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When choosing the best marketing for your company, you may be wondering whether traditional marketing or digital marketing is right for you. At Higher Images, we’ve put together a guide on both traditional and digital marketing to help point you in the right direction.

What is Traditional Marketing?

Traditional marketing is marketing that uses more traditional channels such as:

Before the development of the internet in the 1990s, traditional marketing was mainly the only type of marketing used by companies to grow their brand and advertise their products and services.

Traditional marketing is still a valuable part of the consumer’s daily life. It is recommended that if you have the room in your budget, that you put it toward traditional marketing avenues such as television commercials and magazine advertisements.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing, on the other hand, uses digital channels such as social media and websites to communicate the message of a company. You likely see digital marketing ads throughout your day as you browse Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. It is likely that you also receive promotional emails with digital coupons or sale announcements, which is another form of digital marketing. Other types of digital marketing include:

  • Email marketing
  • Content marketing
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Search Engine marketing
  • Pay-per-click (PPC)

What is the Difference Between Traditional Marketing and Digital Marketing?

The main difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing is the channels they use to deliver marketing communication. Traditional marketing uses channels such as newspapers or magazines, whereas digital marketing utilizes channels such as a website or social media to deliver marketing messages.

While traditional marketing may seem like a thing of the past, it still holds value when it comes to your marketing plan. Think about how a commercial on TV makes you feel. It elicits emotion and is filled with music and imagery that makes an impact on your memory and creates a bond with the brand. Traditional marketing still works well to make an impact and connection with customers.

Digital marketing is also crucial because it utilizes the internet, which you use every day in various ways, to serve advertisements to you. If you are searching for a new couch, you’ll likely see an ad for a furniture store nearby pop up on your screen. Digital marketing works on the fact that we use the internet for several hours a day by advertising across a variety of digital channels to reach the target audience.

Marketing Pros and Cons

Pros and Cons of Traditional Marketing

Pro: It makes a great impact and is easy to comprehend.
Whether you choose visually stunning outdoor advertising such as a billboard or bus wrap, or a commercial that pulls on the heartstrings, these are common parts of the consumer’s daily life. These marketing tools are easy for people to understand and provide entertainment value.

Pro: Provides more permanent communication.
When you advertise in the newspaper or a magazine, your ad will be there until the consumer throws it away. This makes your message more permanent when compared to a social media post that gets buried under new posts.

Pro: Makes Your Message More Striking
When consumers see something in real life, it makes a greater impact on them. Think about how memorable a beautiful window display can be or a stunning billboard advertising a movie. These are more likely to be noticed and make an impact on the consumer’s memory compared to a Facebook ad that they may scroll right past.

Con: You don’t directly interact with the customer It can be difficult to measure without the right tools or marketing background.

Pros and Cons of Digital Marketing:

In the age of the internet, digital marketing is a critical tool for businesses to help them reach their target audience through their computer, phones, and other devices. With people sending almost 7 hours a day online, on average, it provides you with a great opportunity for digital marketing.

Pro: Provides more options for engaging your audience.When you use digital marketing channels such as social media, you are able to see the feedback from your audience on what they think of your advertising effort and brands. The majority of people use social media, so it is a great way to engage with your target audience. You can see how many people have shared, liked, and commented on your posts to see if your advertisement is working.

Pro: Measure your campaigns easily.There are various tools that can be used to measure the specifics of your digital marketing campaigns. You can track your digital marketing in-depth to provide you with clear information on what worked and what didn’t so you can adapt your next campaigns accordingly.

Pro: Create tailored content.Digital marketing is highly targeted. For example, if you want to target moms aged 25-35 who love yoga, digital marketing allows you to create highly specific tailored content to grab the attention of your target audience.

Con: Some people find digital ads excessive However, when properly placed can be impactful rather than annoying. Digital ads are more fleeting and less permanent, but when paired with other marketing efforts, they can have a lasting impact on the consumer.

Traditional and Digital Marketing Services in Pittsburgh

While there are cons to working with traditional marketing and digital marketing channels, the marketing professionals at Higher Images have the tools and the knowledge needed to navigate these cons and overcome them.

With our suite of digital marketing and traditional marketing services, we can tailor a marketing strategy to meet the needs of your brand and help you target your ideal audience. Contact us today to get started!