What works best? Digital marketing versus traditional marketing?

Digital marketing has opened up a whole new vehicle for marketers to target their customers or potential customers – the myriad of online options are almost endless. However does this mean we should be forsaking all other forms of marketing for the highly cost effective, and highly measurable digital marketing?
While it seems like an easy option to throw the whole budget over to the digital marketing team, there is still a place in marketing for more traditional forms of marketing than now integrate with the digital world.

The most effective marketing strategies and programs are those that incorporate both traditional and digital elements into an integrated program to drive conversion. 

In his article Making digital and traditional marketing work together , Matthew Kates points out that the whole argument digital marketing vs traditional marketing is the wrong discussion to be having.

“There shouldn’t be a debate between ‘traditional marketing’ and ‘digital marketing’ -- this is a false choice. Instead, the conversation needs to shift to focus on how the two channels work together, as well as how marketers can leverage the best both channels have to offer.”

The strategic plans we should be making for our businesses should about how we can integrate both digital and traditional marketing channels to achieve the best results. For many traditional marketing activities, digital marketing and social media can add a layer of customer engagement and interaction that simply wasn’t available before unless you were physically standing in front of a customer.