Is Traditional Marketing Actually Dead?

Is Traditional Marketing really outdated in 2021?

What do you pay attention to more, television adverts or social media adverts? This is a simple indicator of what could be more effective for your marketing campaign. Traditional marketing or digital. But, if are you trying to choose between traditional or digital marketing for your business, there are lots of other factors to consider.

Traditional marketing is often referred to as outdated. However, that might not be the case depending on the nature of your business and audience demographic. As we’re currently in a global pandemic with Covid-19, this may have some effect on whether traditional marketing is ideal or not.

 

Everything is becoming digital

As technology advances, it becomes more convenient. We do so much from our computers and smartphones nowadays such as work, socialise or even kill time playing Candy Crush. Because of that, there is colossal potential to connect with your targeted audience and use these platforms to grow your brand.  YouTube was the social media platform with the biggest reach among U.S. Gen Z and Millennial internet users in 2019, regardless of gender. Therefore, YouTube ads which can range from 10 to 30 seconds can be amazingly effective, but at the same time very costly.

Social media, display ads and email marketing are just some of the most popular and effective digital marketing methods. The main reason for this is primarily due to the vast amount of engagement you can achieve through likes, comments and shares. In 2023, Instagram is projected to reach 120.3 million monthly active users in the U.S, according to Statista.

Traditional marketing, however, cannot achieve engagement. TV adverts and outdoor adverts, for example, has no interaction with your audience. This also means it’s harder to measure your performance and you’re left in the dark about your audience’s reactions.

Younger generations are online

According to Statista, TikTok had approximately 37.2 million users in the U.S. With the rise and popularity of social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok, much of the younger generation are drawn to their smartphones. If your main audience is young people, then traditional marketing probably isn’t the best option.

Broadcasting and outdoor adverts such as television and billboards can still be effective. But again, finding the perfect time frame or location for the advert must align with your audience’s habits. The great thing about broadcasting is there is no way skip or ignore it as users can do with YouTube ads for example.

 

Is print media dead?

Many marketers refer to print media as ‘dead’. Do people still pay attention to poster and newspaper ads? It depends.  As mentioned earlier, traditional marketing is more difficult to ignore unlike a sponsored ad on Facebook. Let’s take brochures and leaflets for example. These forms of media are excellent for showing off designs such as furniture or artwork for example. You cannot put a website on a coffee table but you can put print media on it which is likely to be picked up and read.

According to Ofcom in 2018, television, radio and newspapers are the main platforms used for news, with television being the most popular. Channels such as BBC, Channel 4 and ITV are therefore brilliant platforms for brand exposure and reaching a large audience of most ages.

 

So what’s the verdict?

So, is traditional marketing outdated? No, of course not. There is still so much potential for growth using print and broadcast media, providing that you have the budgets. And as mentioned earlier, your target demographic will for sure determine which direction you should take your marketing.

 

 

How Snob Monkey can help you…

Snob Monkey specialises in all things digital. Not only can we optimise your online social presence, but we can create high class websites using WordPress and incorporate our SEO services to boost your site in Google’s ranking. As a London digital marketing agency, Snob Monkey is at the centre of innovation, creativity and technology. From social media management to accelerate your social growth and web development to improve your organic site traffic, we can provide a wide range of services to suit your marketing desires and budget.

 

Written by Katy Tran