1.2.

Why Digital media edge over Traditional form of marketing and business
communications

TRADITIONAL MARKETING:

In the older times when digital gadgets did not take over the planet, people used offline
methods to reach the target audience’s needs using offline channels and making a profit out
of it. Thus, traditional marketing is any form of marketing that uses offline media to reach an
audience. It is the oldest form of media and has been prevalent since the early ages as
marketing and business tool.

Basic examples of traditional marketing include things like newspaper ads and other print
ads, there are also billboards, mail advertisements, and TV and radio advertisements.

FEATURES OF TRADITIONAL MARKETING:

1. Strong Relationships: Traditional marketing channels help create credibility and

build relations among the parties through physical contact, question answering,
suggestions, etc. Moreover, the local audience trust traditional marketing efforts more
than digital marketing efforts.
The fast-food chain Burger King sends discount coupons and other related material
by mail to nearby places or addresses by assuming that people often use their
products. Customers fill out surveys or prize ballots and are opted in the mailing list.
Accordingly, different coupons are mailed to attract them. This helps them establish a
strong and personal relationship with the local audience.

2. More Credible: Since it’s an old form of marketing, customers consider it more
credible than digital marketing and often make important decisions after being
triggered by traditional marketing activities.
 Many business ventures still opt for traditional form of marketing as digital marketing
is often used for frauds and thus people find to be a place of hokum.

3. Offline Channels: The traditional marketing mix involves techniques, strategies, and
tools that don’t involve digital channels at all.
For instance a shoe company by the name “Boribel” opens their new venture I
Mumbai. They opt for marketing by placing bill-boards on highways and by
advertising in print media. These offline channels used by the shoe company would be
considered to be a form of traditional marketing.

REASONS WHY DIGITAL MARKETING HAS AN EDGE OVER

TRADITIONAL MARKETING:

1. Digital marketing is generally more cost-effective

Digital marketing is way more cheaper than any form of Traditional Marketing.
As a small business with a limited budget, it will be very difficult for you to spend
money on costly traditional marketing tactics like pamphlets, billboards, or
magazines. Even the measurement of results is also impossible. Therefore
affordable digital marketing activities allows one to compete with big brands in
the digital world with less cost.

For example: As a small garment business Mr. Arora wants his product to reach
2000 people. He can easily do this through social media or SEO with nearly
300Rs. While the same thing happens through pamphlets or direct mail at 4000Rs
and through a television at 2000Rs.

2. It can be targeted to a younger audience

 While traditional marketing still has a place, digital marketing is the future.
Younger generations like Gen Z which encompasses around 60 percent of Indian
population have not known a time without smartphones, and they are starting to
enter the workforce backed another generation that will be even more digital.
In such scenario digital marketing seems to be the future of the nation.

Zappos is one of the world’s largest online shoe-selling brands. 20% of the
company’s sales are through search engine marketing. Thus, we can see how
search engine marketing plays an integral role in 0buisness.

3. Digital media is highly effective to reach a particular target audience:

Digital marketing is probably the best option if you want to reach a particular
group of people. Digital marketing allows one to identify and target a highly-
specific audience with personalized and high-converting marketing messages. One
might use social media targeting to show ads to a certain audience based on
variables like age, gender, location, interests, networks, or behaviours.

For instance: Mr. Sen owns a bike company which he wants to promote to the
young male audience of the country. He can easily do so with the help of digital
media by easily determining the demographics such as age, job title, income level,
location, or behavior.

4. Minimum investment:

Traditional marketing media like newspapers, hoarding, television ads incur an

immense cost and effort. With digital marketing, such expenses get lower and are
not cost-prohibitive. Hence, with digital marketing, there is no trouble doling out
millions for marketing and advertising. One can get maximum interest with
minimum investment through digital marketing.
5. Wider Reach:

Digital marketing acts as a global village in today's times due to its more all-
inclusive presence worldwide. You can reach zillions of people in a short time. In
traditional marketing, you can target a particular area, city, or country at a time,
but there is no such barrier with digital marketing.

For instance: Hither is a website development company that provides that

provides different clients with such services. digital marketing allows such
buisnesses to target a wider audience range since the whole world more or less
has access to the internet. This allows one to communicate with your international
target audience with ease. Unlike traditional marketing, where you are limited to
only target your audience in your geographical location.

