What is Traditional Marketing And Digital Marketing?
A well-planned marketing strategy is one of the most important methods for businesses interested in attaining a larger audience and increasing their dealings. Bigger companies tend to spend large amounts of money to reach their target audience in order to convince them to become their paying customers. However, small businesses do not have infinite resources to market their products. While an advertising budget is vital for any business, it’s equally important to spend it, so as to make the most of it. In this age of modern technology, this brings one to question- “How does one know where to spend it, when it comes to digital marketing vs traditional marketing”?
For many businesses, making a correct “marketing” decision can bring about an enormous difference in their results. By learning the aspects of digital marketing and traditional marketing, a business can get a better idea of how they can be applied and which marketing method is most suitable and appropriate for them.
What is traditional marketing?
Traditional marketing involves using traditional means, like printed media, broadcast media and billboards. Traditional marketing is sometimes referred to old-style marketing, as it’s a form of marketing that we have been exposed to at one point or another.
Traditional marketing refers to all forms of marketing that are not online. It includes print advertising, radio, direct mail, telephone and outdoor advertising such as billboards. From newspapers to radio, this form of marketing reaches a specific audience.
Traditional marketing is not only one of the oldest forms of marketing, but also one of the most studied. Marketers tend to use this method because it has proven its worth. Everyone encounters traditional marketing at some point in their daily lives, whether it’s through the mail or in newspapers.
Traditional marketing plays an important role in reaching a local audience. Advertising can be kept for a long time if it is physical. In addition, there are audiences that are easier to reach with traditional marketing than with online marketing.
Traditional marketing has many aspects. For example, it includes tangible things such as advertisements in magazines or newspapers, business cards. It can also include radio or television advertisements, posters, flyers and billboards. Anything that is not a digital means of getting your brand known is traditional marketing.
Another meaning of traditional marketing is when people find your business through referrals or a network and start buying your product or service. It is the traditional way of marketing your brand that allows you to reach your audience through offline advertising.
· Product – Only if you understand your product better can you market it effectively. The product can be an intangible service or a product that meets the needs and desires of your target audience.
· Price – The price of the product depends on your knowledge. When it comes to demand, supply, profit margin, etc., it all comes down to price.
· Promotion – The way you promote and present your product to your target customers is called promotion. Promotion can be digital or traditional.
· Positioning – Positioning the right product to the right target audience at the right time and place is what traditional marketing does. When you position your product in the right situation, you increase your chances of converting potential customers into consumers.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing, on the other hand uses digital channels such as websites and social media of electronic media for promotion of products, brands and services. Connecting with customers through a variety of platforms, like social media, email and blogging, where majority of the people spend their time on the internet makes digital marketing, a valuable and inexpensive asset for one’s business growth. Digital marketing also consists of diverse applications such as- search engine marketing, social media marketing, content marketing and mobile marketing. Digital marketing is constantly evolving as technology advances. Digital marketing includes social media mentions, websites, banner ads and YouTube videos. Digital marketing is very similar to traditional marketing, but it only uses digital devices. You can start promoting your business through social media marketing. Online marketing is a form of inbound marketing where your main goal is for customers to find you. Promoting your business through media becomes as simple as organic internet search, paid search or reading online content such as articles or blogs. Your audience becomes familiar with your content the moment they see it, which builds trust.
Digital marketing refers to all marketing activities that businesses do online, such as paid social media ads, email marketing and PPC ads. Digital marketing has become very popular due to the cultural, technological and social changes around us.
As the world becomes more digital, the nature of marketing is also evolving. Not only is digital marketing sometimes more cost effective than traditional marketing, it is also a more direct way to connect with a global audience.
Digital marketing is essential for businesses today. It has become commonplace for consumers to search for information and shop online.
Digital marketing vs. Traditional marketing: what’s the difference?
