Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing: What’s the Difference within?

By / Content writing
Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing

Want to Know the Difference between traditional marketing vs digital marketing? Also, worried about which one to prefer when? Then this article is for you.

Through Traditional marketing or Digital marketing, but timely promoting brands and advertising services is a must thing for every business out there. Marketing is the need for every business whether it’s a small business or multinational organization.

In the rise of the internet and mobile age, it’s required for companies to reach the target audience with such mediums that are more effective and more result-driven. The decision between digital marketing vs traditional marketing also depends on the business goal and audience first. So let’s understand both one by one.

What is Traditional Marketing?

When we say traditional marketing, that covers everything that includes the regular marketing approach such as TV commercials, newspapers and magazine advertisements, hoardings and billboards, or any type of printed form of marketing.

Traditional marketing involves:

  • TV commercials
  • Newspaper advertisements
  • Pamphlets and Brochures
  • Leaflets, Flyers
  • Telemarketing and Cold calling

 

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is the advanced approach of businesses to use online digital medias such as websites, social media, paid platforms to promote the business and the services.

Digital marketing involves:

  • Business website
  • Social media business profile
  • Content marketing
  • SEO and PPC
  • Paid advertising and Online promotions
  • Email marketing
  • Affiliate marketing

Also Read: SEO vs Social Media: What’s matter for Business ?

 

Difference Between: Traditional vs Digital Marketing

When we talk about the comparison between traditional marketing and digital marketing, there are several factors,to understand both concepts well. Due to its following approach and ultimate outcome, both marketing separate one from another.

Such criteria also can be used by most companies who are having confusion over which form of marketing to choose traditional or digital marketing. So let’s have a discussion in detail.

Traditional marketing: What are routine marketing tactics?

Simple and Easy marketing way

As a routine marketing model, traditional marketing follows the easy to consume and easy to apply advertising and promotional form. This means, for business, it’s a really easy approach to marketing and connecting with their audience. Same as for customers, it’s also a direct way to interact with business and to consume the content in printed format.

 

Ability to reach a larger audience

Using tv and radio commercials, businesses with higher advertising budgets have a chance to reach a mass audience. That helps especially for the product business whose target customer is the general audience as a whole. The mass audience available at such traditional platforms makes brand messages and product announcements on a large scale.

 

Have a long life span

The things we have to accept that a message from traditional media such as TV ads have a longer lifespan than any digital ads. Audiences are more likely to interact and engage with such ads they see and hear. Why?? Because traditional ads not only pass messages but also deliver the feelings, that make it more memorable.

 

Instant Results

When it comes to the effectiveness of traditional marketing, the brand can easily figure out the impact of its recent campaigns. Most traditional marketing is quite difficult to measure, but the results are quick and certain. Through product inquiries and improved sales after running commercial ads, a brand has a glimpse of how their marketing efforts are performing.

Also Read: Content marketing goals: What you want from your content?

 

Digital Marketing: How advanced it is from traditional marketing?

The concept of digital marketing arises from the technological advancements, also from the changed audience behavior and from the downsides of traditional media. So here we share the key points, showing how digital marketing is advanced than traditional marketing.

Measurable marketing results

Compared to traditional vs digital marketing, digital marketing is highly measurable and controllable by the company. Which means, here companies can find the actual impact of their marketing efforts and can follow the operational changes that work. From website visits, social media posts to paid campaigns, everything can be measured and can be controlled for better results.

 

Target marketing is possible here.

Using the PPC and social media ads, brands can target the right audience of their interest and product market. That’s what makes digital marketing advanced from traditional marketing. It’s easy to find out the target audience, with the help of available online data regarding keywords they search and the platform they use. All you need is to have a target content strategies, that is created based on specified audience type and market size.

 

Provides a Better ROI

The best thing about digital marketing is that it’s completely data-driven. As far as you are well-versed with the data analysis and use the data for your purpose, the desired results can be achieved. Traditional marketing provides no full insight into the performed campaigns, whereas digital marketing provides outcomes and suggested changes to incur. Ultimately, that provides a better ROI, in the form of higher website visits, acquired leads, brand mentions, and all. The Better conversion ratio is possible to achieve in digital marketing compared to traditional forms.

 

Easily Shareable through viral marketing

Facebook posts and website blogs are easily shareable when there is quality information. An audience prefers to share the right content to their groups and networks, which makes the content (means marketing message) gone viral with ease. Due to the internet, information delivery becomes smoother and faster. All you need to do is to have the right content on hand and just share it with the right media.

 

Two-way communication

Online media platforms where marketers and companies can promote their marketing messages offer two-way communications. Whereas it’s impossible to interact with brands at the point while seeing the TV ads, social media posts, and blogs offer a free communication way. Blog comments, posts comments, and even direct messages are possible in advanced marketing. That helps businesses to acquire valid feedback and reviews from the target audience.

Also Read: Content marketing strategy for Startups [8-steps Process]

 

Traditional and Digital Marketing: What to use?

The article is not to show that digital marketing is far better than traditional media. Because the traditional medium is still the best and widely used marketing approach to most local businesses and all. Indeed, using local SEO and localized content marketing, small businesses can adopt this advanced marketing approach. But the major challenge is its Implications.

Comparing traditional marketing vs digital marketing with easiness, a traditional approach is quite easy and simple to follow. Whereas digital marketing requires advanced technology and skill to handle everything in the right place.

Here business needs to invest in a digital marketing consultant to guide in the right online media to use. Similarly, content marketing consultants, to handle the content process and campaign management to provide positive outcomes.

Whereas traditional media requires high investment and marketing budget to generate instant and long-lasting impacts. While in digital marketing patience and timely efforts are the investment, along with required technical skills, to fulfill short term to long term business goals.

So the decision needs to be taken considering all required factors and marketing conditions. Every business has its own audience market and product requirements.  So better to opt for the marketing option that provides better results and maximum ROI from campaigns.

Soley traditional and digital marketing is not acceptable, the combination of both is required to reach the audience and promote the marketing message right way.

Also Read: What makes a Blog, the most important page on your Business website

 

Final thoughts

In the end, both marketing types have their plus and minus points. But before starting and adhering to anyone marketing for your own business, it’s acceptable that companies have some research first. Indeed, there is a need for research that helps to understand specific marketing type needs, considering the industry type, business category, products or service market needs, marketing budgets, business goals and mainly, knowledge about a target audience.

Also, as we will have technologies and comforts, we get to see the updates in marketing trends. But focusing on the business goals and marketing needs, a company needs to focus on the right approach that works for their business. The decision between traditional marketing vs digital marketing has to be taken with respect to audience needs first. Because at the end the company who follows a dynamic approach to market own ideas, focusing on what the audience wants, Wins at the end.

If you are looking for some data stats to decide over why digital marketing is worth, then have a read our this post. In which, we have shared the online marketing statistics 2020, to focus and get marketing inspiration from.