March 10, 2023
Finding Balance with Digital and Traditional Marketing
by Kathleen Lacson
Although the term “marketing” came about in the 19th century, the activity itself that allows business owners to assess the needs and wants of the people and mold their overall business identity on these findings before endorsing themselves to their target audience have been around for practically a millennia already. And, through the years, with the introduction and evolution of technology, marketing can now be done in an assortment of ways from mere word of mouth to prints and, of course, social media.
A Quick Look Into the Evolution of Marketing
For the most part, marketing started off as jotted down symbols and words on tangible materials done to entice people to check out the goods or services from a particular company. The printing press’s creation allowed the mass production of these materials and, soon, the establishment of prints like newspapers gave business owners more mediums to put the word out on their brand. Once technology came into play in the earlier forms of radio plays and television advertisements, marketing, at this point, has become a business necessity. People specializing in this field became a must-hire in companies looking to reel in as much of their target audience as possible and also set themselves apart from increasing competition.
Fast forward to a few more decades, the marketing we know today would not be the same without the inception and fast advancement of the internet. This gave marketers a chance to really target their messages to those online searching for the type of products or services their business provides plus also gave them an easier way to figure out what their target audience is into at the moment. The eventual existence of online tools that helped businesses in their marketing agenda via keywords/SEO, paid ads, and more further shaped the face of marketing in the 21st century. As we’re now in the age of digital marketing, social media platforms have become the go-to for connecting with the 4.76 billion users worldwide and counting — close to 60% of the global population!
With all this said, you might wonder: does that mean we’re now in a time where it’s all about digital marketing? Although the latter is the prominent choice for many businesses nowadays, smart marketers and business owners would know that balancing this with classic marketing strategies can open up an even greater prospect for profit and overall growth.
Therefore, let’s dive into some ways you can balance traditional marketing with digital marketing for the ultimate consumer reach within your target audience!
Photo by Nicolai Berntsen
Balancing the Old With the New
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Integrating the Digital into the Traditional
One of the best ways to balance traditional and digital marketing is to use the former to showcase the latter. This keeps interested, potential customers hooked into checking out what your business has to offer by having your traditional materials “redirect” them to your online channels should they desire to learn more about your goods and/or services. Flyers, brochures, pamphlets, posters, and tarpaulin banners are typical examples of where this practice is normally exercised upon. You may also opt to take out social media trends from their digital landscape and bring them to life with physical advertisements for increased relatability, visibility, and overall market reach!
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Utilizing the Traditional for the Digital
Meanwhile, you can find a way to adapt the ideas and creativity that are typically reserved for traditional marketing onto your digital contents in order to also tap into nostalgia marketing — defined by Angie Tran of AdRoll Blog as a “strategy of tapping into positive, familiar concepts from previous decades to build trust for new ideas and reinvigorate modern campaigns”. Most of us normally go for daily situations and choices that we’re already familiar with; therefore, this is a strategy that can allow potential customers to make a much quicker, assured decision on whether they want to invest in what you have to offer them. General Mills does a great example of digitally animating their popular Monster cereal mascots printed onto their cereal boxes since the ‘70s into a ‘90s style mockumentary thus hitting viewers with all sorts of nostalgia for those simpler childhood days.
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Geo-targeting
Social media isn’t just for connecting with others via postings. In fact, business owners can utilize these online mediums to narrow down on potentially strong target audience locations where one can effectively display physical advertisements as well as online marketing contents for a truly optimal marketing reach. Additionally, geo-targeting can also help you create more personalized content for your target consumer groups based on the location of your website and social media visitors.
4. E-invites for Social Events
With many businesses adopting more eco-friendly ways to market, social media has also become a great alternative for extending invites to gatherings or meetings. Best part is that the creativity when it comes to making them becomes less limited when you’re allowed to utilize digital tools; therefore, increasing the invite’s potential to be something that people would actually open later on. With everyone almost always on the go and owning a smartphone altogether, it may just be the most practical to use e-invites in order to increase its attractiveness to be read as well as increase the chances of the receiver attending all while getting to save up on paper!
5. Redirect Physical Efforts into Personalized Marketing
On the other hand, now that your business doesn’t have to waste paper for mere invites that will just end up in the waste bin as soon as one has calendared the event on their phone or once the the event is over — business owners can now have more budget and time to create printed material that are more personalized with information based on a customer’s shopping history with them. It goes without being said that being marketed goods or services that are in line with one’s lifestyle or desires are key to profitability, a strategy that (no matter how annoying it can be to those wanting to save!) has worked since the dawn of the whole demand and profit concept in our society.
In Conclusion
Both traditional and digital marketing have their own great potential when it comes to growing a business’s reputation and earnings — if a business owner chooses to lean on one more than the other then, as long as the particular strategies are executed properly, then it should do the trick in attracting one’s target market to not only check out what the business has to offer but to become actually paying customers.
Yet, in an age dominated by digital, it’s hard not to dive into this rapidly expanding virtual world especially when it comes to marketing given that many are heavily influenced by what they see online these days. Although it is also vital to note that many are also still more trusting of traditional marketing ways since having something tangible to base a purchasing decision on remains to be a powerful motivator, at the end of the day.
Therefore, where do we go from all this? Simple: find a balance between the two marketing types. Business owners can choose to capitalize on combining online trends with printed methods as well as maximizing the potential of one to benefit the other in order to keep up with the times while respecting the classics — the very reason why the expression “best of both worlds” remains relevant today!
Sevensharp Creatives elevates businesses from different industries to a whole new level! Our team offers 360 digital marketing solutions that includes the current online vital social media platforms, website design and development, software development, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email and SMS marketing, photo and video shoot and more for small, medium, corporate businesses, and public entities. Get your free consultation with us to jumpstart your digital marketing journey! Contact us at +63 917 146 2603 (Viber, Whatsapp) or email us at hello@sevensharpcreatives.com.
