Traditional Marketing versus Digital Marketing: Which Way to Go?

The truth is that digital marketing has found relevance in the business world so much so that traditional form of marketing are been jettisoned. But alas! Is that the way it’s played out in the actual process of attracting and converting audience to customer?

The other truth is that the two forms of marketing both play complimentary roles in the process of acquiring, nurturing and retaining customers. The Google’s “Zero Moment Of Truth” (ZMOT) crusade does not really deny this fact.

Let’s define these two forms of marketing for better understanding.

What is traditional marketing?

This type of marketing is sometimes called ‘Outbound Marketing’ which involves direct selling using medium like TV & Radio commercials, Direct mails, Billboard advertisements, Cold calls, etc. This type of marketing is location base. That is, you’ll have to establish physical contact before business is initiated and transacted.

If you watch an advert on TV that displays a phone number and contact address without a link to a website (because they don’t have one or it’s not functional), the best you can do is to either call the number or go to their office probably to find out more about the product you wanted to buy. When you’re convinced, you may then move straight to buy the product. This is traditional marketing. I guess we’re familiar with this process. Great!

Digital marketing; how it works.

It is an inbound form of marketing where audience or prospective customers are treated as the king they are by engaging and nurturing them with useful information that help them solve related problems within a given niche thereby making them have reasons why they should become customer at their convenient time.

This type of marketing uses website as medium and they leverage on blogging, SEO, email campaign and social media as tools to bring about this experience. The customers generated through these means are more committed and loyal to brand because trust was built around the relationship.

From the above definitions, it is clear that digital marketing is the sure way to go if you want to maximum ROI. The infograph below by Akkencloud rightly pointed out this claim.

However, it is necessary to combine the two methods because in reality, they play complimentary role in customer acquisition process while building and affirming brand authority. Though, it is possible to do without traditional marketing, but I dare you cannot afford to run outbound marketing in isolation in this internet dominated system.

That is what Google called the ‘Zero Moment Of Truth’. This truth makes it almost compulsory for business of any size to embrace digital marketing in the ever changing phase of customer behavioral pattern in the trend of buying circle.

The starting point is getting a website for your business. If you already have a website, how functional is it? Does it generate lead for your business or add any noticeable input to your bottom line. If not, it implies that your website need urgent overhaul in terms of redesign or maintenance. We’d love to help if you contact us.