There was a time when one relied on the traditional form of marketing and the word digital had no connotation whatsoever. However, times have changed and businesses are now flooded with the choice between time-tested methods of traditional marketing and the new innovative technologies of digital marketing. Both the strategies are effective to win the attention of the audience.
But then again the question that crops up is which among these two methods is most effective. Before going into a detailed discussion about the efficacy of the strategies employed by them let us focus our attention on examining how traditional marketing and digital marketing really works. This blog shall take you through the main advantages and disadvantages of both the traditional as well as digital marketing.
Traditional marketing
What exactly is traditional marketing?
Before the advent of the internet, people used common traditional marketing methods like television, newspaper ads and flyers, and telephone calls to reach out to their customers. They have been a part and parcel of daily existence for ages.
Digital marketing
This is basically an online marketing platform that makes use of digital channels to reach out to a potential customer base. So any kind of marketing online falls within the ambit of digital marketing.
Digital marketing methods include email campaigns, clickable ads, search engine optimization, and affiliate marketing.
These strategies are highly popular today due to the frequent usage of mobiles and laptops. According to a published report, there are 4-5 billion people currently using the internet. Digital ads placed by the search engines and social media marketing latest business statics demonstrate the power of online marketing.
Pros of traditional marketing methods
- Traditional marketing methods although seem outdated at the first glance are still effective even today. This is especially true about the older generation. They have grown in an era where billboard marketing and jingles played on television ads were a common sight. Thus they are hesitant to wrap their minds around something unfamiliar like digital marketing. Thus if you wish to reach out to an older demographic population traditional marketing methods may be the right choice. The strict digital marketing campaigns may be a total waste on them but a well-experienced traditional marketing plan may yield formidable results.
- Traditional marketing channels reach out to millions of customers in the area in just one circulation. People living in remote areas where little or no access to the internet can also be reached.
- If attracting the local community for business seems to be your primary concern you should definitely go for traditional marketing methods. Leaflets, flyers, ads in local newspapers offer a great return on investments. Brochures, leaflets are generally not time-bound and can be preserved and recycled. People have a tendency to pin the brochures to their fridges so they can refer to them if the need arises. They can also share these banners with anyone who requires their product
Cons of traditional marketing
This marketing method generally takes weeks or months to yield results and even then there is no guarantee that your strategy will pay off. People usually throw away the leaflets or flyers unless they get any interest in the products. This is a sheer wastage of money by the company.
Pros of digital marketing
As opposed to traditional marketing methods which push brand messages hoping to attract huge customer’s digital marketing has become the new order of the day. This is all about positioning yourself so that you are easily accessible by the individual if and when they choose you to solve their problem. However, it will be wrong to say digital marketing is in any way perfect. It too has its shares of pros and cons.
Pros
- Forthright information is one of the biggest advantages of digital marketing. Mere clicking a link on your site or reading an email immediately sends an alert to the sender. You can deduce numerous insights from this data and use it to your own advantage. It also tells you which type of content works well for a specific audience.
- Digital marketing is a sure-shot method to win over the generation set. For them listening to the radio is antiquity. They pay little or no attention to billboard advertisements or newspapers. To them, it is a sheer wastage of time and they would rather scroll through the net to catch up with the latest news feed.
- Digital marketing budgets are much more flexible in nature. Underperforming strategies may be stalled and the budget can be diverted to a more proficient marketing campaign to boost sales. In contrast, it takes several weeks to collect data from a traditional mail campaign. This may stretch your budget and you may fail to come up with a contingency plan in case the results are not so promising.
- Digital marketing techniques make it possible to reach people scattered throughout the globe. E-books, online digital marketing courses and video materials can be downloaded by anyone anywhere unlike traditional methods best suited for a clientele with close proximity to your office. Thus, it reaches out to a wide array of people, some even living thousands of miles away.
Cons of digital marketing
- Many internet users resort to ad blockers to stop the display of pop-ups. Also they try to stop the display of banners or else pay for premium services to enjoy uninterrupted viewing.
- New technologies evolve fast and digital marketing tactics need to be constantly updated to prove their efficacy. What may work for one day may not the next day and may prove expensive in the long run.
Conclusion
After going through the pros and cons of both types of marketing strategies we can safely conclude that digital marketing has evolved in recent years due to its flexibility and adaptability to the changing times.
Nevertheless, you should keep the following objects in mind while deciding on a marketing strategy to suit your needs. The kind of audience you want to target the size of your business are some of the imperative questions that need to be answered.
Hope that this blog helps you to understand the two concepts clearly.
