What it covers
Digital marketing spans the channels where attention lives online: search (SEO and paid), social media, email, content, and increasingly AI search. They work as a system — content feeds SEO and social, ads accelerate what already converts, email keeps customers. The goal is the same as ever: reach the right people and turn attention into revenue.
The main channels
Search marketing captures demand people already have. Social and content create demand and build a brand. Email and CRM deepen relationships and drive repeat business. Paid media buys speed. The mix depends on your business — a local service and a global SaaS need very different blends.
What's new in 2026
AI search is changing where discovery happens. Buyers ask ChatGPT and Google's AI for recommendations, and those answers are built from search and content. So "being findable" now includes being readable and citable by AI — a layer most marketing plans haven't added yet.