What is the difference between digital and conventional marketing, and which one do you use? The age-old question on every marketer’s mind is how to choose the right marketing form. All you need to remember is right here.

What is digital marketing?

Simply put, digital marketing is the use of digital platforms for marketing communication, such as websites and social media.If you use social media, you’re probably familiar with the advertisements that appear in your feed—this is digital marketing.

What is traditional marketing?

Traditional marketing, on the other hand, uses old-fashioned methods like banners and print ads. Consider Don Draper from Mad Men brainstorming Coca-Cola TV advertising concepts and copy.

Traditional marketing was pretty much the only form of marketing before the internet was developed in the 1990s..

Digital marketing vs. traditional marketing: what’s the difference?

The primary distinction between digital and conventional marketing is the channel in which a marketing message is delivered to an audience. Traditional marketing relies on print media such as magazines and newspapers, while modern marketing relies on digital platforms such as social media and websites.

Of course, just because anything is conventional does not mean it is outdated. With the ever-increasing need to leave the digital world, traditional marketing continues to play an important role in people’s lives.

Because of their long-lasting effects on your mind, the immersive feel of an effective TV advertisement and the tactile quality of a copy of Rolling Stone magazine are as relevant today as they were 20 years ago. You subconsciously emotionally bind yourself to their brand, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of your mind.

Digital marketing, on the other hand, is just as critical as conventional marketing, if not more so. To meet you, digital marketing uses every touch point of your everyday internet use.

If you’re looking for weekend getaway ideas on Google, you’re likely to come across a customised sponsored ad from Sky Scanner soon after.

Which type of marketing should you use?

Finding the best balance between conventional and digital marketing is crucial to a successful campaign. Digital marketing will be the yin to conventional marketing’s yang in 2020. Both are essential parts of a marketing campaign, but when used together, they have a greater impact.

Take, for example, Guinness. Their TV advertisements are well-known for their distinctive and strong cinematography. Guinness’ iconic 1999 “Surfer” advertisement is still considered one of the best TV advertisements of all time, even after more than two decades. Despite their iconic status, Guinness must adapt to the times and integrate digital marketing into their strategy in order to avoid missing out on any significant marketing opportunities.

Guinness recently extended their digital media horizons by creating video content exclusively for Facebook and Instagram in order to attract a wider and younger audience. Rather than just repurposing their TV advertisements, they shot their campaigns as social first videos, composing shots exclusively for Facebook and Instagram.

As a result, a visually beautiful and powerful social media campaign about Compton cowboys caring for their horses in California was created. Instagram fodder that is both trendy and shareable.

Let’s get into the details and identify the distinctions between digital and conventional marketing, as well as their benefits and drawbacks.

Traditional marketing: pros and cons:

Traditional marketing is frequently undervalued by marketers as a result of the rise of social media. Traditional marketing, on the other hand, continues to play an important role in the lives of consumers. Your money will be well invested if you have the budget to advertise your campaigns in magazines and on prime time television.

Traditional marketing channels include:

  • Outdoor (Billboards, bus/taxi wraps, posters etc)
  • Broadcasting (TV, Radio etc)
  • Print (Magazines, newspapers etc)
  • Direct Mail (catalogues etc)
  • Telemarketing (Phone, text message)
  • Window display and signs

Pros:

Insightful and easy to comprehend: –

A visually appealing advertisement or a compelling television advert is a common occurrence in most people’s daily lives. They’re simple to understand and sometimes amusing.

Printed marketing materials have a longer shelf life:-

If you place an advertisement in The New York Times, it will remain in the paper until it is recycled. This is fantastic if the customer is a serious collector.

More enduring:

Seeing something in person rather than on your computer increases the likelihood of remembering it. The excitement of new Super Bowl commercials or a stunning and impressive window show is more likely to stick with you than an instagram ad that you’ll probably swipe past in seconds.

Cons:

Campaigns are more difficult to evaluate:

Traditional marketing strategies can be measured with brand trackers, but they aren’t nearly as in-depth or intelligent as the tools available for digital marketing.

Frequently costly:

If you’re a new brand, you probably don’t have the budget for a four-page spread in Vogue. Traditional marketing will set you back a significant sum of money.

There is no direct contact with the customer:

You’re more or less in the dark about your audience’s response to your marketing efforts, unlike social media marketing.

Digital marketing: pros and cons

We can’t forget that we live in the internet age, no matter how successful conventional marketing is.

“Internet consumers now account for 57 percent of the global population,” according to ClickZ. Every day, people spend an average of 6 hours and 42 minutes online. By 2021, mobile is expected to account for 73 percent of all ecommerce sales.”

That’s a staggering amount of time and potential for any strategic digital marketing.

Digital marketing channels include:

  • Social media (Facebook, Instagram etc)
  • Website
  • Content marketing
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Inbound marketing
  • Email marketing
  • PPC (pay per click
  • SEM (Search engine marketing)

Pros:

More ways to get involved:

You can physically see what your audience thinks about your brand and marketing campaigns across platforms like social media. You know you’re doing something right if your marketing is being posted, enjoyed, and receiving a lot of positive feedback.

It is simple to monitor the results of your campaigns:-

In contrast to conventional marketing, the details of digital marketing monitoring are extremely detailed. This makes the lessons for the next round of marketing efforts crystal clear.

Allows for more precise targeting:-

If you have the resources to target a 29-year-old female writer who enjoys Lizzo and Guinness, then you must be able to create perfectly tailored content.

Cons:

Advertising on the internet can be irritating:-

Consider the following scenario: you’re scrolling through your Facebook homepage, eager to see what your old school mates are up to these days. Then you get the dreaded funded commercial for an embarrassing ailment you googled the night before. It’ll almost certainly make you hate the brand that’s doing the clever targeting.

Less long-term:-

Digital marketing campaigns such as Google advertising, banner ads, promotional emails, and social media ads may be brief and ineffective. They’re intangible and easy to overlook. Your ad will be gone from your target audience’s screen if they keep scrolling or swipe to the next page.

Find what works for you???

In the end, all forms of marketing have advantages and disadvantages, but the trick is to recognise the unique marketing needs, budget constraints, and target audience.

The Baby Boomer and Gen X generations—those who own televisions and tend to buy newspapers, for example—are more likely to anticipate and welcome traditional marketing outlets. My grandmother, for example, spends hours scrolling through Facebook, posting Lad Bible images, and shopping online—digital marketing is shockingly appropriate for all ages, not just millennials and Gen Z.

The moral of the storey is that if you know what your audience wants, both digital and conventional marketing will work for you.