Difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing

Definitions and meanings

 Traditional Marketing:

The term traditional marketing refers to the marketing techniques or methods that companies have been using for years to market and promote their products and services. These are offline marketing techniques that we see and hear every day. Some examples of traditional marketing techniques are given below:

• Print: newspaper, magazines, newsletters, etc
• Broadcast: television and radio advertisement
• Direct mail marketing: catalog, brochures, letters and postcards, etc
• Telephone marketing: delivering sales messages to convince consumers about product or service

Digital Marketing:

Marketing activities that are carried out with the help of digital technologies is known as digital marketing. This approach is also called interactive marketing where the company interacts with customers and directly gets their feedback on products and services offered to them. As compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing is a new way of approaching customers, understanding their needs and behavior towards the company and its products. In this kind of marketing, marketers use the internet, mobile applications, social media platforms, and search engines like google and bing to reach customers.

Difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing:

The difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing have been detailed below:

1. Customer interaction

Traditional marketing needs more time and effort to reach the target market, but with no certain return or results because of no direct interaction with customers. It is just a conventional type of marketing where promotional data which is once executed cannot be updated due to lack of response from customers. Digital marketing, on the other hand, is interactive marketing with comparatively less time consumption. It includes almost all marketing strategies with customer feedback. Digital marketing techniques target a specific segment of customers. They are designed in a way that gives actual and potential customers a chance to interact with the company or business from where they have bought or plan to buy products or services.

2. Challenges to face

Traditional marketing faces many challenges to hit the target audience, but the most important challenge is to create customer value. Advertisements on TV or radio, using print media, etc. helps customers to know more about your product or service but do not help them to get any new insights into their issues and problems. Generally, traditional marketing targets the customers but not their concerns.  Now a days, digital marketing is known to be one of the important marketing strategies still, it has to face many challenges to hit the target market. The most important challenge faced by digital marketers is “how to use digital channels effectively to market things?” This challenge highlight the need for a new approach to marketing, based on a new perspective of consumer actions.

3. Ongoing results

Measuring the results of the tools and techniques used by traditional marketers is not an easy task to complete. Sometimes we have to wait for months to measure the results needed for improving the business or its return on investment (ROI). While once we start using digital marketing, we don’t need to wait for a long period to measure the results or see the significant growth in the business. Google analytical tools can be used in digital marketing to easily determine the Return on investment (ROI).

4. Cost-effective

Traditional marketing includes promotional activities for products and services through print and electronic media which are mostly not cost effective at all. We need printed material in the shape of hard copies or advertisements on TV or radio to attract customers. All these things cost a lot of money. Comparatively, digital marketing is cost effective. We can use social media platforms to advertise our products or may invest in some paid ads online which are cost efficient methods as compared to traditional marketing approaches.

Traditional marketing and digital marketing – tabular comparison

A tabular comparison of Traditional Marketing and Digital Marketing is given below:

Conclusion:

Traditional marketing is a term where we use traditional ways of marketing products and services. This kind of marketing is mostly in a tangible form, where we use newspapers, billboards, brochures, word of mouth, business cards, advertisement on T.V and radio. It is also called a one-way communication from the company towards its customers because of no direct relationship between them or no direct interaction. Digital marketing is sometimes called a developed form of traditional marketing but it is way different than traditional marketing. It creates marketing tools and techniques after getting feedback from customers to get quick results. This is why we can say that it is two-way communication marketing or marketing with direct relationship between the customer and the company.