In today’s Magpie Mail, we will be exploring the difference between Digital and Traditional Marketing. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these methods? Should they be combined?
What are they?
Digital Marketing
Digital is the newer form of Marketing that has rapidly risen with the increased use of the internet and the widespread adoption of smart phones. Digital Marketing involves spreading brand awareness on Digital Platforms like social media and Internet searches. Digital forms of Marketing can be specifically targeted to users who are identified as potential customers.
Traditional Marketing
As the name describes, Traditional Marketing is a mature form of marketing that is used to broadly get a brands message out. This can be across media such as Billboards, Flyers & Television. Unlike Digital Marketing, Traditional Marketing cannot be targeted to the degree that Digital can be, therefore the focus must be on reaching as many people as possible to drive interest in a product or service.
Key Features
Digital Marketing
Gauge Engagement – With Digital forms of Marketing, you can easily gauge peoples opinions of the advertising. If users are liking and leaving positive comments, you can see that it is working.
Measure Campaigns – With in-depth analytics, you can see how your ads are performing – are they leading people to your website? Are they converting to sales / leads? You can then further optimise your ads with this data.
Target your Specific Audience – Using the data gathered by platforms such as Google and Meta, you can specifically target your audience to ensure that you are efficiently using your budget and not wasting it on people that are not interested.
Traditional Marketing
More Memorable – Some Adverts, specifically those on TV, have become ‘classics’ and very memorable. One of the most famous is the Coca Cola Christmas Advert which first aired in the 90’s but is still used today due to its nostalgia value.
Easy to understand – As this form of marketing goes out to a wide range of people and demographics, Traditional Marketing is easy to understand so all viewers can understand and potentially become interested.
Ads can be Entertaining – Some of the best forms of Traditional Marketing can be entertaining as well as informative, this keeps users engaged and more likely to follow up on the advert by visiting a shop or website.
Using both for the best Success
While some of these points can seem at odds with each other, using both forms of marketing can result in great success for businesses. However, if we narrow this down to smaller businesses, while Digital Marketing will make up the majority of their marketing, there are small forms of Traditional Marketing that can help. One example if a small business has a vehicle, advertising their business on the vehicle can interest users – think someone paving a new driveway, people walking past may see the good work they have done and then see the vehicle which they then follow up later on social media.
We hope this has given you a new insight into the different forms of Marketing. If you need any help with your Digital or Traditional Marketing, Magpie IT & Digital Marketing is here to help.