What Is Online Marketing? The Older Name for Digital
DICTIONARY · DIGITAL MARKETING

What Is Online Marketing?

Online marketing is marketing conducted through internet-based channels, and in practice the term is now interchangeable with digital marketing.

In plain English

The two terms had a technical difference once. Digital marketing included things that were digital but not online: SMS, digital signage, offline apps. Online marketing meant the internet specifically.

That distinction has effectively collapsed, because almost everything digital is now connected. Digital marketing has become the more common term, and online marketing survives mainly in older material.

What to know

Internet-based
Search, social, email, web, display, video.
Effectively synonymous
Digital marketing is the preferred current term.
Historical difference
Digital once included offline digital channels.
Choose one
Using both interchangeably in your own content just creates duplication.

Why it matters

This matters mainly for content planning. Writing separate pages for online marketing and digital marketing produces two pages competing for one meaning, which is a straightforward cannibalisation problem.

Common mistakes

×Building separate service pages for both terms.
×Assuming a client means something specific by choosing one over the other.
×Treating older online marketing advice as current.

FAQs

Is there a real difference?

Not any more in practical use.

Which should I use?

Digital marketing. It is the current convention.

WRITTEN BY TARIQ SALLAM
Marketing Consultant. Entrepreneur. Content Creator.

I'm a marketing consultant, entrepreneur and content creator. I help businesses grow through practical marketing, websites, SEO, content and AI.

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