Digital Marketing vs. Online Marketing
If you’ve researched how to grow your business or bring your business online, you have likely heard both of these terms, maybe even Internet Marketing as well. They are often used interchangeably but they don’t mean the same thing. Well, Internet Marketing and Online Marketing mean the same thing, but Digital Marketing is slightly different!
Let’s review them individually.
Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is an umbrella term that actually includes Online Marketing within it. In other words, Online Marketing is Digital Marketing, but Digital Marketing isn’t just Online Marketing – it’s more.
Digital Marketing includes any form of marketing that uses a Digital platform, not necessarily the internet. For example, TV ads, Radio Commercials, & SMS Marketing are considered forms of Digital Marketing, but not Online Marketing. In fact, like these examples, Online Marketing is another form of Digital Marketing.
Online Marketing
So what is Online Marketing? Well, you may have already put that together. It’s a form of Digital Marketing that requires the internet. SEO, Social Media Marketing, YouTube Ads, etc are all forms of Online Marketing. Internet Marketing is just another term for Online Marketing.
Let’s look at some different types of marketing to see the differences by example.
| Type of Strategy | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing |
| Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | Yes | Yes |
| Search Engine Marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Social Media Marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Social Media Advertising | Yes | Yes |
| Content Marketing | Yes | Yes |
| Pay-Per-Click Advertising | Yes | Yes |
| Web Design | Yes | Yes |
| TV Advertising | Yes | No |
| Radio Advertising | Yes | No |
| Digital Billboards | Yes | No |
| SMS Marketing | Yes | No |
| Vehicle Wraps & Lettering | No | No |
Digital vs. Online – What Do We Do?
Not to add to the confusion, but we could be considered more of an Online Marketing company, however that’s too limiting. The reality is we can, and do offer services outside of Online Marketing such as SMS Marketing and Digital Billboards. Heck, we are even equipped to do Radio Advertising, although admittedly it’s not commonly asked of us.
So to better serve our clients, we decided to stick with the term Digital Marketing as that better describes our ambition and intent with Comvert Marketing and our future.
Why Does It Matter?
We see many Marketing companies and business owners using these terms interchangeably and it’s beginning to muddy the waters and create confusion for people, so we decided to write this post hoping to clear it up a bit. Hopefully we’ve done just that!
If you have any questions about this topic, or want to suggest another topic for us to address, please leave a comment or contact us to let us know!
