It’s no secret that there has been a continual shift in the marketing world, with the growing popularity of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vine. While traditional marketing is still very prominent — print advertisements in newspapers, magazines and your mailbox — reaching consumers digitally through email, text and other forms of social media continues to increase and can sometimes be more cost-effective. Another advantage of digital marketing is that it is measurable. If you send out a regular mail piece, there is no way to know that the target has read it or even opened it. But if you send out that same mail piece with an incentive to register online, you can track that user and retarget them for future campaigns. So the question still remains and is often debated — is traditional marketing or digital marketing the way to go?
As a marketer, I have found that email campaigns can be effective for certain target markets, while sending a promotional item or speaking to someone at a marketing event can also have a huge impact. A 30-second Super Bowl commercial can reach millions, but so can a photo tweeted and retweeted across the Twittersphere (e.g., Ellen’s Oscar selfie). In terms of traditional versus digital, it should not be an either-or situation. It should be about figuring out how the two can best work together. Digital strategy needs to be woven into the overall marketing plan. You know more than anyone what works for your brand, so it’s a matter of finding the perfect blend of digital and traditional marketing that yields the most returns on your investment.
Traditional avenues can sometimes reach a much wider audience than can digital ones, but if you combine a TV spot or mailing with a digital coupon or a digital call-to-action, the possibilities are endless.
In the end, it’s about customer engagement and providing a unique customer experience. It’s an opportunity to get customers and prospects to participate and start talking about your brand or product. So stop the debates about which one is more effective and concentrate on how the two can work in unison and give you the best bang for your buck! Contact KERN today at 818.703.8775 so we can help you customize your marketing plan and reach your target market, both digitally and traditionally.
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