Traditional Marketing Vs. Digital Marketing
digital marketing,
Which is better? Traditional Marketing or Digital Marketing?
- Traditional Marketing
- Digital Marketing
- Which one is Better?
In the field of marketing, there has been a long-standing debate on whether one type is better than the other. Are the tried and tested methods of traditional marketing enough to give it an edge against the continually rising popularity and relevance of digital marketing? Or has the world become so digitalized that traditional marketing has become obsolete?
In the Philippines, digital marketing has made a name for itself as an amazing asset for many companies. But this hasn’t eliminated the use of traditional marketing by some of the bigger companies.
This article aims to bring to light the advantages and disadvantages of both, as well as to just which one is better in this day and age.
Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing has a very long history. Because of how far back it goes, it is well-researched, established, and already proven to be effective in getting a company’s message out to its customers.
Traditional marketing is comprised of the many different forms of marketing that existed long before the proliferation of the internet. Some of them include advertisements in newspapers and magazines, flyers, pamphlets, business cards, posters, the use of snail mail, postcards, catalogs, telemarketing, and the commercials on television and on the radio,
These types of media have been used for decades and have been considered proven techniques with a relatively high success rate. In recent years, they are still used by many businesses. The medium used in traditional marketing is easy to produce and easy to distribute to your target audience. The printouts could be kept, and most of the time everything in it is easy to understand because these methods are known to the public.
A downside to traditional marketing is that all of the media used are somewhat one-sided. There is little to no interaction between the medium used and the customers other than providing information. They are also used with the goal of spreading its information, but not necessarily enticing people to try out your product. Lastly, due to the nature of how traditional marketing materials are distributed, its reach and effectiveness are not easily measurable. Yes, you can measure the number of fliers given as well as the range of people who might watch a commercial, but you won’t be able to measure how many of them actually used the information and tried your products or services. Lastly, due to the excessive materials used to create traditional marketing media, it will most likely be expensive.
Digital Marketing
On the other hand, we have digital marketing. Digital marketing is comprised of every kind of marketing that you can do online. Unlike traditional marketing that has a long stable history, digital marketing is always changing. Most of the time, the leading strategy today will be irrelevant in 1 or 2 years. It is a minefield. But when you get a grip on what works, your marketing plan will increase its reach by a large percentage.
As it is mainly digital, the methods used in digital marketing is primarily seen through electronic devices, the efforts are predominantly found in websites, social networking sites, content marketing, banner advertisements, Google advertisements, and video marketing.
The first thing that every marketing professional will learn about digital marketing is that it does not focus on spreading information about a product to a target audience. Rather it focuses on making your product or service more likely to appear in the search results of your target audience. The main goal of digital marketing is to make a product as searchable as possible through different kinds of efforts such as blog posts, YouTube videos, guides and walkthroughs, and so many more.
With digital marketing, a company is not limited to their local audience. Because of the worldwide reach of the internet, the whole world will be the audience for your marketing efforts. Another benefit of digital marketing is that it encourages interaction between the audience and the business. your audience can also choose the way they want to receive your content depending on the media you used. As compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing has many things that can help in measuring its reach, and it is very cost-effective, with minimal efforts needing money to be used.
The most concerning downside to digital marketing as mentioned above is that it is never permanent. As technology advances, more and more software are created, better websites, plugins, and methods can surprise the online landscape and render some digital marketing strategies irrelevant. In digital marketing, it is not enough that you are ahead, rather you should be the one innovating and creating better ways to do it.
Which One is Better?
When compared side by side, these two kinds of marketing have pretty clear strengths and weaknesses. With that said, one can have a lot more advantages than the other. And along the lines of the modern-day environment, it is easy to conclude that for now, Digital marketing, especially in the Philippines, is the better choice for most companies that plan to have an online presence. The main reason being the rapid digitalization of the world. Everything is done online now. Seldom will you see companies that prefer paperwork than email. As long as this kind of environment is the norm, digital marketing will be the better option.
This doesn’t mean however that traditional marketing is irrelevant. In fact, traditional marketing is still favored by most companies that have already established themselves as top players in their industry.
It is important to remember that even if when compared to one another, digital marketing is the better choice, everything depends on your target audience. If you’ve collected data that says your audience are avid newspaper readers or watch television regularly, then, of course, traditional marketing is the way for you. Always choose practicality over popularity.
Key Takeaway
Digital marketing in the Philippines is a rapidly growing industry. More and more companies have decided to focus on digital marketing because of how prominent an online presence can be for a company.
Digital marketing and traditional marketing both have their uses. Find ways to incorporate them together or focus on making the most out of one. It’s your choice!
