Definition
| Traditional Marketing is any form of marketing that uses offline media to reach an audience. Basic examples of traditional marketing include things like newspaper ads and other print ads, but there are also billboards, mail advertisements, and TV and radio advertisements. | Digital Marketing, also called online marketing, is the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication. This includes not only email, social media, and web-based advertising, but also text and multimedia messages as a marketing channel. |
There are five types of Traditional Marketing:
1. Broadcasting
Broadcasting is sending the same content to a large group of receivers simultaneously. Generally, used mediums are television and radio.
2. Telemarketing
Unsolicited phone calls to potential consumers are used to sell goods or services. It is also known as inside sales.
3. Print Media
Physical editions of books, periodicals, journals, magazines, and newsletters circulated as paper publications are generally known as print media.
4. Window displays and signs
The display of products at the entrance area of a retail store.
5. Outdoor Marketing
Any sort of advertisement that attracts the public’s attention when they are outside is classified as outdoor advertising. While billboards are the most common form of this type of advertising, there are other styles that come under it.
There are eight types of Digital Marketing:
1. Content Marketing
Content Marketing Mainly focuses on generating content and then distributing it to a specified target audience. The objective is to drive the customer to your platform and engage them.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO focuses on optimising content with the help of various SEO tools. so it’s relevant to your target audience. The process is used to generate organic traffic on your website via search engines.
3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
.Search Engine Marketing focuses on generating traffic using paid alternatives. The process is used on search engines by paying a certain amount.
4. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Social Media marketing focuses on using social media platforms to appeal to your specific target audience. SMM also helps in maintaining a relationship with customers.
5. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
With PPC the marketing team has to pay for every click on their ads.
6. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing focuses on individuals and businesses collaborating or affiliating with businesses and helping them generate traffic. Every time a customer clicks the link on the affiliate’s page, blog, etc, the affiliates receive a commission from it.
7. Email Marketing
Email Marketing Strategy focuses on sending Emails to your current as well as potential customers and increasing engagement.
8. Instant Messaging Marketing (IMM)
IMM focuses on sending Instant Messages to your customers.
Comparison in Traditional marketing and Digital Marketing
| Comparison basis | Traditional Marketing | Digital Marketing |
| Engagement | Low | Relatively high |
| Conversion | Slow | Extremely fast |
| Nature | Static | Dynamic |
| Investment returns | Not easy to measure | Simple to measure |
| Effectiveness | More expensiveLess effective | Less expensiveMore effective |
| Targeting | Standardised | Customised |
| Tracking | Not possible | Possible |
| Reach | Local | Global |
| Tweaking | Not possible once the advertisement is placed | One can change or edit anytime |
| Results | Slow results | Quick and live results |
| Communication | It is mostly one-way communication | It is a two-way communication |
| Interruptions | It is not easy to skip the advertisements, as they are bound to the users. | One can easily skip between advertisements if it does not interest them. |
Benefit of Traditional Marketing
It is a prominent marketing technique that existed till 1990. After the 1990s with the internet revolution, the significance of Traditional Marketing slowly diminished.
In the debated topic of Traditional Marketing vs Digital marketing, the strength of Traditional Marketing is that no consumer can ignore the advertisements in Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing is defined as marketing that does not need the internet for advertisement purposes. This method has been evolving for a very long time, for decades. However, due to technological advancements, its usage is very limited.
We hear and see many ads daily on the television, in the newspaper, or on the radio while casually starting our daily routine. When we go out, we can see such marketing ads on flyers all over the street. We could also notice huge banners of film ads on every street. Those film ads are also one type of marketing. It helps the movie production company to capture the attention of the people that walk across the street. Therefore, there are ads and banners everywhere in all the nations.
The languages may differ depending on the country or the region. For example, if we take Delhi, the ads might be in both English and Hindi. So, that is how traditional marketing works. Its main objective is to attract humans in every possible way without using the internet.
For many businesses, traditional marketing strategies work better depending on the type of company they own. Their target audience would prefer the traditional one when it comes to traditional marketing vs. digital marketing.
- Traditional marketing is a very effective type of marketing if one wants to reach the older population. Many reports and surveys prove that people over 50s watch TV and read newspapers twice the time compared to the people in their 20s and 30s.
- It is a very useful type of marketing if one wants to establish or develop a business or a firm with the assistance of a larger local audience. Small businesses grow better using flyers and billboards all across the street. It is because it can attain the attention of a local audience who reside in the city.
- One huge advantage of traditional advertisements is that they get played repeatedly. But in digital marketing, people can skip them easily.
Benefits of Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is a blanket term for the complete marketing technique. In this fast-moving world, a lot of new technologies have evolved. Digital marketing strategies are one among them. Nowadays, people can do marketing using the internet and smartphones from the comfort of their homes. These strategies are not physical, so they cut out the transportation, inventory, and other related expenses.
