What is the difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing?

10 years ago, the world of advertising was limited to prints and television. 

Nowadays, our lives have gone digitally, and so did marketing. It has developed and changed its form along with us in the past 10 years.

If I would describe two forms of marketing as people, then traditional marketing is like your uncle. He would tell us what he thinks is the best over and over again tirelessly. Digital marketing is like your best lover because it understands our needs it recommends things that suit us the most.

Although both ways of marketing have their advantages, for businesses nowadays, we need to understand the difference between traditional and digital marketing and select the best method for your company. Here’s everything you need to know:

What is traditional marketing? 

Traditional marketing channels include but are not limited to:

Prints, Television, Billboards, Radio, Coupons, Door-to-door sales, phone call marketing.

Before the internet was invented, traditional marketing was the only way for businesses to communicate with consumers. Its underlying concept is straightforward: repetition=memory. Traditional marketing lacks consumer targeting and segmentation. It communicates messages by exposing it to as many people as possible, hoping that customers will see the product/service and buy afterward. 

Although traditional marketing may appear to be outdated, it still has its potent effects. Today, most people have moved online, hence why digital marketing comes into play and gains its influence over our lives. In the fast-paced marketing environment, it is no longer substantial to use traditional marketing only. You need to combine digital marketing into your marketing strategy.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is every brand communication you can see online. It can be the affiliate links on social media, the video advertisements in gaming apps, or the promoted websites on Google. 

Digital marketing includes but is not limited to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), social media marketing, content management, building a website, App, email marketing.

You can find out more about each type of digital marketing in here:

Google Advertising: https://webzilla.co.nz/2021/03/08/what-is-google-adwords-what-is-cpc/

Social media marketing: https://webzilla.co.nz/2021/03/29/why-is-social-media-marketing-important-and-beneficial-for-businesses/

WeChat marketing: https://webzilla.co.nz/2021/03/23/why-is-wechat-marketing-your-strategy-to-enter-the-chinese-market/

Digital marketing is derived from traditional marketing. Both have similar underlying conceptions, which is using creativity and influence to promote brand value. Besides the form, the most significant difference is that digital marketing relies on algorithms and data. If you want to do digital marketing, you must understand the algorithms for each digital platform and the newest trends that change every day. Many small to medium businesses prefer to outsource digital marketing to a digital marketing agency. The online environment changes every day; it is so complicated that even the best graduate of top marketing schools cannot perfectly practice digital marketing. It relies on experience and understanding of data. If you would like to know more about digital marketing, you should consider Webzilla and get a free consultation on strategy. 

The advantages of digital marketing

The top advantage of digital marketing compared to traditional marketing is that digital marketing can specialize, segment, and target consumers. It could push content that is suitable towards the likings of a specific type of customer to that region and increase the chance of purchase. For example, SEM could segment user’s age, region, behaviours, stickiness and display your ad to targeted customers. SEO can increase website rankings, competitiveness, and natural traffic. Social media marketing can help you get closer to consumer’s lives and bring extraordinary brand awareness and influence. 

All outcomes of digital marketing are quantizable. You could numerically measure the effects of each marketing campaign. Compared to traditional marketing, you have no idea how many people have seen your billboard after putting $10,000 into the creation budget. Digital marketing will bring you millions of exposure and sales for the same amount of price. Plus, in the end, the data is provided to you for future analysis. The data will tell you how many people have seen this ad, how many people have clicked into your store, and how many people have purchased your product or service. Its transparency will help you save marketing spending.  

If you are interested to learn more about digital marketing and how it could bring your business profit, contact Webzilla digital marketing specialists today. Our mission is to maximize your benefit.