Traditional marketing vs digital marketing: Selecting a type of marketing is not a new question. You're not the only one with that stress of choice. You probably notice it yourself; the internet is starting to play a much bigger role in our daily lives lately. This is due to the ever-advancing technological revolution, and it is unstoppable.  

Likewise, in the field of marketing, online marketing is becoming common, and more and more companies are switching their traditional marketing to online marketing. In the technological era, TV shows have been replaced with web series, and who bothers to read a newspaper? But should you count on digital marketing or use the conventional methods? Let’s find the differences!

What is digital marketing?  

Putting it simpler, digital marketing is a form of marketing where communication is done through online channels. With the change of lifestyle, people are more often using digital platforms. When going to a restaurant, we Google first. When buying a product, we check the alternatives on various sites. We scroll social media and share the content of businesses we like or want to use.  

The best thing is online marketing goes through a lot of changes every day, and there are many new opportunities in the field of promotion. You are not limited to a certain number of people who can check your business. It is therefore ideal for someone who wants to bring a specific product to as many people as possible.

Forms of digital marketing  

• Social media marketing 

• Search engine optimization (SEO)  
• Paid advertisements  
• Email marketing etc.

Characteristics of Digital Marketing  

1. To the point targeting  

Yes, that’s true. With digital marketing, you target the people who will be interested in your service. If you have a brand for people above the age of 25, you can target those people. If your brand is only for women, you can show your campaigns to women only.

2. Plenty of engagement

Digital marketing shows your marketing efforts and their results. When you published a post, you can see people liking, sharing, and commenting. This way, you know that you are going on the right path.

3. Easy to determine results  

Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing allows tracking everything in detail. You run an ad; you will know the amount you spent vs the number of results you gained.  

What is traditional marketing?  

Traditional marketing simply uses the normal form of marketing. The company is promoted through leaflets, banners, and magazines. People find traditional marketing a lot more personal; you seem to be more in contact with the company. This is not the case with online marketing, where you are only on the web page of the company, and you do not really get to know the team behind the company. Stores with traditional marketing rely mainly on smaller specific groups. Traditional marketing has a much higher beginner threshold. It is then difficult to become successful in this market, and it takes quite a lot of time and effort to be able to use this form.  

Forms of traditional marketing:  

• Radio or TV broadcast  
• Newspaper, magazine printing  

• Postcards  
• Fliers or billboards etc.  

Characteristics of traditional marketing  

1. Easy to connect and understand 

Traditional marketing is a common part of our regular life, be it a TV commercial or billboards. They are easily understood, and people find them entertaining.

 2. More remembering  

We can’t deny that a real-life thing is better memorable than something we saw online. On the internet, we see a lot of things daily, and so we scroll easily. However, the billboards or TV ads that are visually attractive, we use to remember them more.

3. Hard to measure results  

The complexity with traditional marketing is that it is hard to measure the outputs you get from promotion. How many people used your service after watching a TV ad or reading about you in the newspaper? You can’t define the number. 

4. Don’t know your audience  

With traditional marketing, you can’t interact directly with the customers, and so you don’t know their reactions when they find your business.

5. Very expensive

The forms of traditional marketing are costly as compared to digital marketing. You have to print the designs, create the broadcast, and pay the marketing company. Even it has less exposure and limits to a specific group of audience.  

Traditional Marketing VS Digital Marketing: A Practical Experiment  

An Italian restaurant in Melbourne decided to invest in both the kind of marketing to see what cause enormous effect and comes out to be the best. In a traditional marketing campaign, they created visually attractive billboards of food and set them up in the city. Also, they made a TV commercial that was professionally done. A total of $15,000 was spent on the campaign, and undoubtedly, they earned huge profits of around 30% more than what they spent within two months.  

However, cards turned when they moved to Digital Marketing. The same kind of billboard designs was converted to social media banners, and instead of a TV commercial, a sponsored Instagram video was created and shot to the target audience. People start to like the idea, they shared, comment, and that video turns out to be a booster for business presence. With just a spend of $8000 for one and a half months, they earn a profit of 80%. Clearly, both the marketing mediums works, but with the increasing use of online platforms, people are more attracted to digital marketing methods.     

Verdict: What should you Choose?

With the changing times, businesses too need to change the way they market. Ask this yourself: what do you often see more? What are the campaigns that attract you? Do you spend more time viewing advertisements on newspapers, TV, or do you prefer to scroll your social media?  

Many people are on the internet every day, and the websites are therefore viewed quite often. Thus, it is clear that digital marketing is more impactful, targeted, and cost-effective. In contrast, traditional marketing is more expensive and complicated as compared to digital marketing. The decision is yours; think wisely!  

 Suggested:

Social Media Marketing Vs Traditional Marketing.

Traditional Advertising Strategies Still Work.

A Digital or Traditional PR Campaign can Help Your SEO.