The world has changed a lot over the past few years, and so has the world of marketing. TV and radio used to rule the roost, with print media hanging in there as newspaper readership dwindles year on year.
There is now a new challenger in town, digital marketing. This has given businesses big and small a new way to market to consumers that can be much more cost-effective and can target specific audiences. But which is better? Here is a deep dive into both digital and traditional marketing and a look at the pros and cons of both.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is the fastest-growing form of advertising that is quickly becoming the most popular way for a business to get its name out there and promote its products and services to consumers.
It takes many forms, but the most common include email campaigns, creative content marketing, and social media posts. These are often backed up by research into SEO, or search engine optimization, which marketers use to find out what terms people are searching online and tailor their campaign to satisfy those search terms. This helps drive traffic, or online consumers, to a website and can also help increase footfall at brick-and-mortar stores.
Every business needs to find out more about digital marketing strategies and how they can help boost their sales numbers and the number of unique visitors to their websites.
What Is Traditional Marketing?
This is the type of advertising that most consumers and companies are used to. For decades businesses big and small have used print media like newspapers and magazines to promote their products, services, and special deals.
Radio and television commercials are also a type of traditional marketing and once dominated marketing strategies for every type of business. These ads often use spokespeople, sometimes famous household names, to help sell brands and products to consumers in their homes. Though this kind of marketing is still effective, many businesses are getting more value for money from digital marketing and have pivoted their focus towards online advertising.
Traditional media marketing campaigns are still an effective way to advertise your company and your products, but as more people spend more time and money online it is slowly becoming less relevant.
What Are The Advantages Of Digital Marketing?
The biggest advantage that digital marketing has over its traditional counterpart is cost. Advertising in print media, on television, and on the radio are all very expensive, and their audience is shrinking.
Many digital marketing methods are incredibly inexpensive when compared to placing an ad in a newspaper or the cost of airtime on the radio. Digital media often provides data on consumer engagement, even giving you the opportunity to follow a customer’s journey to your site. This can help inform future marketing campaigns and make them more effective, getting even more value from your marketing dollars.
Digital marketing also has a massive reach. Small companies can go global and market themselves to consumers in other time zones or even other countries. It also lasts. A television commercial only gives you thirty seconds every hour or so, but digital advertising stays online and constantly markets your products to viewers.
What Are The Advantages Of Traditional Marketing?
Traditional media still has a lot to offer businesses, depending on how they intend to use it. If your products or services target an older demographic then traditional marketing will reach more of your target audience.
The same is true of print media, both newspapers and magazines. The average age of their readership is in the fifties. Younger people are online, while the older generations stick to what they know.
Traditional marketing can be more effective when you are trying to grow your customer base with local consumers. The local TV and radio broadcasts in your area can be the perfect venue for your marketing when you are promoting a local deal or outlet. Many people will listen to local radio when driving, for example, or watch local news and television programming that they cannot get online.
Digital v Traditional: Which Is Best?
In time, digital marketing is going to overtake traditional marketing to become the most common form of advertising and promotion for most businesses.
Currently, the best option for your business depends on what you want to achieve with your marketing. If you need younger consumers to sell your products to, then digital marketing strategies are going to be more effective and give you better value for money.
Traditional media is suitable for targeting older consumers for your products and for getting access to a local customer base. The most important factor to consider when choosing between a digital or traditional marketing strategy is who your audience is. The demographics of your target customer will choose which type of media suits your marketing best.
Both traditional and digital marketing have their advantages, which is best for you depends upon your business, your product, and the audience you want to target.