In digital marketing sellers reach their general customers through advertisements, web applications, emails, search engines, mobile applications, influencers, and other paid promotions on social media.
Digital Marketing is empowered by the internet and the smartphone revolution. The smart and right use of Digital Marketing technique would help any enterprise to excel.
Due to the frequent usage of social media and the internet in general, these strategies are growing worldwide. According to Data Report, it has been proven that 4.62 billion people use social media and 4.95 billion people use the internet in general. Therefore, it makes so much sense to advertise over the internet rather than on any television or magazine.
Due to the current technological developments, digital marketing methods and strategies will always continue to evolve no matter what. There are enormous ways to do this marketing. Since they are modern, it is essential to have maximum knowledge regarding current technologies and advancements. They use the latest tactics.
There are a plethora of benefits of digital marketing over traditional marketing. Given below are some of them:
- It is simple to track audience involvement and collect their data for future use. It will enhance the algorithm of the company’s website. You can easily obtain the information when someone uses your site, follows you on social media, or messages you regarding queries.
- Businesses can advertise their services for free on many platforms. It is possible to send and receive emails without involving any cost. But in traditional strategies, it will involve a lot of money to print and send individual postcards.
- Because digital marketing has a wider scope, it will help businesses acquire a global audience’s attention.
Advantages of Digital Marketing over Traditional Marketing
(Why it is better)
Let us take a gander at the comparative aspects of Traditional Marketing and digital marketing. Traditional Marketing is slightly shallow. It involves conventional methods like billboards, newspaper ads, broadcasting on radio, etc., whereas, Digital Marketing offers two-way communication. There are many benefits of Digital Marketing.
It fosters proper interaction wherein sellers take in feedback on a regular basis. Thus, Digital Marketing enhances credibility, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction.
Traditional Marketing, which poses the limitation of demographic targeting, has the greatest advantage as well as some disadvantages. The presentation plays a significant role, if you present it well, you win and if your presentation is poor or average, you lose. But Digital Marketing doesn’t allow that. Only trustworthy content with good features can succeed in winning the hearts of the people worldwide.
A closer observation of Digital and Traditional Marketing shows that Traditional Marketing is a static system whereas Digital Marketing is a dynamic system that opens the possibilities of pulling Digital Marketing as well as pushing Digital Marketing. In Pull, Digital Marketing consumers seek the content whereas, in push, Digital Marketing the content is pushed to the customer without them looking out for the information.
Pros and cons of Traditional Marketing:
Pros
- Easy to capture the attention of customers
- Exhibits stability and security of brand
- Easy to target elderly customers
- The quick impact can be created effortlessly
- It’s more like permanent marketing as a hard copy of the advertisement can be saved
- More memorable than seeing something on the phone
- Better reach in the local market
- Easy to target areas where there is less development and no internet connection
- Advertisements can be directly registered in the minds of the customer as there is repeated broadcasting.
- Possibility of word-of-mouth marketing
Cons
- It is highly expensive.
- Difficult to understand the attitudes and preferences of the customer
- One-way communication
- Time-consuming process
- Very difficult to analyse and measure the strategies and results
- Only target local audience
- Difficult to understand whether it has reached the right customer
- Demographic restrictions
Pros and cons of Digital Marketing
Pros
- A highly economic and efficient approach
- Provide equal opportunity for all the businesses
- The high return on investment
- Better lead generation and conversion
- Easy to connect with the customer
- Increased brand awareness in the market
- Digital Marketing campaign results can be measured and tracked
- Better engagement of customers
- .Scope of Digital marketing for personalization and easy to target customers
- Connection with global market as well as global customers
- Direct communication between the businesses and their audience
- Can engage the customers using creative content
Cons
- Sometimes advertisements and promotions are really annoying. This might provoke the customers to use ad blockers or premium services without pop-ups or banner ads
- Since there are plenty of brands competing in the Digital Marketing arena, it’s difficult to register in the minds of the audience
- This is not permanent and Digital Marketing Strategies keep changing from time to time
- Each type of Digital Marketing needs its own experts
- It requires continuous evaluation to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the implemented strategies
Digital Marketing or Traditional Marketing – Which Marketing is best
There is no distinct answer to this question. The most ideal solution for most businesses is a good mix of traditional marketing and digital marketing. When both of these are used together, it makes the marketing process even more efficient.
We have seen the pros and cons of both of them. The final decision relies on your understanding and your needs. You have to take your budget and your target market into consideration. The key is to know your audience well.
Conclusion
We know Digital Marketing has been really successful in recent times, overtaking traditional marketing. Digital marketing has proven to be more effective while costing much less than traditional marketing. But a combination of both still remains the most effective choice for all successful organisations. Nowadays the demand for professionals with Digital marketing skills is on the boom.