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Many business owners are interested in knowing the difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing. In previous periods, interest in traditional marketing was increasing, and it was highly relied upon in promoting products and companies.
But with the technological development and the huge revolution that occurred in the field of technology and the Internet, many marketing methods that rely heavily on technology have emerged, namely, digital marketing methods.
Many believe that the two types of marketing are opposite of each other, and this belief is completely wrong, as the two types fall under the term “marketing”, which ultimately aims to increase sales and profits, regardless of the methods used.
But there is a preference for the methods used where there is a difference in cost, targeting accuracy, speed, flexibility, and control of advertising campaigns, so in this article, the two types will be differentiated with the best method and reasons for preference.
The difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing
- The truth is that each type has advantages and disadvantages, and despite the preference for digital marketing, it is not possible to deny the role of traditional marketing with large companies that still maintain their position until now.
- Among the reasons that give preference to digital marketing over the other is the accuracy of targeting, for example, when using television, radio, or banner ads, it is difficult to control the target group because the advertisement here is directed to everyone and not to a specific group interested in your activity.
- Unlike e-marketing, it is distinguished from the other type because you can control the targeting of the category that is highly interested in your activity, and thus more sales and more profits, Despite the flexibility and ease of control in digital marketing, it requires a lot of effort in studying the market to know the product, studying and analyzing competitors, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor, as well as identifying the interested group and reaching the most accurate targeting, as well as determining the language and dialect that suits This target audience, as well as we need to generate new and innovative ideas, all of these things require effort.
- In order to know the difference between them well and leave the space for you to choose the best, the concept of each of the two terms will be clarified with the advantages and disadvantages of each.
What is traditional marketing?
It is a type of marketing that has been highly relied upon in the past periods before the emergence of e-marketing. No one can deny the role of this type in marketing companies and maintaining their position until now.
This type is still used until now, but to a lesser extent than in previous periods, and it relies heavily on publications, health newspapers, newspapers, television, and radio.
traditional marketing methods
- Newspaper and newspaper ads.
- Television and radio advertisements.
- Publications such as flyers and brochures.
- Billboards and signs on the roads.
- Magazine ads.
- Dealing with clients directly.
Features of this type
- Despite the frequent use of digital marketing at this time, and despite the continuous increase in the percentage of online sales.
- There are many people who prefer to buy by traditional methods, such as going to shops and restaurants.
- The reason for this is that these people see that this type is more trustworthy and credible for them, as they choose and try the product themselves before, they complete the purchase.
There are some other advantages:
1. Generate leads
This type generates customers through their interest in the product you offer and their desire to buy.
When you see your ad, these customers increase their desire to buy your product because it satisfies their desire.
2. Ease of customer retention
People can keep your ad like paper ads and refer to it when needed, so the purchase can be done more than once.
3. lasting effect
This type of marketing is distinguished by its high costs, but it remains in the memory of customers for a longer period.
4. Ease of targeting locally
If you are interested in selling a product or service in a specific and limited area, this type is very useful to increase your awareness within that area.
5. easy to understand
Advertising with this type of marketing can convey information more easily, and thus customers will understand it faster.
Disadvantages of this type
Compared to digital marketing, there are many disadvantages of traditional marketing, among which are:
1. the cost
The disadvantage of this type compared to the other is the high costs, it requires a lot of money to build a campaign compared to the other type.
2. inflexibility
Meaning that when the campaign is launched, it is difficult to re-edit or stop the campaign, and you wait until the end of the campaign to see the results.
3. Difficulty of evaluation
It is difficult to evaluate the performance of the campaign in order to improve it in the future, as success here plays a big role.
4. Not keeping customer data
Another disadvantage of this type is the lack of customer data retention, as happens in digital marketing, where you can collect customer data to retarget them again via mobile or email without offering a new product without spending other costs.
Digital Marketing
- One of the modern and innovative types of marketing that are highly relied upon at this time, rather it is relied upon completely, and it is a method that uses all the means available via the Internet.
- In the past, this type has witnessed a remarkable development, and it has been relied upon to a large extent for large, medium, and small projects to increase sales and profits.
- This type is used by studying the market well and knowing all the details of the product, studying the competitors and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each of them, and studying the target audience, to develop a marketing strategy targeting a specific category in a certain language and dialect, and to determine all the procedures that will be followed to achieve the highest sales.
Digital marketing methods
- Marketing via social media platforms.
- Search engine marketing.
- Content Marketing.
- Video Marketing.
- Search engine optimization.
- Email Marketing.
- Marketing through websites.
Features of this type
This type has many advantages, the most important of which are:
1. Low cost
This type is characterized by low cost compared to the other type, and the budget can be determined by yourself depending on the nature of the product and the target audience.
2. Ease of tracking
One of the advantages of this type of marketing is that you can follow your advertising campaign and improve its performance by changing the targeting or advertising content to reach the highest performance, unlike traditional marketing where you are restricted to tracking results only.
3. Customer data collection
With this type of marketing, you can collect your customers’ data such as mobile, email, interests, etc., this data enables you to easily retarget them to sell another product.
4. Easy to know the required product
You can learn about the products that are in demand through the Internet and thus meet the needs of your customers.
5. Study competitors
One of the most important advantages of digital marketing is that you can easily study your competitors and know the strengths and weaknesses of each of them, and thus develop a marketing strategy that makes you compete with them and even provide a competitive advantage.
6. Constant communication with your customers
By using digital marketing, you are closer to your customers and in constant contact with them through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms, unlike traditional commerce that does not enable you to do so.
7. Flexibility
The most important characteristic of e-marketing is flexibility, where you can create your marketing campaign from anywhere and at any time, you can also modify your sentence during promotion, and direct it according to your desire.
8. Ease of targeting
digital marketing enables you to target your customers with precision. For example, when using social media, you can target your customers by their interests, studies, or job titles.
And when you use Google ads, you can target your customers with the search keywords that your potential customers use to reach your product or service.
Disadvantages of this type
Despite the many prominent advantages of e-marketing, there are some disadvantages, including:
- Ease of copying and theft.
- The number of Internet users is less than television.
- Email marketing requires many impressions.
- Fierce competition between companies.
- Frequent updates that require knowledge to provide the best performance.
What kind of marketing should you use?
- Despite the clear advantage of e-marketing and the many advantages that you get when using this type, the best thing is to find a correct balance between the two types and use them optimally.
- Each of the two types has its role and impact, and you will get the best results when you combine the two methods and use them optimally, as each of them has a role in the marketing strategy.
- No one can deny the impact of television advertisements, which get many views, it is also possible to use this advertisement on social media and reach a more targeted category through the use of e-marketing.
- In short, there are factors that determine a greater percentage of the type that will be chosen, such as the budget, TV and radio ads, and road ads that require a lot of money, in this case, it is better to use electronic marketing, especially for medium and small companies.
- The size of the target audience also controls the choice of type. If the service is linked to a specific place, then e-marketing is the most appropriate, although it is possible to expand using the same type, in the end, you are the one who controls the places in which the advertisement appears.
Conclusion
I have explained the difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing, with a mention of the advantages and disadvantages of each of them and the methods used in each type of them.
Although the last period witnessed the use of electronic marketing to a large extent, traditional marketing has a prominent and influential role in the marketing process.
In the end, there are many factors that lead to choosing the most appropriate methods for you, such as the size of your company, your budget, and the size of your target audience, and a combination of the two can be used to get the highest performance for your marketing process.