Digital and traditional marketing differ in the medium through which an audience encounters their respective marketing communication. While traditional marketing uses traditional media like magazines and newspapers, digital marketing uses digital media, such as social media or websites. Traditional marketing involves identifying an audience and placing ads where the audience sees, hears or interacts with them offline, such as print ads, billboards or television commercials. Digital marketing is done online, using paid or organic ads on social media or search engines, as well as through email marketing, influence marketing and video marketing, to name a few.
With the help of Internet, technology has grown like never before and is helping businesses connect with their audience in more ways than one. As more and more people gain access to internet, digital marketing has become an important existence in helping businesses tap their prospects with customers. The growth of digital marketing can be attributed to its dynamism, as it is the kind of a system that continues to grow with the technology. Of course, that doesn’t mean that traditional marketing is ineffective. It still plays an important role in people’s lives with the ever growing need to step out of the digital world.
Traditional marketing: Pros and Cons
With the rise of social media, traditional marketing, lately, is often underestimated. However, traditional marketing still very much has a place in a consumer’s day to day life.
Pros :
- Impactful and easy to understand An advertisement in TV Commercial or on a billboard can be considered a part of one’s day to day activities. Some can even be considered entertaining or witty.
- Printed marketing materials are more permanent Materials published in newspapers are permanent, and can be helpful to those whose hobbies include collecting newspaper cutouts.
- More memorable Being present in the real life than compared to that in mobile phones, is one the most important characteristics of traditional marketing.
Cons :
- More difficult to measure campaigns Compared to the tools available for tracking in digital marketing, the ones used in traditional marketing are both difficult and lacking.
- Often expensive The costs required in traditional marketing can be considered risky investments, as they may not result in good returns.
- No direct interaction with the consumer One of the biggest limitations of traditional marketing is that there is little or no interaction between the customers and the medium used for marketing.
Digital marketing: Pros and Cons
However impactful traditional marketing is, we can’t forget that we are well and truly living in the internet age.
According to ClickZ, “Internet users now make up 57% of the global population. On average, people spend around 7 hours and 42 minutes online each day. By 2021, a projected 73% of all ecommerce sales will come from mobile.” That’s a mind-bogglingly huge amount of time and opportunity to do some clever digital marketing.
Pros :
- More options for engagement One can directly interact with their customers through social media in regards to their marketing strategies, and receive valuable feedback.
- Easy to measure your campaigns The brand tracking tools used in digital marketing are exceptionally intelligent and provide deep insights.
- Makes clever targeting possible With the help of internet, digital marketing can be used to attract targeted customers.
Cons :
- Digital ads can be deemed as annoying The constant popping-up of digital ads as one uses various functions of the internet can cause extreme annoyance the user.
- Less permanent Digital ads can be considered as temporary, as they can be ignored if an internet user swipes through search pages or requests the ad to not be seen.
- Security and Privacy issues As digital marketing mostly depends on the internet, there is always concern that one’s private data can be hacked and misused.
Why digital marketing?
- Results are easier to measure
- Digital marketing campaigns can reach a large number of people.
- You can tailor the campaign to your audience
- An engaging way to reach your audience
- There is a direct contact between the company and your audience.
- Two-way communication
Is there a balance between traditional and digital marketing?
The world has become a digital world. We do many of our daily activities online, such as reading the newspaper or banking. With the rise of the digital age, marketers had better start investing in digital campaigns. Traditional marketing still has an audience, but that audience is shrinking because of the digital world. We live in a world where having a website and using the internet to connect with your audience is very important. Therefore, companies should not only continue with traditional promotion, but also make sure they have an online presence and plan to grow it.
Digital marketing vs. traditional marketing: what to invest in?
Setting a marketing budget is one thing, but ensuring a good return on investment is another. Therefore, it makes sense to focus on those marketing channels and methods that can give you the biggest ‘bang for your buck’.
