Putting up a business isn’t as easy as you think.
Though some may have made it look easy and became a success, there’s plenty of things that happened behind the scenes. There were sleepless nights in putting together the right products and services. There were long hours of discussion about the business’ attention-grabbing name, design, branding materials, and so on. It involves thorough planning to create something that will click with the masses.
But note this, the work doesn’t stop after all that and just because it’s day 1 of your business operations. There are still promotions to do to make sure that people are aware of your business and what your products and/or services are. Not doing it may cause you in the long run as there’s a possibility of not gaining new and loyal customers, reduced sales, and more.
Now, you may still be debating whether it’s better to do it the traditional way or call in the experts of digital marketing services. The two do offer good points when it comes to promoting your brand, products, and services. But if you were to choose just one, which of the two will it be? To help you make an informed decision on the right marketing approach for your business, we’ve put together an article that talks about each type of marketing and the main differences between the two.
Traditional and Digital Marketing – How Different Are These Two?
Traditional and Digital Marketing – Definition
Traditional marketing is defined as a conventional or common style of marketing with the use of different offline advertising and promotional methods to reach out to a targeted audience group. Not a new form of marketing, we’ve been exposed to various traditional marketing methods because we encounter them on a daily basis. From the outdoor billboards we see or fliers handed to us on our way to work to the advertisements we see printed in magazines or playing on our televisions, we are exposed to it regularly – making it hard to ignore. It may have gone through evolution or changes, but its important aspects are still the same.
Digital marketing, on the other hand, is a form of marketing that makes use of digital media such as social media and websites as channels for promoting products and services online. Any digital marketing agency in Singapore or elsewhere will be well-versed in explaining to you why it’s the future of marketing. From its cost-effectiveness to allowing you to make changes to your ads, there are numerous advantages to using this type of marketing. Add to that the growing number of people using their digital devices to search for the next restaurant to try or shops to buy what they need, and you’ve got the best platform to use today. After all, it’s important to go where your customers are, and it’s online.
Differences between Traditional and Digital Marketing Services
Both types of marketing are effective in getting the attention of the target audiences. But it’s important to note that there are still differences between the two that you may find useful as you decide on which approach to take for your business. In any case, you’ll be shelling out a marketing budget and you need to put it where you can best reach out to the audience you’re targeting and convert them into leads or prospective customers.
Traditional Marketing
Still considered as an effective way of promoting these days, many are still believing that traditional marketing is the right way to go. Although there are benefits that this form of marketing provides, there are also some disadvantages, some of which are outlined here.
Traditional marketing is expensive.One of the key factors to consider when choosing a marketing approach is your budget. It’s a huge investment that may give your business a good return, or it’s possible that it won’t. The manpower you need to make a new ad campaign, the materials to use for a broadcast or print and more can affect your budget. You may need to run ad campaigns various times to reach your target audience and it’s not cheap. You need to create and run new campaigns every time for brand exposure. And if there’s an error in the print ad or radio advert, it will be costly to fix it – money you could have spent on other ads.
Traditional marketing is not flexible.Another difference between the two is that traditional isn’t as flexible as digital marketing. With the latter, you can easily update and adjust your ads if needed. But in traditional marketing, it’s not going to be easy. If your print ads or commercials show the wrong product name or percentage discount, it will take a lot of effort to tweak – not to mention costly too if you have to shell out money for corrections.
Traditional marketing results and campaigns are difficult to measure and track.In all marketing campaigns, it’s necessary to be able to measure the results. Hence, you wouldn’t be able to determine if it’s effective or if you’re just wasting your money. Because you’re only able to print or broadcast information about your business to your audience, you have little interaction with one another and you don’t know where the lead came from unless you ask each customer.
Digital Marketing
The rise of social media may have been one of the reasons why many businesses are opting to work with a digital marketing agency in Singapore or elsewhere.
Digital marketing lets you tailor to a specific budget.One of the benefits of this form of marketing is you can tailor it to a specific budget. Big businesses may have bigger budgets to spend on campaigns and small or start-ups don’t have, but it doesn’t matter because you don’t need to have a big spending budget to promote in social media or other digital channels. For example, in PPC campaigns, you can set the amount that works for the budget you have. It can be as little as $500 or as big as $1000 or more.
Digital marketing is flexible.Unlike traditional marketing where it’s not easy and even costly to correct print ads or commercials, digital marketing can be easily updated and corrected. In just a few clicks, wrong product detail or discount in a social media ad can be corrected. When you run PPC campaigns, you can make changes to the keywords, ads, and more. You can make changes in your digital marketing campaigns for better results, something you can’t easily do with traditional marketing.
Digital marketing results are measurable.As you’re investing money in the campaign, it’s understandable that you want to measure and monitor the campaign results. You want to know if the strategy is working or not. In digital marketing, it’s easy because you have tools to help measure your campaign’s effectiveness. In Google Analytics, you can measure your SEO campaign.
In conclusion, both traditional and digital marketing offer benefits to businesses using it to promote their brand. But in weighing the pros and cons of both forms, it’s clear that digital marketing services have come up to the top. From being cost-effective, flexible, and measurable, it’s a form of marketing that puts both small and big businesses on the same playing field.
