In marketing circles, you’ll hear conflicting arguments between traditional marketing and digital marketing. Many businesses often wonder which option better suits their brand needs or which option will reach their target market more effectively. Well, the answer isn’t always simple. Both traditional and digital marketing can be effective when used properly in a marketing strategy. They also both have pros and cons to consider. Let’s take a look at both traditional and digital marketing and see why traditional marketing still works in today’s digital age.
What is Traditional Marketing?
Traditional Marketing is any marketing that is NOT done online. Some common forms of traditional marketing include print advertisements, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, tv, radio, billboards, and word of mouth.
Let's look at the pros and cons of Traditional marketing:
PROS:
Harder to ignore: Emails can be easily overlooked, and ads on social media platforms and websites can be scrolled past without notice, but something handheld, or on television is harder to not see.
Poses less risk to your brand: You can control feedback, unlike online where comments and consumer feedback are wide open for everyone to see.
Direct Mail: This is the best way to target a specific audience with a specific message.
CONS:
Can get expensive: When it comes to television commercials, the production costs can get really high as well as the costs of buying media time.
Harder to measure and evaluate: You can’t track how many people go to your website or purchase a product after seeing a billboard, tv or radio commercial, or even a direct mail piece.
Gradually losing its audience: With all of the streaming services, many people no longer watch regular tv, and newspapers and even magazines now have online options.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital Marketing is any marketing that is delivered through websites, email, social media, and mobile apps.
PROS:
Budget-friendly: A good bit of digital marketing can be done with a very limited budget.
Easy to track: Digital marketing offers many tools to analyze your campaign performance and make adjustments as needed.
Easy target segmentation: Social media platforms bring in different demographics, for example, you can easily target a certain age, geographical location, and interests with just a few clicks of a button.
CONS:
Can get lost in the mix: With so many emails and digital ads, your digital marketing can easily be overlooked.
Poor reviews and feedback: Consumers' negative reviews and feedback are available for everyone to see.
Chance for fraudulent activity: Scammers can easily access your branding to create fraudulent or fake advertisements to scam consumers.
Why Traditional Marketing Still Works
As we all know, traditional marketing has been around much longer than digital marketing. It has stood the test of time and has proven to work in many industries for years. Many are surprised to hear that traditional marketing remains effective in a time where everything we do can be accessed in the palm of our hands through our smartphones. So why is traditional marketing still working? Let’s take a look at a few reasons.
1. It Remains Affordable – While some platforms may get pricey, many forms of traditional marketing offer budget-friendly pricing.
2. Helps Shape Brand Identity – Through the use of consistent imagery, colors, and messaging, your brand becomes easily recognizable.
3. Gets Results – Most people listen to the radio, watch tv, or drive along roads littered with billboards. Ads get noticed, heard, and seen and create an impact on interested consumers.
4. Builds Trust – The top most trusted forms of advertising are all traditional. This includes print, television, direct mail, and radio.
5. Reaches a Larger Audience – While social media platforms are great, they each reach a different demographic. With traditional marketing, you have many opportunities to reach a larger audience across different demographics.
After years of falling behind digital marketing, and some traditional marketing platforms slowly going away, traditional marketing is once again on the rise. In fact, 70% of consumers say direct mail is more personal than online interactions.
Many websites and social media platforms are littered with advertisements and many businesses are seeing their ads get lost in the “digital clutter”. Whether they are running down the side of the page or popping up when you are trying to read an article or watch a video, these ads can become a nuisance or just get ignored. Don’t let your ads get lost! Trust traditional marketing to enhance your brand!
If you would like to learn more about what 30|90 Marketing offers for traditional marketing, please reach out to us today. We can help boost your traditional marketing methods and ensure your ads don’t get lost in the digital clutter!