With the increased accessibility to technology, the way marketers communicate with their audiences has been changing at a rapid rate. Once you have a clear understanding between traditional and digital channels and the purpose they each serve, you’ll be able to use each channel to accomplish your goals.
Traditional Marketing v. Digital Marketing
Traditional Marketing channels include TV commercials, radio commercials, print ads, advertorials, outdoor advertising such as billboards, promotional items, events, exhibitions, and sponsorship of events. Traditional forms of media generally aren’t strong enough to reach your goals. And unfortunately, with traditional or classic media, you may not even know if you’ve achieved your goals since tracking is not well defined. While traditional media continues to serve a purpose in building brand awareness, digital marketing is edging out traditional channels.
Digital marketing channels are much more than just social media. It involves blogging, videos, podcasts, mobile, social media, email marketing, digital analytics, and managing digital marketing through tactics such as account-based marketing and customer relationship management (CRM). Often people will consider digital to be just another channel, but the savvy, modern marketer knows that digital as a unique method of communicating with your prospective and current customer. Digital marketing provides personalization, flexibility to switch courses, and instant tracking and analysis to make data driven decisions.
Many businesses leverage digital channels such as Google search, social media, email, online advertising and their websites to connect with their current and prospective customers. When focusing on digital channels, you can reach your ideal target audience where they are already spending much of their time. In the US, over 285 million people (88.5% of the population) use the internet. E-mail use is popular too with only 9% of the population having never sent an email.
Below are some comparisons between traditional and digital marketing channels and how to best utilize them to meet your goals.
Traditional marketing methods can have a strong presence and often a wide reach since they also speak to those who aren’t that internet savvy, which can be beneficial to large brands needing to reach large audiences. The best marketers have a clear picture of how each asset or tactic supports their overarching goals. While many marketers find digital channels to be a better spend, having a true understanding of both traditional and digital marketing channels provides you the tools for growth and success.