With the vertiginous evolution of digital marketing since the 2000s, opinions are rather controversial on the death or not of traditional marketing. Between digital and traditional marketing, which one to choose?
You first need to know and then realize that traditional marketing is still necessary and will be for a long time. As for the question of the choice to be made, we join the ranks of brands that offer companies to adopt both: that is to say both a digital marketing strategy and a traditional one.
So how do you successfully combine the two?
What is traditional marketing?
Still called classic or conventional marketing, traditional marketing refers to the logic and standard techniques used to promote a product or service on the market. So this is marketing as you have always known it to have been used in a business before the expansion of the Internet. Or marketing as you can imagine as opposed to the web marketing you’re used to.
The use of traditional marketing dates back to the origins of advertising and increased in 1902 following the considerable development of market research and advertising in order to better analyze consumer behavior.
Some people rightly or wrongly think that this classic marketing is dead. While it is true that direct mail, telemarketing, print (newspapers and magazines) and programs (radio and television) are no longer as profitable as they used to be, the fact remains that they are replaced by other 'Offlines' marketing techniques in line with the changing behavior of consumers and users today.
This is particularly observed through “Networking activities”, afterworks, meeting evenings, recruitment events, public appearance of the company, etc. These "offline" practices are generally aimed at very targeted audiences with whom we observed a commercial opportunity to seize and exploit.
Advantages and disadvantages of conventional marketing
Even if it is difficult to give up traditional marketing, it has to be made clear that it is generally very expensive and time consuming.
It is the only alternative for you to reach certain target audiences, but still displays the limit of not easily measuring and tracking your campaign results.
It is suitable for retaining historic customers by simple mailing contact, but it is a strategy that is continuously losing audience.
What about digital marketing?
Digital marketing or webmarketing refers to the techniques used to promote a product or service digitally or via the Internet in general. This is mainly what differentiates it from traditional marketing. Digital marketing particularly emerged in the early 1990s with the democratization of the Internet, the publication of web pages, the appearance of social networks, e-commerce, low-cost online advertising, mobile applications and other digital communication technologies.
Today, companies of all sizes use a multitude of modern marketing techniques: email marketing, marketing automation, natural referencing, SEA, PPC, SMO, etc. Think of all the content that you access because of personalized and targeted brand communication or the increasingly popular ads on the Internet.
Thus, in the current context where consumers prefer to trust the advice of their communities compared to the discourse of marketers, we can understand that some prefer digital marketing at the expense of conventional.
Advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing
- The less expensive and accessible aspect of digital marketing is an asset that attracts very quickly, however it is just as time-consuming and can generate other costs.
- It offers the particular advantage of a large audience and the strengthening of customer acquisition and customer relations, but it can also work against you in case of bad buzz.
- It reinforces the notoriety of your brand, but also exposes you to the theft of intellectual property because your productions are easily copiable.
- It provides you excellent web analytics and audits, but for that you need to pay the costs associated with real analysis reports.
The essentials of an integrated marketing strategy
The best approach is therefore to combine the two marketing techniques to generate the best performance for your campaigns. Where people are connected to newsletters, social media, mailing and web advertising, they also always watch TV, read newspapers, listen to the radio, etc. Not to mention that some products perform better if marketed online, while others perform better when marketed offline. Stay focused on the need for you to deploy relevant actions that work for your demographic group and can convey your brand's message.
Duplicate online and offline content
You just need to educate people about what you are trying to promote or advertise through different channels, etc. For this, the content works, because it consists of detailed explanations, valuable information or simply entertaining stories. The only difference is between optimizing content for digital marketing. To get the most out of traditional and digital marketing, you can duplicate your viral content online in magazine articles or just offline blog articles.
Calls to action
A great way to make both classic marketing and web marketing work is to create a call to action in a television commercial or magazine ad. The goal is to entice the viewer or reader of the magazine to visit your website or participate in a digital experience aimed at turning it into an active participant. Here are some tips to help you: These calls to action can be extended to all print media to which you can add QR codes to your website.
Personalized customer experiences
Providing a personalized experience for your customers is another way to make both traditional marketing and digital marketing work. Thanks to demographic data (age, location) and psychographic data (lifestyle, interests) from traditional marketing, you can now target specific audiences with a specific advertisement. By integrating this data into their actions, your marketers can reach better qualified prospects.
Billboards and geographic targeting
Geo-targeted advertisements associated with billboards will generate more interest and engagement from your audience. While yesterday they were expensive, billboards in their new digital styles are now accessible even to SMEs. They still represent one of the best means of exposing impactful marketing messages on specific markets, reaching more than 90% of the population.
Promotion of local events online
It is recommended that your content marketing efforts overlap with your physical events. In general, you need to take every opportunity to promote one of your events on a platform that you control, especially when you are dealing with a target audience. Apart from creating your events in the social media thread, you can also carefully add them to your electronic signatures.
Radio and streaming announcements
Your customers always have favorite radio stations, and you can get more visibility for your ads when you buy broadcast and online spots. Position yourself in the morning commute window when looking for traffic reports and local news. Most radio stations will produce your spot for free if you are on a tight budget. If it's strategic for you, buy an additional location on YouTube, Spotify or Pandora.
Evolve your global marketing strategy
Marketing is the art and science of bringing customers in and building loyalty. It is almost a vital need for entities in order to build their brand, establish their notoriety and stand out from the competition.
Where people are connected to newsletters, social media, mailing and web advertising, they also always watch TV, read newspapers, listen to the radio, etc. Not to mention that some products perform better if marketed online, while others perform better when marketed offline.
By combining two strategies, one traditional and the other scalable, your company's marketing efforts can reach new heights. If you want to develop your combined marketing strategy and integrate a 360 ° Web strategy, we are at your service