Interactive Marketing OR Digital Marketing?

I just completed a good 10 years in Interactive, starting with humble banners ads to support IBM's Network Business campaigns in the late 90's - to today working across platforms & tools to design, test & measure Digital Marketing efforts covering Campaigns, Websites, Online Display, Email, Search, Social Media & Emerging Channels.

A recent read of a post by Colin Drummond, is inspiration for this short post to clarify misconceptions around the terms, “Interactive Marketing” & “Digital Marketing”.

• Interactive Marketing is NOT the same as Digital Marketing and not to be used interchangeably. I agree.

•  Interactive Marketing (thanks again Colin) is two-way communication, users and creators inter-dependent, the total experience not nearly as useful, interesting or entertaining if it’s only one-way. When Interactive Marketing is executed via Digital Channels, duh! it’s Digital Marketing.

But this interactivity can and should be extended across channels.

Good Interactive planning should encompass using insights/learning to define clear end goals, flows and  interfaces to facilitate two way interactions that aid completion of these goals - channel & technology agnostic.

Needless to say, measurement of key performance metrics of this 2 way communications across the decision journey & goal completions is a given.