The competition in any business is increasing day by day. Looking at someone else’s success in a particular business, many others also get the motivation to start working in that direction. Thus, competition is going to only increase. Now, in order to not only survive but thrive in this competitive market, it is mandatory for every marketer to promote their business. Moreover, it is necessary to invest in the correct techniques of marketing. There are two basic types of marketing: Traditional Marketing and Digital Marketing. And, there has always been a debate about which is better than the other one as most businesses need to select any one of the two due to dearth in the budget for marketing. Also, it is only logical to promote through only one of these two mediums. Both techniques have their own pros and cons. You need to decide on using the one that fits the requirements of your business more.
The techniques of selling are still dependent on the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
Product: The marketing team must understand the product themselves first to be able to advertise it properly. The product need not necessarily be a physical one. Any service, although intangible, that your business provides and needs to be marketed, can be a product too.
Price: Once you know the product completely, only then will you be able to decide its price. You can analyze the demands of such a product in the market, look at the features of the product, and then decide on its price. After all, price is going to one of the most important deciding factors in the sales of the product and the profit your business will make form it.
Place: The placement of the product is very important. If you place it at the wrong location for sales, it is not going to be sold, no matter how well your team advertises it. On the other hand, if it is placed at an ideal location, there is a higher chance of it making a great profit and boosting your business.
Promotion: The most important factor for boosting the sales of your product is how you promote it in the market. Any method that will help you spread a word about the product your business is providing can be placed under the category of promotion and you need to ensure that you select the most appropriate methods of promotion pertaining to the needs of the business and product.
The major difference will be seen only in the fourth P between the Traditional and Digital Marketing techniques. Let us take a closer look at both the techniques in detail so that you can decide to use either one for your product promotion.
What is Traditional Marketing?
The marketing which is not done online the use of the internet is Traditional Marketing. It is the oldest form of marketing and a lot of research has also been done for this technique. This makes marketers more inclined towards using Traditional Marketing; it has been tried by many and is proven to work. The local audience can be reached very easily with this and also, the physical advertisements can be kept for a longer period. Every one of us comes across to the advertisements of Traditional Marketing every now and then. So, it is easier to reach people with local advertisements than online ones. Some examples of Traditional Marketing method are as follows:
- Print Media – Newspapers, Magazines, Pamphlets, Flyers, etc.
- Billboards, Hoardings, etc.
- Broadcasts – TV, Radio, etc.
- Direct Mail – Postcards, Catalogues, etc.
- Phone – SMS, Calls, etc.
There have been many modifications in the methods of Traditional Marketing over the years, but the base of all remains the same.
Advantages of Traditional Marketing
- Physical material appears more real and trustworthy to the human brain. It can connect to the memory better than an online ad and so, it is impactful.
- Physical connection with the product’s ad binds you to the product emotionally.
- The traditional ads are more internalized and so they bring better brain responses and people will end up buying out of emotional attachment.
Drawbacks of using Traditional Marketing
Technological advancements have made the world smaller and thereby, more connected. So, you can reach a larger audience by using technology for the promotion of your business. It is not possible to send your local newspaper to some other country. Even if you do it somehow, it will be difficult for the people there to understand the regional language used in the advertisement.
- Interaction
There is no or very little interaction between the reader of the advertisement and the advertiser. Talking is one of the ways in which people can be converted into customers. There is a different impact when the advertiser talks with the reader.
- Static
The advertisement once printed or broadcasted cannot be updated in any way. A new ad has to be placed over the old one. So, money is spent twice. Also, this leaves a negative impact on people’s minds.
- Cost
The cost of traditional advertising is a recurring one. The newspaper ad is effective only for one day. The ad on the radio is only effective while it is being broadcasted. So, to leave a greater impact for a longer time, the ad needs to be published many times. This imparts more cost and there is no guarantee that it is going to work or not.
Apart from these, there are many other drawbacks of Traditional Marketing. Like you cannot customize the ad beyond a certain limit as you have no control over the audience. Also, the results of the advertisement campaign run cannot be analyzed efficiently. There is not enough space in the predefined ad templates to fit the price and discounts when they have a great possibility of getting more customers.
What is Digital Marketing?
The marketing done through the internet or electronic devices is called Digital marketing. This method of marketing is suitable for any kind of business regardless of the scale at which they operate. The targeted audience can be reached and connected within a very short period of time. Millions of people spend most of their day on the internet and so it will take much time for the advertisement to reach people. Also, it can reach a larger audience as compared to Traditional Marketing. The advertisements on the search engine, social media, etc. all fall under this category of marketing.
The usage of the internet is only going to increase with passing time. People will log in to the web for many day-to-day activities. All you need to do as a digital marketing team member is to put the ad in the right place. The main reason behind the unparalleled success by digital marketing is that here, the people would come across the ads automatically, while with traditional marketing, you need to find the people. Also, it gives you a chance to interact with the customers directly through the forums or comment sections. As their queries will be solved, the customers will feel more connected to the business and their chances of ending up buying the product increase.
Some examples of Digital Marketing are as follows:
- Websites
- Affiliate Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- PPC (Pay per click) Marketing, etc.
Now, we have learned enough about both Digital Marketing and Traditional Marketing. Let us now look at which one should be used by your business.
Traditional Marketing versus Digital Marketing
Statistically, it has been observed that more than 60% of marketers have shifted from Traditional to Digital Marketing. And, the time isn’t much away when Digital Marketing will completely take over the Traditional Marketing.
More than 80% of the investors or buyers like to do online research about the product before they buy it. More people are active on social media than those who read newspapers.
But at the same time, if you invest in digital marketing advertisements, it might take a considerable amount of time to see some fruitful results.
Which to Choose?
The debate is never-ending. As you have seen both sides, you can decide based on the budget of your business for marketing and some other considerable factors too. But there is no doubt in putting this straight that the technological growth and how everyone’s lives are clasped in the claws of digital applications, digital marketing is going to boost your business faster. The risk here is much less compared to Traditional Marketing techniques. Businesses of all scales are already taking advantage of digital marketing by spending less and are facing lesser barriers as compared to traditional techniques.
However good can newspaper ads and other traditional advertisement methods do, it is still advisable to go with the digital marketing methods as they can help you reach a larger audience in lesser time and will also cost you less. Also, it will let you measure how your campaign is doing through the dashboards and other services. There is some risk in using digital mediums for marketing but there are surely going to be rewarding too; in a long time if not immediately. This is a very uncommon combination: risk and reward. You are getting it with Digital Marketing, so make the most of it.
If you are still hesitant in choosing digital over traditional, you can try to go with using both simultaneously. Although it is very demanding in terms of efforts and money, you can still give it a try and then give up on the one you are not satisfied with or if you find out which is better for your business. This way you will gain from paper as well as you will get the assistance of digital.
farmers market sale -DepositPhotos
