The digital boom came with a major shift in the way businesses advertised their products or services. With consumers spending most of their time on social media, digital marketing has become the advertising method. There is new evidence that companies are returning to traditional methods of marketing. Is this a sign of a new shift?  

Indeed it is. Consumers are being bombarded with digital marketing messages more than ever before. But if this is the most popular way to advertise, why are companies beginning to return to traditional marketing strategies? 

What is Traditional Advertising?

Traditional media marketing has been around since the conception of advertising. Traditional advertising includes methods like print advertising, newspaper ads, radio and tv commercials, and events. These methods have been around for a long time – so what are some of the pros and cons of traditional marketing?

Benefits of Traditional Marketing

1. Consumers trust it more. A recent survey by MarketingSherpa showed that the top five most trusted methods of advertising are printed material, television, direct mail, radio, and publicly displayed posters/billboards. These methods are examples of traditional advertising methods.
2. It’s more well-received than most online marketing. Another survey by Hubspot revealed that the majority of consumers find online advertising to be obnoxious. Many consumers tune it out completely. That is not exactly the kind of association you want potential customers to have with your business. 
3. Digital marketing has a lot of potential hang-ups. Google and Apple are planning to phase out third-party cookies in 2023. In response to this, companies are ramping up their traditional marketing efforts to offset the changes affecting personalized ads and other data collection.

Huge Drawbacks

Then there’s the other side of the coin. While it has its advantages, traditional marketing has several glaring disadvantages.  

1. Analytics is a challenge. With online marketing methods, you have access to a plethora of analytical data to help you fine-tune your marketing strategy. With traditional advertising, data is much harder to collect and is much less accurate.
2. It is more expensive. Between traditional and digital marketing, traditional is far and away the priciest option. A single tv commercial costs more than the most impressive online ads. It also lacks many of the benefits of targeted marketing. Even print marketing can be considerably more expensive than many digital marketing methods.  
3. It takes longer. A digital ad can be executed quickly, whereas print, radio, television, and other traditional marketing venues can take weeks or months to get in front of consumers. This edge to digital marketing plays an important role in the integration of pop culture and trending online content with advertising.  

Let Design Squid Help

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Contact us today to discuss the most effective marketing plan for your company.