On August 11, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced his vice presidential choice of Paul Ryan, a Congressman from Wisconsin. Politico reports that with the appointment of Congressman Ryan as his running mate, the former Governor of Massachusetts inherently increased his internet marketing presence.

The source quotes experts saying that Ryan's appointment "kicks up excitement from the social media point of view." As Romney continues to market himself and Congressman Ryan for a job in the White House, his campaign's new shift toward a digital presence corroborates a recent survey from the Digital Place-based Advertising Association on the increase of digital media's influence.

According to the survey, 94 percent of respondents said they would include digital place-based (DPb) media in their marketing and advertising plans for the upcoming year, which is a 9 percent gain from the same time last year. DPb is a relatively new way to purchase space online for advertising and marketing needs.

"Digital place-based media is a sector on the rise," said Susan Danaher, president and CEO of the DPAA. "The trend lines are all positive, the most notable being a steadily increasing intent to incorporate DPb in media plans and a greater awareness of the availability of research to aid in the planning process. These two trends obviously go hand-in-hand, and their solid upward tracking bode well for our sector's continued revenue growth in the years ahead."

It's clear that more agencies and companies are putting their budgets into digital advertising. And the same should hold true for small business internet marketing campaigns as digital based media is not only more cost efficient than analog platforms, but can also reach a much higher audience.

While many small businesses may not know exactly how to conduct an effective targeted internet marketing campaign, by partnering with an experienced digital advertising agency, companies can easily get the most out of their internet marketing.