What is the Difference Between Traditional and Digital Marketing?

The marketing machine has been rolling on for as long as people have been trying to sell things. It is how you get your name and product out there to try to get atop the competition. While the sense of marketing has never changed, the ways marketing is actually done are evolving and changing.

There is no magic formula that is going to tell you what to do here, you will always be taking risks with whatever marketing you choose. Each type of marketing has its own advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to see both sides of the coin. Every business will require a different strategy depending on their unique situation.

What is Traditional Marketing?

When describing traditional marketing, this is the type of marketing that has been happening for generations. This covers everything from print, radio, television, and point of sale advertisement. These methods have years of proof that they work, but at what cost?

Advantages of Traditional Marketing

Geographic Focus

A very major advantage of traditional marketing is the ability to focus on a more localized demographic. This is particularly effective for businesses that have both physical retail presence along with an online presence, as it helps bring the local community in.

It Has a Lasting Effect

Any print form of marketing is something that is tangible, that the consumer can hold onto and think about. This is a great way of slowly getting the idea of your brand inside the consumers’ minds, as you want them to be thinking about your company.

Disadvantages of Traditional Marketing

It Can Be Expensive

History has proven that large traditional marketing campaigns can be very expensive. Just to run a weekly radio advertisement could be the entire marketing budget for a small business, so be aware of the costs before diving in.

Younger People Are Online

These days just about everyone under 40 is online, on social media, or some form of community. They just don’t respond to traditional marketing like people used to, as they spend more and more time online.

What is Digital Marketing?

The internet era has brought a whole host of marketing changes. Digital marketing consists of anything online that is going to get your company noticed. The major players here are social media, online communities, video advertisements, blogs, and more.

Advantages of Digital Marketing

Easy to Analyze

With the number of analytical tools available for your online business, there is no doubt digital is far easier to analyze and track. This puts you at a huge advantage so you can quickly make adjustments to get your numbers up.

Very Cost-Effective

Unless you get into doing giant YouTube ad campaigns, digital marketing can be much less expensive than the traditional route. If you or one of your staff is a talented writer it can make things that much better. Social media, blogs, and the like are not expensive to use or create content for.

Disadvantages of Traditional Marketing

It Relies Heavily on SEO

Search engines are still the biggest part of bringing traffic to websites, and to get your business noticed you need to play by very particular rules that are always changing. If you can get it right it can be a gold mine, but it takes a lot of strategizing and hard work.

One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Bunch

All it takes is one negative online consumer that can start a major backlash for no particular reason. There is no way to predict this kind of behavior, but negative publicity spreads like wildfire online.

Both Marketing Types Have Merit

When it comes down to it, both digital and traditional marketing have merit for being used these days. The avenue you choose is going to be based on your specific business, your target audience, as well as your overall marketing budget. You must get an understanding of what your business will require and give both methods a fair chance before making a solid decision.