Yes, Virginia, traditional marketing venues are still viable. And here’s why:
We all know traditional marketing to be newspaper and magazine ads, billboards, radio, and television, plus literature, direct mail, posters, flyers, and the like. If you’ve been in the marketing game for more than five years, chances are you have used some of these methods, and chances are even better that you still do.
Why? Because, depending on your audience, these traditional methods of advertising your message are still quite viable, and still provide results.
For starters, if you use traditional marketing and are getting good results, there’s no reason to change your tactics completely. In today’s world, a combination of the proven traditional methods of promotion should be mixed with a digital effort.
Here are some factors to consider when deciding to use or continue to use traditional marketing:
- Your Target Audience
The size and demographics of your target audience are the biggest reasons to use, or not use, traditional marketing. Audience age has a lot to do with it. If you are looking to reach the 40+ audience with strong spending power, traditional marketing will still be a worthwhile way to reach them, since traditional marketing is the way they are accustomed to obtaining information. It is still important to drive traffic to your website, however, for your potential customers to obtain more detailed information. If you are trying to reach the millennials, then traditional marketing will not have much impact on their awareness of your sales messages. It would be like placing a butcher store’s ad in a Vegan lifestyle magazine. Wrong audience, wrong method.
If you are trying to reach the masses, with a broad spectrum of ages, likes, and interests, then traditional marketing is still a great way to go. Venues such as radio and television reach a wide range of potential clients and can reach the fringe audiences that may not even be on your radar. This is in contrast to the digital marketing world that sometimes may be too focused, missing those on the perimeter that aren’t necessarily part of your main target market but may still purchase your product or services. This is where a combination of traditional and digital marketing methods come into play for the best results.
- Leaving an Impression
Direct mail using impressive literature can leave a lasting impression. A piece of literature with high quality stock, impressive imagery, and clever design can really get across a quality image. This same impression is harder to portray when using digital advertising, which typically uses small, lower resolution images, along with limited copy in the messaging.
- Direct Mail
If your business has a quality mailing list of those who signed up to accept such promotional materials, direct mail continues to work very well, providing a controlled message and impression to a specific audience.
- Your Budget
Traditional marketing methods typically cost more, so your budget will come into play as to whether you care to take a larger chunk of funds to purchase air time on radio or TV, or produce that nice piece of literature or direct mailer. And let’s face it, no one ever said they had too much marketing money to spend and not enough ways to spend it.
In today’s world, a mixture of traditional and digital marketing efforts will make for a comprehensive campaign. If you need help in determining what methods work best, and how much traditional marketing to use in your campaign, contact Clearbridge Branding Agency. We will help guide you through the process.
