Traditional Tr aditional Marketing vs. Digital Marketing
As the debate on finding a better and/or more effective marketing tool or approach rages on, one thing that is sure is the fact that companies can no longer ignore the importance of not only having, but monitoring their presence online. Though many businesses are still at a crossroad, one simply cannot wish away the effects or impacts technology has, and is still making in our business environments today. Some interesting questions related to digital marketing and traditional marketing are: hat is the most beneficial marketing approach comparing traditional and digital marketing! hich marketing tools are the most used ones in practice and which are prefer preferred red by real life comp companie anies! s! "s digit digital al marke marketing ting a cont contempo emporary rary version of traditional marketing and, are the two kinds of marketing independent of, or complementary to each other!
Aim: The aim of this study is to: •
#omp #o mpar are e tra tradi ditio tiona nall ma mark rket etin ing g wi with th di digit gital al ma mark rket etin ing g an and d sh show ow th the e differences in characteristics between them
Defining: $arketing is considered to be a collective process where individuals or groups can e%change goods and services based on their needs and wants. &hilip 'otler ()**+ defines marketing as, -the process of planning and e%ecuting the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create e%change that satisfies individual and organisational obectives.
The theory of marketing mi% has been analysed and rewritten many times by many authors but, it was 0eil 1orden, who presented the content of this process as a marketing mi% for the first time in 234+. 'otler himself considers marketing mi% as a mi%ture of different tools or instruments for pursuing a marketing plan. this s is a pro proces cess s of pro promot moting ing through through wel welll kno known wn an and d Traditional Marketing: thi establishe estab lished d chan channels nels like 1illb 1illboards oards,, &rint $edia, T5 comme commercials rcials,, 6adio ingles, 7oor8)87oor marketing, 1anner Adverts, Street promos, $obile Adverts, etc. The obective here is to attract the attention of your target customers, discover and satisfy their wants and needs. Digital Marketing: digital marketing is a new tool that companies companies can use to reach
their customers. "t can be seen as traditional marketing done online, as the basic premise remain the same 9 engaging the customers and responding to their concerns. "t is defined as the application of the internet and related digital tech te chno nolo logi gies es to ac achi hiev eve e ma mark rket etin ing g ob obe ect ctiv ives es an and d su supp ppor ortt th the e mo mode dern rn marketing concept.
Clarifying the Differences: •
Traditional marketing approach is about utilising channels like display ads, bill billbo boar ards ds,,
bann banner er ads, ads, T5 comm commer erci cial als, s, prin printt
medi media a
adve advert rtis isin ing, g,
brochures and radio ingles. 7igital marketing in itself is about promoting a brand/ brand/com compan pany y throug through h the "ntern "nternet, et, utilis utilising ing channe channels ls like like ebs ebsite ites, s, 1logs, oogle Adwords, ;acebook, Twitter,
hile traditional marketing targets and finds specific customers, based on demographics, digital marketing puts companies out in the open, allowing people to find them
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7igital marketing has a far reaching ability in today=s business world when compared to traditional marketing. And not ust that, the speed with which customers can be reached digitally is nothing like the traditional.
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>ne of the limitations of digital marketing is that, unlike the traditional marketing where adverts are carried out on the pages of a newspaper, throug through h T5 comme commerci rcials als,, radio radio ingle ingles, s, billbo billboard ards s and street street displa displays ys,, which are accessible to, and easily understood by large number of people? the potential customers must have access to internet and be familiar with the channels used to target them. here there is no internet access or knowledge of digital channels, then the advert is wasted.
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>ne of the limitations of traditional marketing is the inability to track and monitor your campaign performance. 7igital marketing gives you the ability to monitor responses and see how your campaign is doing and measure its effects.
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Avoiding the very high cost of acquiring a small space in a local newspaper or little air8time in one of the local radio and television stations which is associated with traditional marketing, digital marketing offers you the ability to create multiple campaigns at the same time, on a budget that suits you, targeting different countries, interest groups, ages and genders.
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Altho lthoug ugh h both both varie varietie ties s allow allow for for pers person onal al inte intera ract ctio ion n with with targ target et audiences, some channels of traditional marketing like street marketing, offe offers rs the the chan chance ce of havi having ng pers person onal al inte intera ract ctio ion n with with your your pote potent ntia iall customers and having a direct and real time feedback which is e%tremely valuable when you are testing ground for a new product.
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hen it comes to measuring and increasing 6>" (6eturn on "nvestment, digital marketing stands out as your better choice. The various analytical platforms available online makes it easier as against traditional marketing
where you have to rely on potential customers being interested in your product and actually taking an action.
Conclusion: 1ased on the above, it will be wrong to generalise and advice to choose one over the other, as both have their merits and demerits. 1ut, depending on your company=s goals, products, targets audience and budget, the right choice of marketing tool can be made. Strategies and 1udgets should be fine8tuned and streamlined based on your company=s sector and obective. And, in stressing further, it will be good to say that the best marketing plan would be the th e on one e th that at ca can n in inte tegr grat ate e bo both th to tool ols s 9 a pl plan an th that at ca can n lo loca cate te th the e ar area eas s of consistency between the two approaches and try to harness them towards achieving the company=s goals? especially where obectives are the same
6eference: #haf #h affe fey y, 7a 7ave ve et al () ()** *** *:: "n "nte tern rnet et $a $ark rket etin ing: g: Strate Strategy, gy, Implem Implementat entation ion and Practice,, &earson @ducation td., Practice Boffman, 7onna ? 0ovak, Thomas & (2333: $arketing in Bypermedia #omputer8 $ediated @nvironments: Conceptual Foundations? Foundations? orking &aper 0o.2 (6evised 'otler, &hilip ()**+: $arketing $anagement? 22th @dition, &rentice Ball, 0ewman, 7aniel (0ov. )*2C: Dnderstanding the #hannels: An #hannels: An Overview of Social, Mobile, Digital and raditional Mar!eting for "#"? "#"? ;o ;orbe rbes s $ag $agaEi aEine ne 9 ac acces cessed sed online on *F Guly, )*24 via http://www.forbes.com Shima,, Alf Shima Alfa? a? 5a 5arfan, rfan, $ona ()**H: Tr Traditio aditional nal $arke $arketing ting vs. "nter "nternet net $arke $arketing: ting: A Comparison?? Thesis submitted for a 1achelor=s 7egree in 1usiness Administration in Comparison $alardalen Dniversity, Sweden.
5an aterschoot, alter? 5an den 1ulte, #hristopher (233): The C&s classification of marketing mi% revisited? Gournal of $arketing
