Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing

1. Traditional Marketing
vs
Digital Marketing
Dr K.V.R.SATYA KUMAR

2. Traditional marketing: pros and cons
• With the rise of social media, traditional marketing is often
undervalued by marketers. However, traditional marketing still very
much has a place in a consumer’s day to day life. If you have the
budget to share your campaigns in magazines and prime time TV,
your money could be well spent.
• Traditional marketing channels include:
• Outdoor (Billboards, bus/taxi wraps, posters etc)
• Broadcasting (TV, Radio etc)
• Print (Magazines, newspapers etc)
• Direct Mail (catalogues etc)
• Telemarketing (Phone, text message)
• Window display and signs

4. Benefits
• Impactful and easy to understand
A visually bold billboard or a striking TV commercial is a normal part
of most people’s day to day lives. They’re easy to digest and often
entertaining.
• Printed marketing materials are more permanent
If you have an advert in an issue of The New York Times it will be
there until the magazine is recycled. Which is great if the consumer
is an avid collector.
• More memorable
Seeing something in real life rather than on your phone is more likely
to be remembered. The anticipation of the new Super-Bowl ads or a
beautiful and impressive window display is more likely to stay in your
mind than an instagram ad you’ll probably scroll past in seconds.

5. Drawbacks
• More difficult to measure campaigns
There are ways to measure traditional marketing campaigns
such as brand trackers but they are nowhere near as in depth
or intelligent as the tools available for digital marketing.
• Often expensive
If you’re a brand in its infancy chances are you don’t have the
funds for a 4 page spread in Vogue. Many forms of traditional
marketing will set you back a considerable amount.
• No direct interaction with the consumer
Unlike social media marketing, you’re more or less in the dark
about your audience’s reaction to your marketing efforts.

6. Digital Marketing
• According to ClickZ, “Internet users now make up 57% of the global population.
On average, people spend 6 hours and 42 minutes online each day. By 2021, a
projected 73% of all ecommerce sales will come from mobile.”
• That’s a mind-bogglingly huge amount of time and opportunity to do some clever
digital marketing.
• Digital marketing channels include:
• Social media (Facebook, Instagram etc)
• Website
• Content marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Inbound marketing
• Email marketing
• PPC (pay per click
• SEM (Search engine marketing)

8. Pros:
• More options for engagement
Through channels such as social media you can physically see what
your audience think of your brand and marketing efforts. If your
marketing has been shared, liked and had plenty of positive
comments, you know you’re doing something right.
• Easy to measure your campaigns
On the flipside to traditional marketing, the specifics of digital
marketing tracking is exceptionally in depth. This makes your
learnings extremely clear for your next round of marketing efforts.
• Makes clever targeting possible
If you have the tools to specifically target a 29 year old female writer
who loves Lizzo and drinking Guinness then surely you can also
create perfectly tailored content?

9. Cons:
Digital ads can be deemed as annoying
• Think about the moment you’re scrolling through your Facebook homepage and all you
want to do is see what your old school friends are up to these days. Then you get the
dreaded sponsored ad for something related to an embarrassing ailment you googled the
night before. It’s sure to make you actively dislike the very brand doing the clever
targeting.
Less permanent
• Digital marketing efforts like Google ads, banners, promo emails or social media ads can
have a fleeting, temporary character. They’re intangible and can easily be ignored. If your
target audience keeps scrolling or clicks to the next page your ad will be gone from their
screen.
Constantly evolves
• To get the most out of your digital marketing efforts there is a lot to learn. Each channel
usually requires its own specialist, from search engine marketing to social media, each
channel requires a pro to get the best bang for your buck. However, a grass-roots social
media marketing strategy is a great place to start. Have a look at our digital marketing
strategy guide for some inspiration.