Is Traditional Marketing The Right Choice For Your Business?
Ever since humankind has begun creating and operating businesses that sell products or services, their owners have always needed to promote themselves publicly to attract new customers and make sales.
In the early days of humanity, businesses relied on public announcements in town squares and word-of-mouth marketing.
These fundamental forms of marketing eventually evolved into more modern marketing practices, such as newspaper and magazine advertising, billboards advertising, radio advertising, TV advertising.
Today, marketing has changed even more and has adapted to a new online world of social media marketing, search engine optimization, email, analytics, and more.
But still, no matter how much the face of marketing has changed, many of the fundamental principles and practices have remained the same—leaving us wondering whether traditional forms of marketing are still practical and profitable for today’s modern businesses.
But before we answer whether or not traditional marketing is right for your business, let’s review what it is and the pros and cons of investing in conventional business practices.
What Is Traditional Marketing?
Today, marketing has evolved primarily into online and in-home advertising, such as personal branding and logos, the mobile ads you see on social media or the commercials you see on TV.
But traditionally, before the invention of technologies like the internet and TV, businesses mainly invested in out-of-home advertising, such as buying advertising space on billboards or painting their names on the sides of local city buses.
Other forms of traditional marketing include:
- Posters at bus stops and on park benches
- Radio advertising
- Direct mail and catalogues
- Newspaper, magazines, and print advertising
- Over the phone telemarketing
- Window signs and physical displays
The Benefits Of Traditional Marketing
When it comes to the primary differences between traditional and digital marketing, traditional forms of marketing are aimed chiefly at advertising to the masses.
In other words, these forms of advertising primarily place their ads in high volume, high traffic areas, where there is minimal personal targeting.
Therefore, instead of targeting people based on their age, gender, or personal interests, traditional marketing aims at getting its ads into as many people as possible.
That’s why the most successful traditional marketing campaigns use tactics like placing billboards along very busy highways or posting posters in as many locations around town as possible.
The Disadvantages of Traditional Marketing
There’s no denying the fact that having your business or brand name in front of as many people as possible is a good thing.
But there’s also the cold-hard fact that when you advertise to as many people as possible, there’s always going to be a significant number of those people who have little or even no interest in your ads.
Therefore, one of the most significant disadvantages to traditional marketing is that advertisers can’t target their ads.
On the other hand, with most forms of modern digital marketing, advertisers can opt to show their ads solely to individuals based on factors such as their age, geographic location, personal hobbies or interests, and even what type of things you click on when using social media.
When doing this, advertising and marketing become more personal and relevant, which means that ads can be targeted to be shown only to the people who are most likely to interact and buy from your business.
Is Traditional Marketing A Worthwhile Investment For Your Business?
Again, there’s no denying the fact that more traditional forms of local, public advertising and marketing are still effective ways to get your business in front of your ideal customers.
However, modern advertising and digital marketing techniques make it more likely that you’ll be advertising directly to the people who want to hear from your brand.
Either way, it’s essential to understand that the best marketing campaigns combine both older and newer techniques. And they always opt to make your business as relevant and as relatable to your potential customers as possible.
Written by Marx Brecht
