067) — Google Ads Help
- [Неприкосновеност на личния живот онлайн: как да използвате бисквитки на вашия уебсайт](https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/growing/digitalising/online-privacy/index_bg.htm) — Вашата Европа (Европейски съюз), 2026-08-05

_Updated with the help of AI; reviewed by Boryana Balcheva._