Ever since the internet became a medium by which businesses could sell their products and services, marketing has split into two distinct camps.
In one we have the traditional types of marketing that are consumed offline such as newspaper ads and billboards. The other is digital marketing which takes place online and includes SEO and Pay Per Click advertising.
It may seem that, given they are so distinct from each other, traditional marketing methods would be of no help or benefit to an online marketing campaign, and vice versa, but that is not the case. In fact, there are several ways that traditional marketing can augment digital marketing, so let’s examine how and why.
Benefits of Traditional Marketing
It Has Tried and Tested Methods: Even though the likes of TV advertisements might seem modern, they have actually been around for over 60 years. Newspaper and billboard ads for decades longer. And they all still work extremely well.
They Are The Most Effective In Certain Business Categories: Not every product or service lends itself to online marketing or there are those where traditional methods of marketing work often equally well as digital marketing.
Examples include law firms and car maintenance where local TV, radio, and newspaper advertising still bring them lots of new customers, and often more than their online marketing does.
They Are More Trusted: Given the countless stories you hear about online fraud and data theft, it is little wonder that many people are wary of online advertising. While it could also be said that you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the press, newspaper, TV, and radio adverts are often seen as more trustworthy.
It Is Regarded As Face To Face: Traditional marketing is regarded by anyone who consumes the adverts as taking them closer to the business which is advertising. That might be due to mediums such as leaflets or brochures where they have something physical in their hand as opposed to seeing an online ad, where you can click away instantly.
Benefits of Digital Marketing
Greater Reach: With digital marketing you literally have a worldwide audience and whilst that may not necessarily matter if you are a local business, the fact is that with digital marketing there are very few limitations as to how many people see your marketing, other than the effectiveness of your campaign.
Easier to Track and Measure: Compared to traditional offline marketing methods, online marketing is infinitely easier to track, to the point that you may sometimes be overwhelmed with all the data presented to you there is so much of it. Nevertheless, it allows you to assess, amend, and improve any online marketing campaign.
More Precise Targeting of Prospects: With traditional marketing, you are extremely limited in terms of specifying who you want to target, whereas a huge advantage of digital marketing you can be as laser focussed as you wish.
Some ad platforms allow you to specify age, gender, occupation, income, number of children, and even the colour of their car, in terms of who you want your ad shown to.
High Return On Investment: Much of the traffic you receive online is known as organic, meaning you haven’t actually paid directly for it. You may have invested in an agency doing your SEO, but even with their fees, the return on investment can be extremely high.
Combining Traditional And Digital Marketing For Optimum Results
The key point we wish to make is that you should not see traditional marketing and digital marketing as being an ‘either/or‘ choice. They can actually co-exist within the same marketing campaign, and in doing so, the results can be greatly enhanced and better than if you were using just one of them.
One way it can be done is to set up a geo-targeted online campaign where you are seeking customers within a local area, whilst at the same time employing traditional marketing methods within that local area such as billboards, newspaper ads, and leaflet drops.
For those whose market lends itself to magazine advertising, and in particular magazines within a specific niche, this is another opportunity to combine traditional and digital marketing. Most magazines have an online audience too, so you could seek to target them with paid ads.
In addition, display advertising online where individuals are retargeted depending on what websites they visit also fits in well with this sort of campaign.
If there is congruency in terms of imagery and branding between both your offline and online marketing activities this will help to increase your brand awareness and the fact that you are using traditional methods may help people see you as a brand they can trust.
Also, by using both traditional and digital marketing, you will be getting in front of as broad a range of age groups as possible. Millennials are likely to be mostly online, whereas you might find baby boomers split 50/50 between mediums such as TV and the internet.