Print isn’t dead yet!
According to this study, 51 percent of people still exclusively read printed newspapers.
Meanwhile, we can’t go online or use a smartphone app without seeing signs of digital marketing.
The digital marketing vs. traditional marketing debate isn’t over, either. Between the two, there are billboards, PPC, flyers, SEO, business cards, geofencing, and so much more. When developing a marketing plan, you have to ask: what’s best for my business?
Keep reading to discover the details surrounding the traditional vs. digital marketing debate. Once you’re able to recognize the core differences between the two, you can decide which strategies are best for your business!
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing encompasses any online strategies that advertise your business. This includes websites, pay-per-click ads such as Google Ads, social media, and videos.
Advantages
Instead of sending your marketing materials out into the world, digital marketing focuses on a narrow target audience. This target audience is made up of the people most likely to need your product or service.
With a focused target audience, you won’t burn through your budget on people unlikely to convert into paying customers.
A powerful digital marketing strategy also gives you more control. If you need to make a change to your campaigns, you can go online and make adjustments in an instant.
This allows you to cut down on mistakes and wasted ad spend.
In the digital marketing vs. traditional marketing debate, digital marketing also wins on analytics. With this timely data, you can determine what’s working (and not) throughout your campaigns.
This analytics is essential when trying to optimize your campaigns.
Disadvantages
Unfortunately, digital marketing sometimes requires time to provide helpful data. Since it isn’t tangible, digital materials can also cause an emotional disconnect with potential customers.
Digital materials also don’t linger. That means you need to make the most out of that first impression.
Traditional Marketing
Meanwhile, traditional marketing covers tangible print materials. These include flyers, billboards, business cards, and newspaper ads.
Advantages
Since traditional marketing materials are tangible, potential customers can look at them over and over again. This helps you linger in their minds, giving you more than one opportunity to gain their attention.
Traditional materials are also great for local audiences. You can hand out flyers and make a personal connection with potential customers.
People are also more familiar with newspaper ads and other print materials. You can leverage that familiarity so people feel more comfortable with your company.
Disadvantages
Traditional marketing doesn’t offer immediate data. You also can’t make changes after these materials are already printed.
These methods are also expensive. Without analytics, you can’t determine an ROI that proves the costs were worthwhile.
Digital Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing
For some companies, the digital marketing vs. traditional marketing debate has a clear answer. However, a balance between these two types of marketing strategies can help you optimize opportunities to reach customers.
When deciding on online marketing vs. traditional marketing, consider what your company needs most.
For more information to help you decide traditional marketing vs digital marketing, check out our blog.