You want to get the most out of your marketing budget. We get it—and we’re here to help. The world of marketing can be overwhelming, especially when you get into the debate of traditional vs digital marketing for your business. We break it all down here, so keep reading to figure out which one (or combination of both) is right for you.
Traditional Marketing
So, what is traditional marketing? Basically, it means anything that doesn’t involve the digital world. Traditional marketing can include direct mail, posters, pamphlets, TV commercials, radio, billboards, and magazine or newspaper ads.
It’s called traditional marketing because it’s just that—traditional. It’s been around for years, and we’ve all been exposed to it at some point or another. (We’re guessing there’s a certain personal injury lawyer who comes to mind when you think of billboards, right?)
Downsides to Traditional Marketing
While traditional marketing can still be effective, especially depending on your business, the fact is that it may not be the most effective way to reach your target audience. Of all the people who get your pamphlet or see your billboard, only a small percentage are actually in your target audience.
Traditional marketing is also difficult to track. You never really know how many customers come from that strategy, meaning it’s nearly impossible to determine your ROI. You’re essentially yelling your message from the rooftops and hoping someone will listen.
Another reason that traditional marketing may not be the best choice for your business is that it’s usually a much larger investment than digital marketing. Newspaper and magazine ads are only going to be seen the one time that person reads them. Radio ads will only be effective if someone in your target audience happens to be listening at that moment. To reach them again, you’ll have to pay for another ad.
Digital Marketing
If traditional marketing is everything not done digitally, then it just makes sense that digital marketing is everything that does take place online. This includes emails, social media, blogs, search engines, websites, and digital ads. It doesn’t matter how small your business is or what your marketing budget is, any business can find success with digital marketing. The internet plays a huge role in the lives of everyone, meaning that your target audience is almost certainly logging on in their day-to-day.
With digital marketing, you can make sure that the right message is getting in front of the right people at the right time. Odds are that your competition is already leveraging digital marketing to reach potential customers, so you’re simply missing out if you’re not there too.
Note: Often, traditional marketing is more effective in certain industries, geographies, or particular services. This doesn’t mean that it is the only form of marketing that’s worthwhile. A digital strategy can also increase a traditional campaign’s effectiveness and overall ROI. For instance, billboards are heavily utilized in specialized markets—and have a wide-ranging reach among the general population. Digital billboards have allowed more businesses (especially smaller ones) to leverage this form of advertising and, when bolstered by geotargeted digital ads, to deliver an even stronger marketing message front and center (in person and via smartphone).
Benefits of Digital Marketing
Other than the reasons we’ve already talked about, digital marketing has some serious benefits over traditional. You can easily measure results with digital marketing, meaning a clearly defined ROI. With all of the information you get, it’s also possible to see what pieces of your marketing strategy are working and what aren’t. That means that you can quickly adjust to get the best bang for your buck.
This brings us to the next benefit of digital marketing: the ability to make quick adjustments to your strategy. If you see that a digital ad isn’t performing, you can simply switch it for new copy and imagery. With print, you’d have to wait for print or recording to make any changes.
Choose Digital Marketing for Your Business
It’s time to start seeing results for your marketing efforts. By choosing Uptick Marketing for your digital needs, you can expect a team of professionals to help you get clear results, increase sales and profits, and deliver the best return on your investment. Get in touch today to get started.
