Global spend on the marketing industry is 1.5 trillion dollars!! This is more than GDP of most countries Atmosphere of the present marketing industry is hot with two competitors trying to place dominance. Both are ready to have their own weapons, strengths and weaknesses. This clash is like a clash between a seasoned fighter Traditional marketing and versatile challenger Digital marketing.
Traditional marketing has been in use for longer, has a broader reach, is easily accessible, and has established infrastructure. While digital marketing is adaptable, fast, precise and leverages data analysis. Marketplaces and customers are advancing so choosing the best strategy for your Audience and Products is very crucial for a profitable business.
What are the Main marketing methods contending in this?
With advancing technology we have two major Marketing strategies:
Traditional Marketing: Veteran
Traditional marketing is more like an old school person: slow on uptake and don’t like to adapt but have experience and guidance like no other.
- Weapons(ways) of Traditional marketing – Traditional marketing uses these methods to communicate with the audience: direct mailed postcards, Television/radio commercials, Newspaper ads, Billboards, Telephone calls and texts.
- Strengths of this strategy – This marketing method is older and with it comes benefits like Mass appeal, Tangible presence, easily Emotionally connected, and it is credible.
- Weakness of this strategy – It is expensive and its results are hard to track. Targeting is very limited with this strategy and it has a wide audience which wastes most of the budget if the niche of product is small.
Digital marketing: adaptable newcomer
You can view Digital Marketing as a tech savvy younger generation. Adaptable to every situation, fast, data driven and always developing to its full potential.
- Weapons(ways) of Digital Marketing – Digital marketing use methods like SEO, PPC ads, Social Media, Content marketing, Email Campaigns. All these methods are very effective for conversion of targeted audiences.
- Strengths of this marketing strategy – This marketing method originated from technological advancements. It has advantages like precise targeting of customers, it is cost efficient, Global reach is available here and analysing real time tracking is possible.
- Weakness of this strategy – It is very overcrowded as it is cheaper and makes it difficult to stand out. Digital marketing is still advancing and facing rapid changes. It is heavily dependent on algorithms and search engines.
What are the differences between these two competitors?
| Factors | Traditional marketing | Digital marketing |
| Reach and visibility | Use this if you want to target local or older audience | You can use this for Global level reach and Tech savvy younger generation |
| Cost | It is has high upfront cost | It has low upfront costs |
| ROI | It has long term branding effects and untrackable ROI | It has immediate effects and ROI tracking options |
| Measurability and Data | Hard to measure it effects and impact accurately | It can give real time insights and advanced analytics |
| Engagement | Communication is one sided in these platforms | Two sided communication is possible in these platforms |
| Personalisation | This method is mostly made for masses | Personlisation is possible in this. |
| Speed | This method takes time to effectively work | It is fast and does not have any production time. |
| Adaptability | Rigid structure customisation is hard | Its agile and real time adjustments are possible. |
Distinctive advantages of both strategies over other
Both the marketing methods are unique and have many advantages over the other one. There are few similarities and differences they share together. Traditional marketing is older and has been in use for a long time which is a plus point for it. Digital marketing is fresh and has lots of untouched potential.
Traditional marketing Exclusive Advantages
- Its long presence in the society has made it more reliable and trusty in the eyes of customers. Public trusts TV ads and printed more than digital ads.
- People have a tendency of remembering physical materials like billboards, brochures etc. It sticks in their mind for longer durations.
- If a business just has a local audience and they don’t want to target a very precise audience they can dominate the field without much digital presence.
- TV and radio ads are unskippable and they get shown multiple times which gets stuck in people’s brains.
Digital marketing Exclusive Advantages
- AI and automation technology has advanced so much that without manual input ads and campaigns can be run but their performance changes with each and every person.
- Social media is a very big and deep platform which can give your brand a very strong and effective presence. Getting viral on social media doesn’t take much time.
- Influencers can be compared to models working in television Ads they help in building trust with the audience and people try their recommendations.
- Digital can be turned on and off at your whims. Videos and blogs are such pieces of content that they can attract an audience long after they are published.
What does the future of marketing have hidden?
The future of marketing remains uncertain, but it introduces many new methods to reach audiences. Some are advanced versions of existing strategies, while others—like AR and AI—are entirely new and have the potential to transform the industry.
If you are looking in the near future Companies should cooperate between both these means and use them alternatively. True potential lies in coexisting both the means instead of choosing one.
Brands are utilising both the means to their full potential for their business. Smart brands which can invest huge sums in marketing use traditional methods to build brand presence and trust while they use Digital marketing means for customer engagement and conversions.
KAY beauty is one such brand which uses HYbrid marketing and has seen success. Its Parent company Nykaa has reported a 61% profit from those campaigns together.
Conclusion: which strategy wins?
Companies do marketing to increase business and profits. So it doesn’t matter what method you pick but what matters is which factors are more effective for your business model, Products, and services.
If your business is small scale and you can’t invest much in marketing then you should go for digital marketing methods. Digital means can give you a global reach, less competition and conversion based marketing. Traditional means do not suit small businesses.
Big brands are advised to use both methods and divide their marketing spend between the two channels accordingly. They should utilise traditional means to build a brand awareness for them while using digital channels to directly communicate and target their audience.
