SYLVIANE NUCCIO

The debate between traditional and digital marketing is one that has divided the businesses. Some businesses are not exactly sure what method they should try or stick to, while others may greatly favor one over the other. To give you a helping hand, this article is going to break down the debate and give you a measured argument for either side so that you can make up your own mind.

Traditional Marketing

What constitutes traditional marketing?

Traditionally marketing essentially refers to any marketing techniques which has been used for a prolonged period of time and have a high success rate, such as those listed below:

• Print advertisements
• Billboards
• Flyers
• Pamphlets
• TV
• Newspaper
• Radio

Another traditional method is network marketing, which relies on a person to person sales model. You can access the best network marketing training through Toni Vans which can help you to utilize this exciting option for the betterment of your company’s success.

What are the benefits?

Despite living in the information age, the advantages of traditional marketing methods are still numerous and well worth investing in. For example, not all of your customer base that you want your products and services to reach will have a constant online presence. In other words, you could be missing out on hitting a great audience, especially if you are targeting a more mature consumer base.

Alongside this, traditional marketing methods allow for a more personal interaction with prospective customers by making your brand known in their everyday lives as they see advertisements on their way to and from work, on TV as they sit down to eat dinner, and from picking up flyers. All of this may result in a much more organic growth of your business.

What are the downfalls?

Of course, traditional marketing strategies do have their pitfalls as well. The disadvantages of traditional marketing center around two key points: price and reach.

The bottom line for a lot of businesses is that traditional methods of marketing are much more expensive than online advertisements and promotions. This can lead many younger companies to decided to abandon traditional methods altogether, but this will be covered later on.

Secondly, the reach of traditional marketing methods is much less than using their online counterparts. On the flip side, however, purely online marketing takes away from the more organic growth of your business.

Digital Marketing

Marketing your via digitial marketing also has its pros and cons. Here is what you need to know.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is a developing strand or marketing which is moving with the times as an increasing number of people are turning to the internet to do their shopping and seek our specialist services.

Digital marketing can include:

• Social media advertisements (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.)
• SEO services (like link building and content writing.)
• Email marketing (through mailing lists.)

What are the benefits?

The many benefits of online marketing are something which many new businesses are shouting about when it comes to efficacy.  One such benefit is that is has leveled the playing field for businesses who are just starting.

By providing a far-reaching a low-cost way of getting their products known to a large consumer base quickly, some businesses find digital marketing way more advantageous than any other marketing methods.

Another key benefit is that it is much easier to track how effective a marketing campaign is when it is run online because, social media advertisements, for example, collect insightful information about who you are reaching and where. This allows businesses to make meaningful adjustments to their strategies and not waste money.

What are the downfalls?

With so many people raving about online marketing, it can be difficult to discern the disadvantages of digital marketing, but they are there. The biggest downfall is that to keep things ‘fair’, search engines such as Google are constantly changing their algorithms, and they keep these algorithms a secret. This makes online marketing a bit of a shot in the dark at times in terms of success because you simply can’t know if the Google methodology will be in your favor.

The verdict

To conclude, the main lesson is to not abandon traditional methods wholly in favor of just online marketing strategies. An effective marketing campaign will utilize both, making careful adjustments to reach their target audience.