Evolution of digital marketing within the enterprise strategic management system

Abstract

The article theoretically substantiates the evolution of digital marketing as an integrated component of the enterprise strategic management system. The relevance of the study arises from the gap between the widespread operational use of digital channels and the insufficient incorporation of market data, customer interactions, analytical tools, organisational capabilities, and governance constraints into strategic decisions. The purpose is to develop a structural and functional model that explains the changing managerial role of digital marketing and its incorporation into strategic sensing, choice formation, resource configuration, implementation, control, and organisational learning. The study follows a theoretical and analytical design. Its information base comprises 25 verified sources published between 2016 and 2025: 21 peer-reviewed scholarly publications and four official regulatory acts. Historical-evolutionary, systemic, comparative, structural-functional, categorical, and logical-semantic analysis, as well as classification, systematisation, and scientific generalisation, were applied. Digital marketing is clarified as a subsystem that combines digital technologies, data, interactive channels, platforms, analytics, and automation to sense market changes, shape and implement a value proposition, coordinate customer interactions, evaluate the contribution of marketing decisions, and support organisational learning within legal, ethical, and security boundaries. Five evolutionary stages are systematised: instrumental-operational, channel-integrative, customer-centric analytical, platform-ecosystem, and adaptive-strategic. Transition between the stages is determined by changes in the object of managerial decisions, the role of data, cross-functional coordination, organisational capabilities, the performance measurement system, and control mechanisms rather than by the adoption of an individual tool. The proposed model links external signals, strategic functions, managerial decisions, multidimensional outcomes, feedback, and an overarching governance-admissibility contour. The scientific novelty lies in linking the evolutionary stages to the functions of the strategic cycle and substantiating the criteria for transition between them. The practical value consists in diagnosing the dominant managerial logic, aligning digital initiatives with strategy, assigning responsibility, developing a capability portfolio, and designing a multilevel performance measurement system. The limitations are the absence of empirical validation, the need for sector-specific calibration, and the rapid evolution of algorithms and regulation..