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As it is true that traditional marketing methods such as television, radio, and print advertising are still used by many businesses, it is also true that the use of digital marketing has grown significantly in recent years as more and more businesses recognize its potential to reach and engage customers.

The facts speak for themselves!

According to a survey conducted by the Digital Marketing Institute, 80% of businesses use digital marketing to promote their products or services.

This article is not about trying to convince you to choose one of these two advertising methods but to show you some facts and insights that can help you save your business.

So let’s go back to the basics; as you might already know, advertising refers to promoting a product, service, or idea through various media outlets to persuade potential customers to purchase or support it. This can include television, radio, print, digital, and outdoor advertising, among others.

But the trick of successful advertising has nothing to do with the type of media you decide to use but with how you can reach your potential customers. And guess where those prospects spend most of their time?

Watching tv, listening to the radio, or on their computers and smartphones? I think the answer is pretty obvious, don’t you?

According to a 2020 survey by Pew Research Center, nearly nine-in-ten American adults (86%) say they own a smartphone, and seven in ten (69%) report they own a desktop or laptop computer.

Does Traditional Advertising Still Have Anything to Offer?

We got to be fair! Traditional advertising was all we knew for quite some time, and it helped millions of businesses to succeed and create everlasting brands such as Coca Cola and McDonalds.

Among the main reasons why traditional advertising has been so successful, we have:

• Traditional marketing methods such as television and radio advertising have been used to their potential reach, allowing marketers to get to big audiences.
• Billboards and print ads, which are also traditional marketing methods, have been and still are very effective for building brand awareness.
• Traditional marketing methods such as brochures and flyers provide tangible materials that customers can keep and refer back to.
• TV commercials, billboards, and print ads can evoke emotions that can help create a deeper connection with the audience and increase brand loyalty.
• Billboards, posters, and flyers may have a longer lifespan than digital ads, which can be forgotten easily.

So yes, traditional advertising obviously brought great ways to help brands scale and connect with their audiences. The question is, are all those benefits unique, or is this something that digital advertising offers as well?

Let’s find out!

The Other Side of the Coin, Why Has Digital Taken Traditional Advertising Out of the Game?

No matter your advertising goals, we all want to connect with the right audience at the right time, place, and at the best price. In simple words, this is what you can do with digital marketing.

Cost-Effectiveness

Digital marketing methods such as email marketing, social media marketing, and online advertising are often more cost-effective than traditional methods. Let me put it this way, paying for a tv commercial is really expensive. And yes, this can have a great reach; the problem is that your results are hard to track, and you do not even know if your target audience will watch it.

Does it not seem weird to you that brands like Lamborghini do not invest so much in this? The reason is very simple, people who are able to afford this type of car are not watching tv!

Instead, you can invest less money in digital marketing and get better results.

Targeting

As we were just mentioning, being able to define your target audience plus knowing where they are and at what time, it’s huge! That’s one of the main reasons why digital marketing is so effective. You can target your audience based on demographics and behaviors. 

And the best part is that you can set up this in a matter of seconds, and you do not even need to do a lot of research on your target audience.

Automation

Now we can talk about automation. In simple words, automation allows you to save time and money and achieve more accurate results. In many industries, adopting automation means leverage that allows the companies who use it best to take the lead.

Marketing is not different at all. If you decide to automate time-consuming tasks, you save a lot of time, which allows you to focus on the things that matter the most, such as customer relations and management.

Data Management and Measurement

Data is vital to make sure that you are pointing your efforts in the right direction and that those efforts are paying off. The worst thing you can do is invest a lot of money and realize at the end of the semester or year that you got nothing but red numbers.

By leveraging digital advertising, you can access real-time data that allows you to optimize your campaigns on the spot so you can make the most out of your investment.

These are a couple of reasons why digital marketing has been chosen over traditional advertising and continues to be embraced by most businesses around the world. The good news is that if you decide to transition to digital marketing, you can still make it work to your advantage.

Is It Too Late to Thrive in the Digital Landscape?

It is not a secret that as more businesses realize that digital advertising is essential to stay competitive in this era, the landscape gets more crowded. But does this mean that you should not try it too? Of course not.

Is it going to be easy? Probably not, but that’s exactly why you need to learn how to position your business online. For this, there are three main things you need to keep in mind.

• Appropriate planning. The first you need to figure out is your main goal; it would not be productive to start advertising without a goal cause you will not get anywhere. Once you have your main objectives in mind, make sure to select a time to start (the sooner, the better) along with a competitive budget.
• Using the right platform. Not all platforms will serve efficiently for reaching the goals you have in mind, so review the best digital marketing platforms and then select one or two that align with your needs.
• Deciding who to partner with. Once you have your plan in mind and you know which platform you want to try, you need to decide whether you run the campaigns yourself or hire a team to do it. In case you do not have much experience in the field and you are not clear on what to do, check out this article.

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