Preserving Heritage, Embracing Digitalisation: Modern Marketing Strategies for Malaysian Traditional Craft Businesses

Abstract

The traditional craft sector in Malaysia is a significant nexus of entrepreneurship, artistic expression, cultural legacy, and regional economic growth. The knowledge and skills passed down through the generations are embodied in traditional crafts like batik, songket, weaving, wood carving, ceramics, metalworking, rattan products, and other handmade cultural goods. However, traditional craft entrepreneurs now face new obstacles due to shifting customer behaviour, increased competition, globalisation, and increasing digitisation. In order to reach younger and geographically scattered consumers, marketing strategies that formerly relied on physical retail, exhibits, craft fairs, tourism, personal networks, and word-of-mouth may no longer be adequate. In order to preserve cultural authenticity and heritage value, this conceptual paper looks at how Malaysian traditional craft companies might incorporate contemporary digital marketing techniques. The study suggests an integrated conceptual framework connecting Cultural Heritage Value, Digital Marketing Adoption, Digital Storytelling, Customer Engagement, and Sustainable Business Performance. It does this by drawing on literature on digital marketing, cultural entrepreneurship, customer engagement, social media marketing, e-commerce, and business sustainability. The article makes the case that traditional artisan methods shouldn't be thought of as being replaced by digitisation. Rather, digital technologies can serve as channels for communicating cultural meanings, craftsmanship, artisan tales, and legacy narratives to modern markets.The suggested framework emphasises customer engagement as a crucial step toward sustainable performance, digital marketing as a means of market accessibility, digital storytelling as a link between heritage and modern consumers, and cultural heritage value as the basis for craft differentiation. In Malaysia's traditional craft sector, the study makes a conceptual contribution by framing digital business change and heritage preservation as complimentary rather than antagonistic goals. Keywords: traditional craft, Malaysian handicraft, digital marketing, cultural heritage, digitalstorytelling,customer engagement, business sustainability, craft entrepreneurship