The digital vs traditional marketing debate has been going on for some time and is far from over. However, with advances in technology, there is no denying that digital marketing can help businesses generate qualified leads/sales without overloading the wallet. The risk is much less than with traditional marketing.
If you look around, you will see businesses of all sizes using digital marketing, mainly due to its lower costs/constraints compared to offline marketing methods such as print advertising. While print advertising can help build a brand, digital marketing can help businesses build a solid foundation for effective promotion. And it can be done with a much smaller budget.
Investing in print advertising
There’s no doubt that print advertising can be very effective if done right. However, without consistency, print advertising will not yield positive results. Whether you choose to advertise in a large magazine or local newspaper, you must be prepared to spend a lot of money over a long period of time.
Also, when it comes to print advertising, many businesses do not understand circulation. The number of readers who will actually see the advertisement will be less than the number of magazines in circulation. This is because a large percentage of magazine issues almost always remain unsold.
Invest in digital advertising
Digital ads are more customisable than print ads, which makes them less risky. For example, if you’re running a search campaign, you can target an ad to a specific audience and then edit it. Customising ads based on real-time data is just easier.
Digital vs. traditional marketing: why choose digital?
For some brands, especially established brands with a large offline audience, traditional marketing can be too expensive to ignore. But for many small businesses trying to make a name for themselves on a limited budget, digital marketing can be a lifesaver. That’s why many businesses, both new and old, are using the power of digital marketing to change the way they think about marketing funnels.
#1: A high level of customer engagement.
While traditional marketing doesn’t allow for direct interaction with the customer, digital marketing offers a higher level of engagement and interaction. Whether it’s a social media response or an email, your target audience can engage with you instantly through a variety of digital marketing channels.
You can also engage with your customers through videos, surveys, webinars and more to build a stronger and more trusting relationship with them. Your business is most successful when it is in tune with your customers. And with digital marketing, you can do just that by interacting with your customers and solving their problems without wasting time.
#2: Simple metrics.
Handing out brochures, flyers and magazine ads doesn’t tell you if your marketing is successful or not. It could be going in the wrong direction, but there’s no way to know.Unlike traditional marketing, with digital marketing you can measure the results. You will be able to play the marketing game with a clear vision instead of doing it blindly. You will have a wealth of information about your prospects and customers that will help you understand where you want to go. From the number of people visiting/leaving your website to the conversion rate. Imagine the level of tweaking/testing you can achieve with digital marketing that is literally missing in traditional marketing.
#3: Reach a wider audience.
Traditional marketing has many limitations, but one of the biggest is the inability to reach a local or regional audience. Your business may not be geographically connected.
With digital marketing, you can create personalised campaigns and expand your reach beyond your city or country. So say goodbye to the traditional marketing approach and say hello to digital marketing, which allows you to customise your campaigns depending on the scale you want.
#4: Cheap and effective.
When it comes to spending money on marketing, the success of a campaign is determined by the return on investment. Unsurprisingly, digital marketing has a higher ROI as it is in many ways cheaper than traditional marketing/advertising.
Would you rather invest in expensive newspaper ads where you pay by results or target a limited audience? With digital marketing you can get more for less. For many businesses, this is an obvious question.
It's time to make a decision: digital marketing vs. traditional marketing
We hope we’ve convinced you with facts and figures that digital marketing is definitely the way to go for small business advertising. If you’ve tried traditional marketing and haven’t seen the rapid growth results you want, why not try digital marketing? Small risk, big reward. A combination you don’t often find in the business world.
Our experts can even take some of the pressure off you. They can do all the work for you. All you need to do is stay informed and approve the equipment. At Be Big Brand Marketing, we help you with online advertising and digital marketing so you can focus on other areas that need your attention. Contact us today to get your digital marketing campaign started. It’s that simple.
To conclude, both digital marketing and traditional marketing have their advantages and disadvantages, but what’s important for one’s businesses marketing strategy to succeed is understanding your target audience, planning the budget and knowing your marketing needs.