You may be forgiven for thinking that traditional marketing may have become a source of background noise in recent years. However, despite increased digital advertising options, many companies continue to invest successfully in it. The articles you see in magazines and newspapers, commercials, billboards, and radio advertising are transparent examples of traditional marketing. Nevertheless, since social media has taken off and advertising is increasingly persistent there, you may be asking yourself: Is traditional marketing still relevant?
Read about the different forms of marketing, both traditional and digital, to help answer the question.
What is traditional marketing?
Traditional marketing includes anything from billboards to TV commercials, essentially any medium that existed for an extended period before social media became the juggernaut it is today. Traditional marketing methods were the social media of their time and the only widespread advertising methods to customers. More recently, social media sites have become everyday applications in society, although it’s doubtful they would replace traditional marketing entirely but have unquestionably taken a huge portion of the market .
Television
Due to the endless number of streaming services, many audiences don’t watch TV as often as they used to. So, the market for consumption of television advertisements has noticeably declined. 16-24s watch less TV than any other age group, and generally, the time each age group spends watching TV is exactly what you’d expect it to be. Over 75s are the group to watch TV the most, followed by each age group, linearly, below them.
Television advertising, although still very much in use, is not reaching younger demographics to the same degree, and digital marketing techniques have been taking their place. But those in the older demographic are still watching TV and viewing traditional marketing strategies.
Newspapers
The circulation of newspapers has been decreasing. News apps are more and more becoming the primary method of accessing news: although there are pop-ups on news websites, the opportunity to pay to have a business and its services advertised in a newspaper is becoming less advantageous.
Additionally, with the environmental crisis in mind, circulating millions of newspapers every day is beginning to become a less viable option for many. However, newspapers are still read by thousands every single day, so although fewer people are viewing traditional marketing, it is still reaching a considerable audience.
Nowadays, there is a great deal of activity on devices. This has opened up a world of possibilities for email marketing, social media marketing web-based advertising, and text and multimedia marketing.
Digital marketing techniques
Digital marketing is the future of marketing. The Internet and the vast choice of personal devices available in 2022 have opened a world of possibilities for social media marketing, web-based advertising, and direct SMS and email marketing.
Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital marketing doesn’t require vast amounts of money to pay for advertisement costs. Anybody can start a business, create a social media page for it, and market digitally to their customers. This is what encourages the question: is traditional marketing still relevant?
Social media
Social media is the primary method of digital marketing. As stated above, anybody can create a social media page and send regular updates to their potential customers, while having the option for a personalised edge. Social media is one of many digital marketing techniques that allows businesses to communicate directly with their customers, and allow their customers to feel directly supported, rather than feeling like another order number.
Web-based advertising
Web-based advertising is an umbrella term for any advertisements that you see while browsing the Internet. Whether they’re presented as banner ads or pop-ups, web-based advertising is one of the most beneficial digital marketing techniques as users of the Internet are likely to spend at least seven hours on it a day. Businesses can implement their web-based advertising on as many websites as they like, and if they understand their demographic, it is extremely easy to figure out what sites to advertise on to receive the most engagement.
Email marketing and Direct SMS
Email marketing allows companies to send emails en masse to their customers. Usually, the process starts with the promise of a discount or special perks to those that subscribe to their email newsletter. This allows businesses to send promotional emails to a list of subscribed customers to encourage them to return to the company website.
This is one of the great digital marketing techniques that allow customers to feel seen by a company they purchase from, which will help them to feel more incentivised to go back to the website. Perks are key.
A similar concept is direct SMS. Similarly to direct mail and email marketing, direct SMS allows businesses an opportunity to connect and communicate with their customers personally and instantly in their inbox.
These methods are known as direct marketing.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is the use of promotional materials, whether they be printed, emailed, or texted, to advertise an organisation’s products or services. Despite marketing moving very quickly to digital methods, this traditional marketing technique is proven to drive 92% of its recipients towards the organisation’s website.
Direct marketing has also proven to provide a revenue lift of 163% to businesses that use it compared to those that don’t. Direct marketing is an invaluable tool, regardless of whether it is being done traditionally or digitally. For instance, learning how to send a postcard can be part of this adaptable direct marketing strategy, enabling engagement with potential customers through concrete messages. By combining traditional postcard sending with contemporary online resources, you can capitalize on the strengths of both techniques and create a compelling campaign that connects with your audience and generates results.
So, is traditional marketing still relevant?
Yes. Although the world has moved towards digital marketing techniques, traditional marketing still reigns as an invaluable method of marketing to customers. It works best when a business knows who its target demographic is, and the places that they are most likely to be reached, but it works nonetheless.
Traditional marketing still very much exists in the form of sponsorships, broadcasts on the local radio, flyers, and direct mail, and it’s still causing a spike in revenue for the businesses that use them. Thus, traditional marketing is still relevant.
