Back in the day, say 10-15 years ago, when the internet was still young and social media in its nascent stages, all marketing using digital channels had to be termed digital marketing. Digital marketing was not quite the norm, but just an add-on. The other forms and platforms of marketing like print ads, TV and radio advertising and the like took up the larger chunk of the marketing pie. Back then, it made sense to make the distinction between digital marketing and offline or traditional marketing.
Cut to 2023, and the term digital marketing may be redundant. The core principles of marketing that are understanding your audience, crafting compelling messages, and driving engagement and conversions—remain consistent regardless of the channels used, be it social media, email marketing or paid ads.
While most ecommerce businesses are almost entirely digital first, most other modern businesses are largely digital and have a small marketing presence offline. Even the traditional forms or ATL (Above The Line) marketing channels like print, TV and radio now involve a digital angle. Hooked to a TV ad? Get more information through an SMS! Saw a great print ad in your local newspaper? Scan the QR code to sign up! It’s not uncommon to see even world class paintings and street murals emblazoned with an Instagram handle to look up the artists behind it.
“Direct mail campaigns drive traffic to a dedicated landing page (BTW anyone remember PURLS?). Linear TV ads have us scanning QR codes bouncing around our TV screens during the Super Bowl. Even the most basic and fundamental marketing for a local business is simply optimizing their GMB profile because the yellow pages are all but dead. And let’s not forget that email marketing is still the #1 performing channel across virtually every industry.” says, Hustler Marketing, a top email marketing agency in the US.
Sure enough, one would be hard pressed to find a marketing campaign that doesn’t utilize a single digital element in their marketing mix. Digital is all pervasive, and any business serious about its marketing cannot choose digital as an “option”, but as the one main connector between all marketing channels.
Having said that, there are still many businesses, especially in the B2B niche for whom marketing is still all about physical brochures and the occasional exhibition.
A local business in a tier-3 town in India doesn’t think it’s important to have a website or even social media, leave alone a functional and robust CRM system to nurture their leads. A lawn business may not care about digital as most of their customers come from WoM (Word of Mouth) but can they really scale by relying on a few of their customers in a local region? Can they automatically send personalized welcome emails to the hundreds of anonymous visitors to their business who leave without making a purchase?
That some businesses don’t need digital is a big fallacy that marketers need to get past. All businesses can benefit from going digital. Even the aforementioned local business can boost their local and brick and mortar business by optimizing their Google-My-Business profile, having a social media presence and a website that drives organic traffic as the first touchpoint. One never knows how many touchpoints a consumer really needs or seeks before they make a final sale in person at the local business. Maybe they look up online reviews. Maybe they want to see case studies or product demos online if they’re hesitant to ask in person. Maybe an active social media channel gives them confidence about the company’s business. There should be no question of “should we go digital?” but rather “How do we tie in all our marketing channels as an integrated whole?”
Most successful marketing campaigns now integrate both digital and traditional elements seamlessly. The lines between online and offline marketing have indeed blurred, and successful marketers are those who can effectively combine different strategies to create a cohesive and impactful brand presence.
