Digital Marketing VS Traditional Marketing
Before we start laying down the differentiations, let’s start with understanding what is digital marketing and traditional marketing and next what was Digital Marketing VS Traditional Marketing. Digital marketing, as the name suggests is the use of digital channels such as websites and social media marketing as tools for marketing. From the pop-ups that appear almost every time one tries to search something on the web to the emailers that clutter almost everyone’s mailboxes – these are all tools that make digital marketing happen. Some of the mention worthy digital marketing campaigns that happened in India in the recent times are:1. Social Media Marketing Campaign: How KFC India Boosted its Social Media Presence
2. British Airways: Fuelled by Love Campaign
3. Google Case Study: Dabur’s Digital Transformation for the Modern Indian Women
Traditional marketing, on the other hand is the use of traditional channels such as print media, billboards, television and radio among others. To understand better you can start thinking of the endless list of Indian ads like Pepsi’s ‘Ye Dil Maange More’ campaign or the famous ‘Thanda Matlab Coca Cola’ by the father of Indian advertising, Piyush Pandey. Some of the famous traditional marketing campaigns that have helped India move towards its growth are ones such as ‘Do Boond Zindagi ki’ for polio vaccination and ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ that was created as a musical masterpiece integrating music representatives of all Indian states to promote national integration. This creation saw the coming together of almost every celebrity, sports stalwarts and musical maestros.
It was only with the advent of the internet in the 90s that digital media came into being. Although the initial years were not the best any newbie would expect, slowly digital marketing started growing and now has a claim to a substantial amount of the media budget, and at times even more than what is the budget allotted for traditional marketing. The primary difference between digital and traditional marketing is the medium through which an audience encounters a marketing message. While traditional marketing uses traditional media like magazines and newspapers, digital marketing uses digital media, such as social media or websites. Another term which is now widely used for digital media is ‘new media’.
However, one must note that traditional marketing doesn’t mean it is old fashioned. Traditional marketing still plays an important role in the lives of people with the ever growing need to unwind from the digital media that one is glued to, almost 24×7. The immersive experience that one gets out of an impactful TV commercial and the play of words that builds up to an emotion in case of a print ad on one of the leading newspapers is something irreplaceable. The reason why jingles like ‘ Chal meri Luna’ or ‘Washing Powder Nirma’ are still as fresh as new in our minds after so many years.
Similarly, digital marketing is just as important as traditional if not even more so. Digital marketing uses every touch point of our daily lives, as one uses the internet to steer through our lives in this digital age. If one is google-searching vacation ideas, the chances are that soon after a tailored sponsored ad from a travel website will pop up. Staying on the internet for several hours each day is a normal part of most people’s day to day life. Digital marketing just uses this to its advantage by smartly building marketing communications around it into every digital channel.
Which type of marketing is best for one’s business?
The key to a successful marketing campaign is to find the right balance between traditional and digital. In 2021, digital marketing is the other side of the coin. Without one, the other is not values. Both play an important role in a marketing strategy, but they are each elevated when used in unison.
Pros of Digital Marketing
1. Global Reaching: Digital marketing enables marketers to reach out to a global audience. Digital marketing can help small businesses reach out to far off lands, which is not possible in case of traditional marketing.
2. Better CX Support: Digital marketing has made it possible for businesses to make themselves available for their customers 24×7. And this one can be done with just one click.
3. Lower Cost: Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing is a relatively low-cost affair. It thus can be repeated anytime.
4. High Effectiveness: Digital marketing is quite effective as compared to traditional marketing
Cons of Digital Marketing
1. Skills and Training: So, one can make a digital marketing campaign happen, a lot of skilled
persons are required such as digital marketing manager, graphic designer, social media manager, content manager, marketer, developer, and the list goes on.
2. Lack of Data: With digital marketing, one can only have information about the existing
customers. One can’t find a real picture of the customers, nor can one know what will help in
improving customer relations.
Pros of Traditional Marketing
1. Reach local audience: Digital marketing allows marketers to reach out to a local audience. By simply directing the marketing budget to a local newspaper and promoting through billboards, one can target the audience and promote business.
2. Greater exposure: Traditional marketing relies on a call center or a live representative to answer customer service queries. This ensures that a human connection can be made with the customers.
3. Easy to understand: Traditional marketing is easy to decipher.
Cons of Traditional Marketing
1. Less Engaging: Traditional marketing is a low-engagement affair.
2. It is expensive
3. Hard to define and reach the Target Audience
4. Difficult to measure the ROI