6. High Engagement:

With traditional marketing, you cannot meet the customers or resolve their
grievances instantly. With digital marketing, you can address and solve the
problems of prospects in no time. It builds brand trust and brand vitality.

For example, let’s say Mr. Atul’s business has launched a new product feature,
and you dig into the analytics and find that awareness among your customers is
low. His ultimate goal is to get 200 demos through digital channels. In such cases
he can opt for paid search which is a type of digital marketing where search
engines like Google allow advertisers to show ads on their search engine results
pages (SERP) or he can opt of social media marketing that helps build brand
loyalty and stronger customer relationships.

7. Better STP:

The best feature of digital marketing over traditional marketing is that it offers
customisation. With the segmentation, targeting, and positioning of the target
 group’s interest (STP) strategy, digital marketing campaigns can be customised
based on the target group’s interest.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA IN MODERN AGE:

Traditional marketing is not extinct in the age of digital marketing. Traditional marketing
approaches continue to be a valuable secret weapon for interactive, face-to-face, and expert
marketing.

1. OOH Marketing:

Out-of-home marketing, often referred to as OOH, is a marketing and advertising method

used to communicate with customers or audiences outside of their homes and businesses.
That’s in the form of visual advertising media. Traditionally, out-of-home marketing
relies more on images than words to communicate a message to the audience. In addition
to billboards, signs, and street furniture such as benches and bus shelters, this advertising
method also incorporates mediums such as stadiums, retail malls, and cinemas.
McDonald's “Big Mac” Billboard is a popular example of OOH marketing. The “big
mac” advertisement of McDonald's was advertised using two billboards. It indicated that
the burger is big enough to fit into two billboards. This attracted many customers towards
buying the same

2. Broadcasting:

Broadcasting refers to the act of transmitting information or programmes through

mediums such as radio and television. Businesses may reach a significant amount of
people quickly by using such broadcast marketing methods like television ads and radio
to increase brand awareness. Television allows marketers and advertisers to create more
compelling commercials since it allows for the visual presentation of items and
demonstrations of their functionality. The radio broadcast can help brands reach a local
audience in a more effective way than other mediums.

Vodafone had launched ZooZoos that are white creatures having egg heads and
ballooned body shapes. These are designed to promote or market Vodafone’s different
value-added services and are very famous as television advertisement or broadcast
marketing. These ZooZoos seem to have a brand identity in itself due to Vodafone’s
effective marketing. ZooZoos also played an important role in the brand presence of
Vodafone.

3. Print Media:

Print media marketing comprises advertising products and services through newspapers,
magazines, and other print media mediums such as books and journals. As a mass-
marketing approach, printed advertisements allow firms to reach significant individuals,
irrespective of how keen they are on the product or service. It is also used to target
specific groups of people, such as magazines for women or fashion.

For example: Many popular magazines in India like Femina and Women’s Era are
specially designed to target the women audiences or customers by using print media for
marketing and targeting their niche audience. For example, Femina magazine uses print
media for attracting the segment of top females in the pyramid.

4. Direct Mail:

Direct mail refers to commercial literature that is sent to potential clients by postal mail.
Different types of direct-mail marketing methods such as brochures, letters, postcards,
catalogues, flyers, and other printed material are distributed directly to customers to build
awareness about various products. Information is passed on to a specified target audience
or market in this style of marketing. Direct-mail marketing is a great tool to have at one’s
disposal to generate new leads and increase revenue.
Google as a brand uses direct mail as its marketing strategy tool regularly for the
purpose of promoting different new offers or services, widely for business houses. Direct
mailing mostly includes Google Adwords coupons or useful information regarding the
use of Google in advertising businesses. Moreover, Google is well-known for direct mail
campaigns for targeting its existing customers or clients. By doing so, the brand is able to
enhance the lead conversation ratio and customer satisfaction by offering appropriate
products and services

5. Telemarketing:

Different businesses hire sales employees to make phone calls for promotional or
marketing activities in telemarketing. It is often referred to as cold calling. A cold call is
one that involves contacting, informing, and persuading potential consumers over the
phone. Due to its many uses, organisations can utilise it for various purposes, including
marketing their products and services or gathering data for lead generation purposes.
Different banks in India like HDFC, ICICI, Axis, etc., and insurance or finance
companies like Bajaj Finserve, India Bulls, Birla Sunlife Insurance, ICICI Prudential,
etc., use telemarketing to promote their products and services to reach potential
customers by informing them about new offers, new products, etc