Essay Sample on Differentiating Traditional and Digital Marketing

Traditional marketing strategies refer to conventional modes of marketing as has been used for decades now. Some of these conventional methods include using avenues such as television, newspapers, radios, flyers, and billboards (Mulhern, 2013). While these methods have been effective in the past, their effect in the current age is slowly diminishing fast. Today, almost everybody is connected to the internet (Kannan, 2017). The internet has created a huge influence on how people operate these days. The most significant effect by the dawn of internet has since been in marketing as many people gain more access while using the internet.

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Research reveals that digital marketing is projected to surpass traditional marketing in a few years to come. The trend has already been set, as more ad space is being sold through social media platforms than in newspaper periodicals. Research reveals that up to 36% of expenditure on advertising will be on social media platforms by 2019. Currently, up to 60 percent of marketers anticipate a restructure of their advertising technique to take advantage of new technology (Ballouli, 2010). Although many still debate whether social media platforms and the internet in general, form a more adequate means to reach prospective customers, the statistics do not lie. Up to 81 percent of shoppers in the US today have been found to go through online reach before they can make a purchase. An additional advantage of internet marketing is the fact that up to 58 percent of adults-who make up more than 90 percent of consumers-are on social media platforms (Wymbs, 2011).

Further statistics reveal that ad spending has proliferated over the past years, with an estimated $186.2 billion standing as the current spending worldwide. In the US alone, digital Ad spending is estimated at $50.7 billion while mobile internet ad spending is expected to reach close to $18 billion (Lamberton, 2016). With these statistics, it is quite hard for current companies to ignore digital marketing even though traditional marketing still has some significant effect. Traditional marketing methods are still effective in reaching a broad audience.

Is it ideal to integrate digital and traditional marketing?

The most relevant question for companies today is whether it is ideal to integrate digital and traditional marketing. I would say that the idea of integrating these two marketing strategies is ideal in the current age. As much as more people have shifted to digital platforms, there are still a significant number of people across the globe who pay attention to reading newspapers for instance. Additionally, billboard advertising does not seem to go stale even with unraveling technology (Killian, 2015). New technology still fits billboard advertising every time. Billboards erected along the roadside today are not the same types that were used back in the day. Today, these billboards have been digitalized and are just as effective as social media platforms; they are impossible to ignore.

Another type of traditional marketing that has not ceased to fit in advancing times has been television marketing. With advancing technology-including features such as pay TV and subscription channels, TV advertising remains as productive as any digital advertising strategy. Apart from direct advertising through TV ads, TV marketing is effective when it comes to press releases (Hanna, 2011). Not all people would follow product launch at the exact time they happen through social media. However, TV broadcasts of press releases on a product ensure that all viewers get the information at the same time, which creates an opportunity for a surge in traffic and demand for products. Such traffic is essential especially in competing products which always strive to outperform each other. A rise in traffic for product demands assures consumers of quality.

How to integrate traditional and digital marketing strategies

While it is excellent to integrate digital and traditional marketing strategies, it is not at all cumbersome to perform. These two strategies aim at different population targets. For instance, a company can decide to print their ad in a magazine or direct mailing. At the same time, the company can run a competition on social media (Royle, 2014). Additionally, having a suitable SEO would allow the company to be found easily through search engines. By using these three strategies, the marketing department of the company is assured of reaching different categories of people at the same time without risking redundancy.

The second way of integrating digital and traditional marketing strategies involves promoting digital marketing channels through print media. For instance, a company that advertises through magazines can add their social media handles alongside the advert to ensure that prospective consumers can always find the product on social media as well (Gensler, 2013). Print media or TV adverts can still be used to guide potential customers by incorporating a call to action strategy.

How the integration between Traditional and Digital Marketing Works

There are various instances where traditional marketing has successfully been integrated with digital marketing to give a well-thought-of strategy to reach potential customers (Kannan, 2017). For instance, through leveraging on Instagram platform, lifestyle magazine launched a campaign to highlight key trends of the season by using hashtags. Through this platform, the corporation managed to maintain constant communication across all channels so that customers could connect with the trends both online and offline

Advantages of integrating Digital and Traditional Marketing

Incorporating digital marketing into traditional marketing has two major benefits on the population trend today: active participation and relevance through a personalized experience. While traditional marketing is known for its vast reach within the population, it mostly induces passive participation of prospective customers. For instance, a television advert for thirty minutes will always last thirty minutes, and the viewer will not have the opportunity to query the advert to their satisfaction sometimes (Batra, 2016). However, by introducing the same advert in a website would give the viewer more avenues to explore; different links to the advert will be able to answer as many queries from the viewer as possible, hence drawing them closer to using the advertised product.

By incorporating additional links and avenues to the advert, companies have the opportunity to fine-tune the customer's experiences and boost the relevance of the advert regarding demographic and psychographic features like demography (Killian, 2015).

Conclusion

Traditional marketing strategies have been relevant for years now, and they continue to reach vast numbers of prospective customers. However, with the age of the internet, the trends have been shifting to digital marketing, which has brought a more personalized touch to advertising and appealing to prospective consumers. Advertising is often effective if it reaches vast populations and at the same time appeal to them a personal level. Therefore, the idea of integrating digital and traditional marketing strategies turns out to be a more suitable means of achieving new levels of customer appeal.

References

Ballouli, K. and Hutchinson, M., 2010. Digital-branding and social-media strategies for professional athletes, sports teams, and leagues: An interview with Digital Royalty's Amy Martin. International journal of sport communication, 3(4), pp.395-401.

Batra, R. and Keller, K.L., 2016. Integrating marketing communications: New findings, new lessons, and new ideas. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), pp.122-145.

Gensler, S., Volckner, F., Liu-Thompkins, Y. and Wiertz, C., 2013. Managing brands in the social media environment. Journal of interactive marketing, 27(4), pp.242-256.

Hanna, R., Rohm, A. and Crittenden, V.L., 2011. We're all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business horizons, 54(3), pp.265-273.

Hoffman, D.L. and Fodor, M., 2010. Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing?. MIT Sloan Management Review, 52(1), p.41.

Kannan, P.K., 2017. Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(1), pp.22-45.

Killian, G. and McManus, K., 2015. A marketing communications approach for the digital era: Managerial guidelines for social media integration. Business Horizons, 58(5), pp.539-549.

Lamberton, C. and Stephen, A.T., 2016. A thematic exploration of digital, social media, and mobile marketing: Research evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an agenda for future inquiry. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), pp.146-172.

Mulhern, F., 2013. Integrated marketing communications: From media channels to digital connectivity. In The Evolution of Integrated Marketing Communications (pp. 19-36). Routledge.

Royle, J. and Laing, A., 2014. The digital marketing skills gap: Developing a Digital Marketer Model for the communication industries. International Journal of Information Management, 34(2), pp.65-73.

Wymbs, C., 2011. Digital marketing: The time for a new "academic major" has arrived. Journal of Marketing Education, 33(1), pp.93-106.