Digital marketing vs. Traditional marketing

 

In today’s world, the internet plays a vital role and as a business owner, you need to ensure that you are no longer following outdated marketing methods.

The debate between traditional and digital marketing is long and both are equally effective. However, it does eventually come down to which one fits the needs of your company. But can they both work together?

Well, yes you can use both these methods and each of them has its own fair share of pros and cons.

Deciding the best marketing plan for your business requires you to understand the difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing, how each strategy works and how they can work together?

 

Here’s everything you need to know-

 

What is Traditional Marketing?

 

This is also known as conventional marketing and compromises of various marketing tools without the use of the internet to reach customers. It is the oldest form of marketing and includes the following methods-

• Print media (Newspapers, Magazine ads, brochures, etc)
• Broadcast media (Television and radio commercials)
• Direct mail (flyers, catalogs, postcards)
• Telemarketing (telephone calls and text notifications)
• Billboards

 

Pros and Cons of Traditional Marketing–

 

When you compare traditional methods with digital marketing, they can be viewed as irrelevant. But; many strategies are still used by companies as they are very impactful to reach out to the local audiences.

 

Pros:

 

Ø Such advertisements are easy to understand and retain in the customer’s mind for a long time.

Ø Reaches out to the older generation as many are still active newspaper readers and radio listeners.

Ø The handouts provide your audience with a hard copy that they can refer back to whenever they want.

Ø Traditional methods provide consistency and are relatively much simpler.

 

Cons:

 

Ø It is very expensive compared to online marketing.

Ø It is a more passive form of marketing and is less engaging

Ø It is often difficult to measure the ROI (Return on Investments).

 

What is Digital Marketing?

 

Digital Marketing is the ‘marketing for the new age is an act of promoting and selling products and services by the use of various digital strategies and technology and includes the following-

• SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
• SMM (Social Media Marketing)
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Influencer / Affiliate Marketing
• Mobile Advertising
• Web Designing and Development
• Email Marketing
• Radio and Television Advertising
• PPC (Pay-per-click)

 

Pros and Cons of Digital Marketing-

 

Pros:

 

• The interaction and engagement with your targeted customers is high.
• It is much more cost-effective than traditional methods of marketing.
• You can easily measure your ROI.
• Every type of industry can benefit from digital marketing-healthcare, retail, education, finance, hospitality, and so on.
• These methods help create brand awareness and build loyalty.

 

Cons:

 

• Some digital advertisements can be ignored, skipped, and removed by customers.
• Because of the emerging technology trends, digital marketing tactics need to be evaluated.
• Negative feedback or complaints left by unhappy customers are can be shared virally.

 

Which one is better?

 

Digital marketing is more important for businesses today and is a much more versatile mode of selling than a traditional one. However, it is important to ask which type is best suited for your business needs. The world is in a digital age with millions of people spending time online and businesses are taking this to their full advantage by using various platforms to promote their goods and services.

Based on the above pros and cons, it is a no-brainer that digital marketing is way better and is probably the simpler option for many. However, keep in mind that traditional methods can be more productive if you wish to concentrate on an older or local audience.

Investing in digital agencies is common and it is a new way forward as it promises a higher and better level of customer engagement by targeting your audience through creative content and other social media tools. While traditional marketing does reach a local audience, digital marketing promises a bigger audience reach and results can be easily measured and is relatively cheaper.

When considering which marketing strategy is best and deciding between traditional marketing vs. digital marketing, both serve different purposes and the bottom line is that you need to fully understand what your business requires and understand your audience. So you must not forget about traditional methods completely but instead, use a few methods and mix it up with your digital tactics.

 

Can They Work Together?

 

In short, yes most definitely! You can always combine the two strategies to give you good results for your business.

One way is to mix print media with digital content which several online publications are doing now since print media is sadly dying. Newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers, posters are now digitalized.

Social media sites are the perfect platform to advertise local events. Short promo videos, posters, can be posted on the events page to attract more people.

A lot of consumers still watch the news on television so you can still make use of television advertisements which is a great investment.

Radio is still so popular and can be heard by numerous people as they commute to work. Podcast advertising is slowly growing in popularity and can be added to this traditional approach.

Do you need further assistance? If yes, then get in touch with us to let us know what you think.