Why are so many businesses skeptical of digital marketing? This isn’t the first time I’ve asked myself this question, nor probably many other marketers. For years businesses have purchased TV, radio, direct mail, print, billboards, & other traditional media outlets with no concrete evidence that any of those channels drove them more business. Then along comes digital marketing such as SEM, social, and retargeting and we have concrete ways to prove that those tactics are driving traffic, yet so many businesses just don’t believe in it. Seems a little backward, does it not?
Perhaps it’s because “this is the way it’s been” and no one has ever challenged that reasoning enough to have traditional media prove its success. Perhaps it’s because digital marketing isn’t something you can actually touch, hear, or even sometimes see.
No matter what the reasoning, my guess is that someday digital marketing will become the norm for all, but by the time that happens, there will be some new type of marketing and the cycle will begin again.