When you first open a business the first thing that comes to your mind is which marketing strategy you should use that will give a boost to your busniess. As the world is evolving so are marketing strategies, now without a marketing plan your business won’t be as successful as you want it to be. If you want your business to be a success then you will need to come up with a promising market strategy.
Many business owners have a hard time deciding between traditional marketing and digital marketing strategies to present their business to their clients. Traditional marketing tends to use older and more traditional strategies while digital marketing uses rather new strategies involving social media platforms and digital ads to capture the attention of your audience. Now the question is which one is better?
This blog will cover topics that will give you a clear understanding of the difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing strategies.
What Is Traditional Marketing?
Traditional marketing involves the marketing methods that are not based on the internet. These strategies have been around for decades.
Traditional marketing methods include:
- Tv commercials
- Magazine and newspaper ads
- Radio commercials
- Billboards
- Flyers
- Directly mailed postcards, informational packets and coupons.
We all have seen the above mentioned type of advertisements many times in our lives. Though these methods have now become outdated and many businesses don’t consider them useful, they’re still an effective way to catch the attention of your target audience.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a relatively new way of marketing your business. As the world now greatly relies on the internet and smartphones businesses try to direct their funds towards digital marketing that involves engaging the target audience via social media platforms and other internet-based methods.
Some common digital marketing methods include:
- SEO
- Website Content
- Clickable ads
- Social media posts
- Email marketing
Today due to the consumption of the internet and smartphones, the aforementioned marketing methods are more popular. According to Satista, there are 4.66 billion active internet users in the world. With numbers like these, marketing online and through social media makes a lot of sense. These methods are not as old as traditional methods but they are highly effective.
The Pros And Cons Of Traditional Marketing
After the arrival of digital marketing, traditional marketing has often been viewed as outdated or insignificant. However, still many of its methods are effective.
Here are some pros and cons of traditional marketing to help you decide if it’s better for your business.
Pros
- If your target audience contains people of older age than traditional marketing will be effective for your business. Most older people spend a lot of their time watching television and reading newspapers. So, getting their attention would be easy through tv commercials and newspaper ads.
- If you are looking to build a large local audience then traditional marketing would work best for your business. If you run a small business it is better to get the attention of your audience through billboards and flyers.
- TV and radio ads can’t be skipped; advertisements play again and again and will remind your audience about your business.
Cons
- It can take months or years to yield success from traditional marketing methods. It is a slow process which requires a lot of time and patience.
- Sending postcards and coupons will cost you a lot of money, and there is no surety that the recipient will be interested in your business.
Pros And Cons Of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing strategies change everyday. There are some areas where digital marketing is unparalleled and some where it’s ordinary.
Pros
- You can market your business internationally. You can get the attention of your local audiences as well as an international audience.
- It is easy to track your audience and get their data. You can then use that data to make content your audience will want to see and be interested in.
- Digital marketing strategies have a much lower cost. Sending out emails can save you a lot of money rather than printing and sending postcards to people.
Cons
- People can block or skip ads on the internet; this is one downside of digital marketing.
- Digital marketing strategies keep on changing, you need to evolve with the changes fast. Moreover, the strategies you apply should be business specific. To ensure all the marketing strategies you employ for your business will work, you can hire a professional digital marketing agency.
Which One Is Better?
The answer is; it depends on your business. However, for many businesses, digital marketing is the best option. If you want to reach people globally, while keeping the cost low, hire experienced digital marketing professionals. But if your target audience is the local people of a particular area then you should go with traditional marketing.
About Reach First
Reach First is one of the top digital marketing service providers. We offer a complete range of online marketing services in Edmonton, Calgary and other cities throughout Alberta. Some additional services we offer include; SEM (Social Engine Marketing), SMM (Social Media Marketing) and full scale website development including graphics and branding. Contact us today for more information.