Is traditional marketing dead?

Did we just put an end to print ads, flyers, billboards, radio and TV ads?

Do we need to unlearn everything that we have learnt till now?

Not really!

The world has come a long way in going digital; but traditional Marketing still has its benefits. There are people who are still very comfortable with the traditional methods of advertising. That said Digital Marketing has brought in many more ways of reaching out to your target audience.

Both traditional and digital marketing have their own set of strengths of weaknesses. You will have to consider all of these while choosing the best way of running your campaign.

While you may want to find out how to communicate your message in the best way to your target audience, you may also want to see which method gives you the best ROI.

At times budget limitations may force you to choose only one of these two forms of marketing.Thenone question is sure to haunt your mind…

Which is better – Traditional marketing or Digital marketing?

This is one question many clients have asked us till now and our answer is always the same – both of them are good. Both can work very well for your campaigns at different levels. It is important to strike a balance between the two, so as to achieve your desired objectives in the best possible manner. You can in fact make your Traditional Marketing mediums very powerful by combining them with digital marketing strategies. However, it is essential to understand the difference between the two before going any further.

Traditional marketing can be considered as an outbound strategy where in a company can convey its brand message to its target audience, loud and clear. This can be done through print ads, radio ads, television ads, flyers, newsletters, promotional brochures, billboards, post cards, business cards, networking events, cold calls or even referrals. All of these are tried and tested methods of reaching out to potential customers. They have been there for a long time now and they work well.

To add in a few more points here Traditional marketing makes it easier to reach out to your target audience. If you are targeting people of a certain locality, you just play a radio ad in that region or send flyers to their mailboxes.

Being already exposed to this strategy, people find it easier to understand the messages that are conveyed through traditional marketing. They know exactly what they are supposed to do after they receive your message.

Traditional marketing manages to capture and hold the attention of potential customers by giving them hard copies of materials that they can browse or read through again and again. This can even make your message memorable. Nevertheless, it might be expensive to print all those material and distribute them to your potential customers.

There are two things where digital marketing scores over the traditional forms – the interaction between the brand and the customers and the ability to measure the exact results of the strategy.

Digital marketing makes it easier for prospects, followers and clients to engage and interact with the brand, buy products online, rate them and even offer feedback that the entire market can read. The websites of the brands and their social media pages provide all the information that the prospects might need in order to make their decisions.

Digital marketing is more of prospects getting in touch with the brand. It is an in-bound strategy. Prospects use the internet to look for what they need, find products, obtain the necessary information, clarify their queries, make their purchases and express their satisfaction (or dissatisfaction). The brand only has to make sure it shows up in these searches.

In traditional marketing you would need some time to find out whether your efforts have yielded the desired results. However, in digital marketing this can be done in real time through Google Analytics and various insight tools offered by social media channels. This enables you to take the necessary action so as to improve your results, without wasting any more time or money.

Talking about money, cost-effectiveness is one thing that makes digital marketing very popular in today’s world. Even if you do invest on paid ads, the cost will be a lot cheaper than traditional marketing.

The best part about digital marketing is that you let your audience choose how they want to receive your content. While some prefer reading blog posts there are others who might find it comfortable to watch videos on YouTube.

Through tailored marketing and market segmentation, digital marketing empowers you to choose your audience based on their demographics, location, age, gender and interests. It also makes it easier to enter into new markets and expand your business at a global level.

Yes, digital marketing strategies do work really well; but it could be dangerous to let these strategies replace your traditional ones altogether. If you want to access a larger audience and appeal to the different preferences of different people, you will have to combine these two methods.

Coca-Cola managed to successfully combine traditional with digital marketing in its “Share a Coke” campaign. Through traditional marketing it helped customers find their names on the bottles of their favorite drinks. By including hashtags it encouraged them to share their pictures (with the targeted product) on social media. 998 million impressions on Twitter, 111,000 fans, 235,000 tweets, 150 million personalized bottles sold… the results were truly amazing.

McDonalds is another brand that combined traditional and digital marketing methods. While having a strong online presence on social media, the fast food chain also uses print ads and billboards to capture the attention of maximum number of potential consumers. The brand makes sure its messages reach all kinds of customers, irrespective of their preferences.

Anthropologie, a popular women’s clothing brand, sends out monthly catalogues to its customers that point back to its website.  With more than a million followers on its Instagram account the brand makes sure its audience is personally involved in an effective, yet fun way.

So, instead of choosing between the two, go ahead and come up with a smart blend of traditional vs digital marketing. Not only will you be able to maximize your market and your conversions, you will also be able to connect with your customers and prospects at a more personal level.

If you aren’t familiar with your options or if you are confused about the right approach to adopt, you can get in touch with us. As a marketing agency, we live and breathe marketing every single day. We would be glad to customize the right mix for your business. After all the biggest kick that we get is by seeing you achieve your results.

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