We all know that digital marketing is the current trend that has been sweeping through the market and taking over the marketing campaign agendas of corporations, both big and small, for a while now, and it has only been displaying an uptake in growth and reach with no particular signs of slowing down.
In this storm of digitization, the significance of traditional marketing methods has been overshadowed by the new age approach to marketing, but do not underestimate traditional marketing just yet as it was the genesis of all marketing and business.
It paved the way so that the digital world could rise, it truly is a titan of the commercial industry and has so much if not more to offer in this new age.
In fact, if one were to combine the tactics of both the traditional and digital marketing styles then that would make for something truly interesting, as a combined approach can really extend a brand’s reach much further than it would have gone had it just been either one used individually.
The beauty of this combined tactic is that it has so much to offer but is not used as frequently as it should be.
They both have excellent qualities to offer to businesses that employ their tactics, and one of the reasons they work so well together is that almost everything is digital but there are still aspects to marketing that have not been digitized.
There remains a market, a rather large one considering the situation, for tangible and real-life marketing content such as printed magazines, newspapers, brochures, etc.
The mutual demand keeps them afloat and working like a well-oiled machine in the modern industry of brand building.
Now let us take a look at the results of adopting such a tactic and combining digital and traditional marketing methods.
The benefit
When it comes to marketing the first things that companies start off with is identifying what approach works best for them.
This can depend on a number of factors such as budget allocation, the size of the audience, the location they are targeting, etc. but it usually goes one of two ways, online marketing (Digital) or offline marketing (Traditional).
On the other hand, a combined approach helps fill the gaps as not everything is digitized and there remain some aspects of commercial marketing that just have to do the traditional way and that’s where the combined approach stands tall.
It allows one to cover all bases and get a much higher reach than any one of those techniques would have acquired individually.
How to get started
A good way to go about this, for example, is to gain and maintain a customer’s attention. One could go about doing it by engaging them by making use of advertisements through online platforms such as social media and Google, and then re-engage them or retain their attention.
This way you would be covering the market for their attention on all fronts and maximizing your resources.
Something IMPORTANT to keep in mind
It is also important to note that while both forms of marketing can work cohesively, one needs to understand the difference between the two and how they individually impact the target audience.
For starters, traditional marketing is much more passive and is not as aggressive when it comes to getting people interested because as a physical medium, there is only so much it can do and so far it can go, but what it lacks in reach, it makes up for it with the in-built trust that people have in the medium. It relies on the soft sell technique wherein it invites people to participate in a service or purchase a product.
Digital marketing, on the other hand, is almost everywhere, all the time. From the websites you visit, your social media platforms, and even the apps you use; it makes itself known and it is a more proactive and aggressive form of marketing. Thanks to its global reach it can really rake in a lot of attention for campaigns.
An Example
A sound strategy to adopt in integrating these into your business plan would be to set up multiple social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter as well as other digital media such as email and websites. Then just include them on your printed advertisements like brochures, banners, posters.
If there is one thing that print is known for, it’s grabbing the audience’s attention, thanks to such an extensive existence on the marketing front.
Once people get intrigued by the fantastic colors and the appealing designs, they will spot the online addresses and they will be more likely to go and look up your business.
A good ‘real-life’ example of this is the “QR Code” system that you see on menus, posters, brochures, etc. literally, have a look around and you will spot that little black and white pixelated block on the back of a magazine or something.
All you need to do is scan it and your phone takes care of everything else for you from getting your information and taking you to that businesses site to paying them, it is all handled by that little block of pixels.
Things like these prove that brands can very effectively make a name for themselves by integrating both traditional and digital marketing into their business plans.
Why are they more likely to explore? Simple!
It is convenient. Plain and simple, everything they need to know, all available in one convenient location provided through a minimal amount of searching on their part is all audience will ever want in the digital age, and if your content is relevant and interesting, then you are on your way to the top.
Conclusion
To sum up, keep in mind that even in the digital age, traditional marketing has its significance and helps fill the gaps that digital marketing has not gotten around to yet.
It also helps strengthen your local presence, thereby giving you a solid foundation; keeping in mind how progressive digital marketing is and how passive its traditional counterpart is.
As a brand builder, you need to keep these qualities of the two approaches in mind, though they are so different, they compliment each other really well and bring a lot of fluidity to the marketing campaign overall, if you know how to leverage their strengths and supplement their weaknesses.
Here’s to you! Hope everything goes great and we really hope this article helped you.