infoTECH Feature

May 06, 2021

Digital vs Traditional Marketing: Which Is Right For Your Business?



Who doesn’t want more leads for their business? Marketing is all about connecting people with your product. But given there are so many different marketing techniques, you might be wondering whether digital or traditional methods would best suit your business.

Here is an overview of each side of the coin to help you make an informed decision.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is about making your business visible online through techniques such as your website, social media channels, email and paid advertising. It’s estimated that between 70% and 80% of people research a company online before purchasing with them. Therefore, any marketing you do through digital channels will likely be found by customers as part of their purchase decision.

If your business is a startup, there are so many ways to spread the word fast especially with paid advertising. Or if your business is long established but you need to attract more customers, you don’t have to rely on people visiting you in person if you reach them online instead. Combined with a successful website offering, digital marketing can be extremely effective at bringing in new leads for your business.

There are several advantages of digital marketing. Firstly, many methods can be implemented for free or for a low cost. This includes the likes of SEO Services and email marketing. Even aspects that do cost money can be carefully controlled, especially with paid advertising where you can set the budget. Whatsmore, with digital marketing it’s easy to see the performance of each piece of content you put out there in terms of the reach, engagement, follower numbers and overall leads.

Digital Marketing Examples

  • Affiliate marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Banner ads
  • Blog posts
  • SEO
  • PPC

Traditional Marketing

There are times when tangible marketing assets may be more appropriate for your business. For example, billboards in a busy city centre that catch the attention of passing traffic, or brochures that get sent out to customer’s homes. Usually, such methods are for expanding your local reach especially if you offer a trade or service that cannot be purchased online. Though, it’s also possible to link people back to your website if your URL is memorable enough.

If you’re a novice when it comes to marketing, traditional techniques are easier to understand. After all, anyone can hand out leaflets even if they aren’t trained in marketing or sales. You can also concentrate your marketing on a particular geographic location, whereas digital marketing will be visible on a global scale.

One downside of traditional marketing is that you cannot measure the effectiveness of campaigns as easily. Taking our city centre billboard as an example, you cannot count how many people view it. But if it was a Facebook (News - Alert) ad you could. So it really depends on the goal of your marketing, not to mention the type of business you operate.

Traditional Marketing Examples

  • Brochures
  • Word of mouth
  • Leaflets
  • Posters
  • Print advertising
  • Billboards
  • Radio

The Bottom Line

When it comes to marketing your business the choice is between online versus physical methods of reaching people. The answer lies in considering your audience and how expansive you want the reach of your campaign to be.

It could well be the case that you employ both digital and traditional marketing methods for your business. Most marketing agencies will cover all techniques, which will offer some much needed flexibility. After all, even if you are a local business, there’s no reason why you can’t target Facebook users as well as local residents in person.

Keep in mind that if you want to be able to monitor the success of your campaign, then digital marketing is where it's at, especially with the vast analytical tools that are available. It’s always worth having a consultation with a marketing agency or finding a professional who can point you in the right direction, seen as every business is unique.



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