In today’s world, it seems like almost everything is going digital — including your marketing!
While traditional marketing — like print, radio, and TV advertising — can still have benefits, depending on your business and target audience, adding a digital element can help boost those efforts and reach even more people.
When it comes to traditional marketing vs. digital marketing, it’s not necessarily an either/or choice. Usually, it’s a both-and. But the key to making the wisest decisions lies in knowing which method will reach your target audience most effectively — and at what cost.
Here are ways you can start taking your traditional methods digital today and how to make the most of them for your efforts:
Traditional Marketing Method: Billboards
Digital Marketing Method: Social Media Advertising
Billboards can be an effective way to reach a local audience, but that’s where they’re limited… Only the local audience will see them. This is great if you’re a local business, but if you want a wider reach, it becomes a problem. You need to then take out multiple billboard advertisements in multiple locations, which can quickly add up in costs.
There’s a digital upgrade you need to consider: social media advertising.
Social media pay-per-click advertising is the new billboard because:
- You can target by location — so you still get the same local reach if you want it.
- You can expand your demographics beyond your current area — so you can reach more audiences with the same ad.
- You can make your advertisements interactive. While a traditional billboard is a static image that never changes, your ads can be videos, a carousel of images, link to your website, and much more.
- You can track where your audience is coming from by using advertising landing pages. This will tell you which ads are generating the most traffic and give you demographic information to boot, so you can further target your ads.
- You can use the demographic information you receive to find even more leads by creating lookalike audiences, targeting by interests, age group, and more.
While billboards can still have their place, especially with advancements in digital signage, social media advertising can give you a much wider reach with even more options for lead generation.
Traditional Marketing Method: Radio Ads
Digital Marketing Method: Podcasts
Like billboards, radio advertising can still be effective for targeting a local audience. You can even target a wider one by advertising on national (or international) channels — although this can quickly get expensive. In general, the wider you want your ad to go, the more it will cost.
But there’s a digital upgrade well worth considering: podcasts.
Audial marketing isn’t disappearing — in fact, it’s soaring online. There are currently over 750,000 podcasts. According to data from Podcast Insights, 80% of podcast listeners listen to all or most of each episode and listen to an average of seven shows per week.
There are many benefits to tapping into the power of podcasts and ways to go about it, including:
- Look for podcasts in your niche. With more than 750,000 podcasts, there is something for everyone. This is great for businesses that operate in a niche area.
- Consider paid podcast advertising. Many podcasts rely on sponsors to keep them afloat. If you sponsor an episode, your business gets a shout out. You might even be able to create a special offer for listeners.
- Be a podcast guest — the equivalent to appearing live on the radio. Reach out to the hosts of podcasts in your area of expertise and see what type of content they are looking for and if they might be interested in an interview, particularly if you have valuable knowledge to share.
- Start your own podcast! While this can be more work, you can also inspire your own loyal following. A SaaS company could offer tips for using your software. A real estate agent could do a weekly podcast talking about listings in their area. If you have a blog, you could turn the articles into a podcast. The list goes on…
Podcasts offer a wider audience and many more options that can complement (or even replace) radio advertising. And this marketing method is only continuing to grow.
Traditional Marketing Method: Being Quoted in Newspaper Articles
Digital Marketing Method: Guest Posting and/or Hosting Your Own Blog
Print advertising – like posting an ad in a local newspaper or magazine — is a popular way to reach an audience, but again, it can be limited. The amount of people your ad reaches depends on the publication’s reach. And it can come at a high price point.
You also risk readers skipping past your ad for editorial content. For this reason, another popular traditional marketing method is sending out press releases with the hopes of being quoted or interviewed for an article.
There’s a digital equivalent to both!
Guest Posting: Many print-based publications have launched online versions and more have come out with only online versions. And here’s the secret — a lot of digital-only publications require a higher volume of content. This means they may be open to publishing well-written content from experts in the field… like your business!
Sites like Forbes, Business2Community, The Huffington Post and more all command a large audience… and all accept contributions. You could tap into this market by becoming a contributor. This can also be effective for niche sites too.
As a bonus, guest posting can help improve your website SEO though link building.
Hosting Your Own Blog: One issue with being quoted in an article, or even working as a contributor, is that your message isn’t always guaranteed. A quote can be taken out of context, a contribution might not be accepted, or it might be edited… In short, you’re not always the one in control.
But you can change that by hosting your own blog. With this method, you can control your message and make sure it’s exactly what you want to say. This blog can also be repurposed and shared on social media, turned into a podcast or video, and so on, and perhaps shared by people in your niche.
This is also a great way to build on-page SEO!
Traditional Marketing Method: Cold Calling
Digital Marketing Method: Enhanced LinkedIn
Cold calling — picking up the phone and calling a prospect — can have mixed results. While it can sometimes be effective, mileage varies for certain industries. And with advancements like Caller ID, a lot of cold calls are being screened… and missed.
Better cold calling involves warming up the prospect before you reach out. This can be done effectively through social media — in particular, LinkedIn.
Through LinkedIn, you can participate in groups that are of interest to your prospects, discover new connections (like a shared alma mater or mutual friend), and create ongoing relationships with prospects through blog posts, interesting shares, and the like.
Want to learn more about connecting with prospects via LinkedIn? Check out our blog series: https://www.gopulsion.io/blog/category/linkedin/.
Traditional Marketing Method: Focus Groups
Digital Marketing Method: A/B Testing
In traditional marketing, you typically have one shot to get it right. If you’re running a print ad, for example, you will only run the one ad —and if it doesn’t land with your audience, then you tweak the next time… at a cost.
The problem with this is that traditional marketing can be more expensive, so an ad that misses the mark can cost a lot with little to show for it. Some businesses try to mitigate this by using focus groups to determine the efficacy of their ads, but this takes time, people, and money.
This is an area where digital marketing particularly shines: the ability to split test.
Split testing – or A/B testing — allows you to try out different ads across different audiences. You can tweak the message, photo content, headline, audience demographic, time of day, and so much more. When you see what is working, you can adjust the spend as needed — without any interruption to advertising.
While traditional marketing isn’t disappearing, upgrading your efforts to digital can give you much more options that work in tandem for less cost at a higher return.
At Pulsion Marketing, we are experienced at achieving digital marketing transformation on a strategic budget.
Contact us today for a consultation. Call 1-888-701-4441 or visit www.digiforcemarketing.ca.