The debate continues as to whether Digital Marketing is overpowering and surpassing Traditional Marketing or not. Many think that for the most part, digital marketing has taken over and traditional marking barely exists, if at all.
There are many facets of traditional marketing and examples might include tangible items such as business cards, print ads in newspapers or magazines. It can also include posters, commercials on TV and radio, billboards and brochures. Traditional marketing is means to brand one’s product or logo. Another means of traditional marketing is when people find a particular business through a referral or a network and eventually build a rapport with them.
The world of digital marketing continues to evolve and as long as technology continues to advance, digital marketing will as well. Digital marketing includes things like websites, social media mentions, YouTube videos, and banner ads. Digital marketing is considered a form of inbound marketing and its goal is for people to find the business. Businesses put content out for individuals to find.
People may conduct an organic online search, a paid search, find your business on a social network or by reading content that has been published online such as a blog or an article. The more they see one and the content more familiar they become with the brand and they eventually develop a trust and rapport through the online presence.
Due to its longevity, people are accustomed to traditional marketing. Finding ads in magazines and newspapers, or reading billboards are still familiar activities and people still do them all the time. Most of the time, traditional marketing is reaching only a local audience even though it is not limited to one. One of the primary disadvantages of traditional marketing is that the results are not easily measured, and in many cases cannot be measured at all.
The biggest disadvantage today is that traditional marketing is static which means there is no way to interact with the audience. It’s more like you are throwing information in front of people and hoping that they decide to take action.
Digital Marketing on the other hand gives the following advantages compared to traditional media:
• Level playing field: Any business can compete with any competitor regardless of size with a solid digital marketing strategy. Online, a crisp well thought out site with a smooth customer journey and fantastic service is “KING”.
• Reduced cost: The business can develop its online marketing strategy for very little cost and can potentially replace costly advertising channels.
• Not Intrusive: Online people get the choice to opt in or out of communications and often it is relevant because they were the ones searching for it.
• Greater engagement: With digital marketing one can encourage their prospects, clients and followers to take action, visit their website, read about the products and services, rate them, buy them and provide feedback which is visible to the market.
• Refinement of strategy: Marketing online enables one to refine their strategy at any point in time and see any improvements or opportunities for further refinement almost instantaneously.
The world has transitioned into a very digital environment. Not only are magazines going digital, many of our daily tasks such as banking online and much of our reading is done on e-readers. With rise of the digital age it is good to invest in a digital campaign. Even though traditional marketing still has a place, it is diminishing in the digitally based world. For today’s businesses, it is imperative to have a website and use the web as a means to interact with their consumer base.
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