Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing: Which is most effective?

In the past traditional marketing was king. In order for businesses to reach a new or existing audience there had to to be advertisement whether in print eg: newspaper, magazines, television, radio and billboards. This was working very well for businesses until the introduction of the internet. People were spending more time online as a result the behavioral patterns of the relevant target audiences changed. Businesses noticed this trend and started to capitalize on it. Since the last ten years there has been a drastic growth in businesses embarking on the digital landscape. Some businesses however still did not see the value in having a digital presence, that is until covid-19. Since the pandemic a lot of businesses began to see the importance in have an online presence. With this new shift in marketing there is a growing debate as to whether digital marketing is more effective as oppose to traditional marketing. In this article I will be discussing this very controversial question and express my stance on the matter.

What is Traditional Marketing?

In layman terms this refers to the use of 'old school' methods of marketing such as radio, television, print media such as: newspaper, magazines, posters and flyers and billboards to promote products and services. The aim of this type of marketing is to generate a sale and was not so much customer focused.

What is Digital Marketing?

This is the use of digital mediums such as social media, email, S.E.O( Search Engine Optimization) , S.E.M (Search Engine Marketing), affiliate marketing, influencer marketing etc to promote products and services.

Before I go on to address the pressing question, allow me to highlight the similarities and differences between both types of marketing.

Similarities

1. Both are forms of marketing. Both digital and traditional conform to the basic principles of marketing. For example both focus on a marketing plan, target audience and advertisement.
2. Both types of marketing are geared towards making the customer/client take some action. Whether that is to call, shop now, email, like, comment or share, the aim of all this is to get the customer or client to perform some transaction or spread awareness.

Differences

1. The method of marketing. In digital marketing, digital channels such as S.E.O, social media, email, google ads etc are utilized to promote a product or service, whereas with traditional marketing, channels such as radio, television, print media and billboards are utilized.
2. The tone of marketing. Allow me to explain. With digital marketing the aim is to speak with the target audience by understanding their interest and needs using analytics. Content is tailored around these interest so that the target audience can resonate with the message and ultimately take action. On the other hand, the tone of traditional marketing is to 'talk' at the customer/client base. A 'one size fits all' approach is used, there is often times little to no specialization of content to reflect the interest of the target audience.
3. Ease to connect with target audience. Digital marketing makes it easier to connect and interact with the target audience using methods such as social media and email which are often instantaneous. Connecting and interacting with the target audience using traditional methods can be more difficult as it can takes quite a while for businesses to see an interaction from the audience.
4. Ease of tracking metrics. It is 100% easier to track metrics using analytics with digital marketing as oppose to traditional marketing. In a few minutes, days or weeks you can tell whether or not an ad or post is performing well or website traffic and sales increased. These metrics can be tracked using either native analytics from the respective platforms or via third party platforms, which ever type of analytics is preferred the bottom line is it's more convenient.

Based on the brief comparison above the differences far out way the similarities in addition, it seems as if digital marketing is the most effective based on the differences outlined, but is it?

While some may contend that digital marketing is more effective because it is the most convenient and in demand system now, in my honest opinion both are effective in there own way.

Hear me out.

Yes it cannot be denied that digital marketing indeed revolutionized the marketing world, however traditional marketing is still effective albeit to a lesser extent. I think that businesses when creating their marketing strategy should utilize an integrated approach. Both traditional and digital marketing must be used to create a holistic marketing strategy.

This was perfectly explained in a recent article by Digital Marketer. It stated " Just like all aspects of life these days, information is connected and so should your marketing strategy be. How do you create a complete, integrated marketing approach that includes online and offline into different methods? Here's the trick, you stop separating online and offline into different categories. It's just marketing." I couldn't agree more.

What I want you to take away from this article is that both offline (traditional marketing) and online ( digital marketing) are equally important and are to be used together in your business marketing strategy.

Do you agree with my stance? Feel free to express your thoughts in the comments.

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My name is Glenesha Martin. I am a social media marketer and strategist. If you need help with marketing your business via social media, I can help. I can help you plan content that reflects the interest of your target audience and craft ads that convert. To work with me send an email to [email protected].