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When we talk about marketing now, digital media tends to take over the conversation. You hear about social media marketing campaigns, best practices for online marketing, influencer campaigns, and why these methods are so beneficial for national and international reach. Though these strategies are essential to a brand’s success in this internet age, there are other marketing opportunities that should be utilized as well.
At times, it feels like marketing has become a purely online industry thanks to the internet’s global pervasiveness. However, that’s not the case at all. In fact, just a few decades ago, people did advertising and marketing in a completely different way, with strategies that now fall under the umbrella of “traditional marketing.”
Traditional advertising and marketing still have many benefits that can help you reach potential customers and effectively market your product or service. This article will discuss some of the advantages of traditional marketing and how you can use it in today’s market to reach your target customer base. Let’s get started!
What Is Traditional Marketing?
Traditional marketing is often defined as marketing that is done offline. In other words, any marketing that doesn’t require the internet. There are a lot of different strategies and “subsections” of marketing that fall in this category, such as billboard advertising, direct mail marketing, radio marketing, print advertising (think newspapers, business cards, flyers, magazines, etc.), and more.
Outlined below are some of the main advantages of using traditional marketing.
The Ability to Connect With a Local Audience
If you have a brick-and-mortar business, then traditional marketing strategies such as printed materials, business cards, and articles in the local newspaper can be extremely beneficial.
That’s because locals have a higher chance of being exposed to your marketing materials, and they may feel a more personal connection with your business when it stands out in the heart of the community. In fact, about 63% of small businesses still consider traditional marketing a reliable strategy for building relationships with customers.
Promo Materials Are Sustainable
One of the downsides of digital marketing is that you need to constantly create new content to keep your customer’s attention. For some businesses, this is a daily task–they might be posting a new video every day, uploading new posts two or three times per week, and sending out emails at least once weekly.
Traditional marketing materials tend to have a slightly longer shelf-life. For example, a TV or radio commercial may go on air for months, and business cards typically remain relevant for years, meaning you don’t need to come up with new materials every single week. This can be a plus for small businesses that don’t have a lot of employees and the capacity to work on their marketing channels every day.
Therefore, one of the advantages of traditional marketing is that the promotional material is more “sustainable” and can have a long-lasting impression on your audience.
Helps Establish Credibility and Security
If you look at it from a purely psychological standpoint, traditional marketing can provide more credibility to a brand than online marketing in some cases. Digital strategies can help you reach a large audience, but it doesn’t always make the same impression on consumers as more traditional methods.
For example, print media materials and TV ads can sometimes be viewed as more trustworthy or credible since they are shown/supported by other established companies like popular TV stations, newspapers, etc.
Perhaps one of the most significant reasons traditional advertising materials are viewed as more trustworthy is that they are usually associated with higher costs. If your brand has a commercial on TV or a billboard next to a stadium, it means you have the financial means to do so, which can subconsciously create the perception of success and stability.
Print Marketing Materials Can Be Easier to Process
It’s easy to assume people think the same way you do, so many marketers may tend to forget that older generations are not as used to digital content as younger people. In fact, only 45% of people above the age of 65 reported using popular social media sites in a survey from Pew Research. However, they’re still customers that can be interested in the products or services you offer.
Typically, digital marketing provides a lot of impressive graphics and imagery combined with animated features and filters. This can be overwhelming for some people that aren’t used to getting their information from online sources. On the other hand, printed marketing materials may be easier to process–you have a message, and you deliver it without any distractions.
For some audiences, this kind of straightforward delivery is more effective. People are able to understand what you do and what you offer in a matter of seconds without needing to click any links or navigate websites. This is why knowing your audience is essential, as you can use characteristics like age and media consumption habits to your advantage when choosing marketing methods.
Innovative Ways to do Marketing
Nowadays, when we talk about innovation in marketing, many people think of the possibilities in the digital space–influencers, social media campaigns, NFTs, and so on.
These marketing strategies are vital to most businesses’ success (and Markerly can help you excel with your influencer and digital campaigns!), but there are still a lot of innovative options in the traditional marketing world, like experiential/event marketing, handouts, pop-ups, and more. Just because something has been around for a long time doesn’t mean that it’s outdated or not profitable!
