The age of the Internet and digital media has changed the way people learn about shop for products and services. As a natural corollary, the marketing arena has also undergone a drastic transformation and the rules of the game have changed for good. The days where business fully depended on marketing mediums like print media, trade shows and other traditional methods to reach their target audience have passed.
With today's smart consumers, their buying process start on the internet - on the search engines, social media networks, blogs etc. and so businesses need to be present on all those mediums so that their prospective consumers can find them when they're looking for products and services. And contrary to common perception, the online media is not a platform limited to the young; the paying customers have gone online en masse.
Also, it is not right that you need a web presence only if you have an e-commerce store or if you sell your products and services online. Research studies and statistics have shown that the online presence of a business has a definite impact on its business offline. And so you need to have an online presence even if yours is a brick and mortar business across the road.