Irrespective of the type and size of the business, a strong marketing strategy is always essential for a business’ success. A marketing strategy not only helps promote a brand to the desired target audience but also builds authority in the market. However, to attain all your marketing goals, it is important to choose the most suitable and effective marketing techniques to connect with your audience and convert them into customers.
For big companies with a larger marketing budget, spending millions of dollars in both traditional and digital marketing mediums is not a big deal. However, for small to medium-sized businesses with a limited marketing budget, choosing the right marketing channel is crucial to the success of your marketing campaign. Since every company has a unique audience and business needs, all businesses require a customized marketing strategy to succeed to their full potential.
What is Traditional Marketing?
Traditional or conventional marketing strategy makes use of a wide range of offline channels to draw customers. Tried and tested for many years, it was the only type of marketing before the internet became involved. It is considered to be a very effective marketing type for connecting with local audiences or with people who do not use the internet. Some of the most commonly used traditional marketing mediums are:
- Print advertising (ads on leaflets, magazines, newspapers, etc.)
- Outdoor advertising (on flyers and billboards)
- Electronic media advertising (on television and radio)
- Telemarketing (through SMS, cold calling, etc.)
- Direct marketing (face-to-face marketing)
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is the modern-day strategy that executes campaigns online through various platforms. This marketing type earned popularity with the mass adoption of the internet. Known for its capability to reach a global mass, it is often considered to be the most favoured marketing strategy, for businesses on a conservative budget. The most famous digital marketing techniques used by modern marketers are:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Pay Per Click Advertising
- Affiliate Marketing and so on.
How to Choose the Right Marketing Type
Choosing between traditional and digital marketing types can be somewhat tricky. Both variants have their own pros and cons. Thus, to pick the right marketing medium and achieve your business goals, it is important to understand your own requirements and objectives in detail.
Know Your Product Well
Having a detailed understanding of your product or service allows you to pick the marketing channels wisely. Product knowledge is an essential part of marketing. It lets you present your products/services before your target audience accurately and convincingly.
Identify Your Target Audience
After you have learnt about your product or service thoroughly, recognize the group of people you are targeting. Learning about their demographics or other segmenting factors can help you chose the right marketing medium. For example, if your target audience is the elderly, social media marketing may not be the best marketing medium for you. Instead, you can focus on print ads like that of newspapers and magazines to connect with them. On the other hand, if your product or service is meant for teenagers, you can definitely opt for social media marketing, as this target group is highly present on social media platforms.
Know Your Competitors
Now that you know your product and the people it should be presented to, you must study your competitors’ marketing strategy. Doing so, allows you to recognize ways that your competitors are missing out. For example, if your competitors are mostly focusing on email marketing techniques to strengthen their customer base, you can consider using a combination of traditional and digital techniques along with email marketing to outshine your competitors. From telemarketing to social media marketing, there are several ways to connect with your customers personally. So, why bank on one digital marketing channel alone? On the other hand, if your competitors do not have a stronghold on digital platforms, consider investing in your digital marketing rather than traditional marketing to create a competitive advantage.
Determine Your Budget
Budget plays a very important role in selecting the right marketing medium. Businesses with a high marketing budget might afford to invest in multiple marketing channels. However, when you have a limited budget, you have to be more conservative when selecting your channels of choice. Usually, traditional marketing channels are more costly and cannot guarantee you a high ROI rate. This said it may be wise to choose digital mediums like social media marketing, search engine optimization and email marketing which are known for their cost-effectiveness.
Final Takeaway
Both traditional and digital marketing have their advantages and shortcomings. The key to select the right marketing medium is understanding your business requirements, products, audience and budget. To explore more about these two marketing mediums, it is best to consult an experienced marketing agency that can help you with the right strategy and channels and attain your desired marketing results.
