Many experts believe that online forms of advertising bring better results than traditional promotion. Are you sure? Does traditional marketing make sense in 2022? Let's check it out!
What is traditional marketing?
Everyone will confirm it PR agency – marketing is not something new. It is said that the concept of marketing came into circulation when the first department store in the world was founded, in 1650. However, the high importance of the phenomenon was discovered only in the 20th century, when, along with the growing competition, companies began to look for effective ways to reach customers.
Until recently, traditional marketing reigned supreme in the business world, today also known as offline marketing, which uses traditional forms of reaching the target group. We can divide them into 4 categories:
- printing - advertisements in magazines, newsletters, newspapers, brochures and other printed materials distributed on a smaller or larger scale,
- direct mail - distribution of leaflets, letters, brochures, postcards, catalogs and other materials via mail,
- broadcast - advertisements broadcast on television and radio,
- telemarketing - the so-called cold calling, i.e. telephone contact with a potential customer in order to present and promote specific products.
Interesting forms of offline marketing
An interesting variety of traditional marketing is ambient marketing. These are non-standard, one-time promotional campaigns with a high potential for interaction with recipients. Ambient advertising uses atypical media such as bus shelters or elements of the premises equipment.
Another interesting form is aromamarketing, i.e. fragrance marketing that is based on fragrances. It is the practice of using a pleasant aroma to enhance a positive brand image, improve customer service, and increase sales. Scent marketing is often used in shopping malls.
Advantages of offline marketing
One of the most important advantages of traditional marketing is the ability to reach a wide audience. An example are, for example, TV commercials broadcast in the so-called prime time, i.e. prime time - during breaks of important matches, etc. Moreover, traditional advertising is the best and fastest way to promote a brand in the local community.
Offline marketing is permanent. Billboards placed on city streets will be visible throughout the duration of the marketing campaign. Nobody will remove them, no matter if the presented content is attractive and valuable or not. In internet marketing it's harder to get the recipient's interest. Internet users often close pop-up banner ads automatically, thereby making it difficult for the company to achieve the desired marketing results. Is there any solution to this problem? In addition to creating interesting ads, it is worth paying attention to their targeting, i.e. targeting specific target groups. Targeted ads increase the effectiveness of online promotional messages.
Traditional marketing is easy to understand. There is no need to explain to anyone why he received a flyer promoting a recently opened restaurant or local boutique. Traditional messages have been known to consumers for years, and thus perform their functions well.
Other advantages of offline marketing include:
- ease of processing paper copies,
- high exposure,
- material nature of advertisements.
Are there any disadvantages?
Traditional marketing, like any other tool used in business management, has its drawbacks. One of them is the inability to update messages quickly. In internet marketing, we can make changes to advertisements on an ongoing basis, adapting them to new market situations, trends and others. It is not that simple in traditional marketing.
The second downside is the lack of options personalization of ads. Offline messages cannot be directed to one specific customer - as is the case with online advertising. Traditional messages are either very general, targeted at all recipients, or specialized messages, intended only for a narrow target group.
Traditional marketing is often imposed in advance. It is part of the life of consumers. An unskillfully prepared person may have a low response rate.
Some people consider the relatively high cost to be a disadvantage of offline marketing. Running a traditional campaign is a more expensive business than promoting your brand on the Internet. However, this is not a huge difference. Especially with proper optimization and thoughtful actions. However, is it worth investing in traditional marketing?
Is it worth investing in traditional marketing?
We can admire new strategies, use them Internet marketing in their campaigns and use the opportunities offered by the Internet, but nothing can dethrone traditional marketing. The traditional form of marketing is still very popular. People are used to the fact that they are surrounded by billboards and posters, and commercial blocks are constantly played on television and radio. Recipients react to traditional advertising messages and often, after seeing a particular advertisement, interact with a given brand.
Traditional marketing is a particularly helpful tool in the case of promoting small, local brands that want to reach a specific community. It also works well for those companies that direct their messages to older people, especially from the group of the so-called baby boomers.
How is it with other companies? Will a nationwide company benefit from traditional marketing? Of course! The main thing is to conduct it in a thoughtful and reliable way - creating messages, be creative and take care of every little detail. The best results can be achieved by combining the power of traditional marketing with the possibilities offered by online marketing. Multi-channel brand promotion is a recipe for success in business!