Are they really the same?
These two terms are often found confusing and many people claim they are the same. Knowing the difference helps you categorise different types of marketing effort and plan your strategy accordingly.
Digital marketing
The term has a broad meaning. It covers using the digital channels available to promote a product or service, and to build a digital brand. As a successor to traditional marketing, it took the marketing process to new heights, replacing newspaper ads with paid search and social campaigns.
- Websites
- Social media platforms
- Email marketing
- Banner placement
- SEO
- Mobile marketing
- Web TV
- Pay-per-click campaigns
- Digital billboards
Online marketing
Online marketing can be called a subset of digital marketing. Most components used in digital marketing fall inside the boundary of online marketing.
The channels in practice
Website: corporate sites, personal sites and blogs are often the starting point of a campaign, with digital activity run to drive traffic to them.
Search: paid search through Google Ads sits alongside organic optimisation, advertising across Google and its partner networks.
Social media: millions of users spend time on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and more, so social is now a core part of most campaigns.
Email: still the most important tool for converting a reader into a customer.
Content marketing, mobile marketing and banner advertising belong to both. The two disciplines are interconnected — when we discuss digital marketing we are usually talking about online channels plus SMS and web TV.
