What happened to the traditional marketing styles of print, radio television and outdoor (billboards)? They still exist in droves, but their effectiveness isn’t diminishing as rapidly as you might think.
It is no question that, by today’s standards, catering to an online market is the way to go when trying to spread brand awareness.
Newspapers are dying. Magazines are becoming more niche than ever and broadcast television is always seen as wrestling with cable and online streaming competitors. So where exactly does traditional media fit into the marketing landscape? It turns out these ‘ancient’ methods still account for the lions’ share of media marketing revenue.
Imagine you’re thinking of buying a new car. What starts this process? Typically while driving your current car, you notice something off, or you’ve taken it to the shop on one-too-many occasions.
Being in your vehicle is one of the few places where traditional media outlets still thrive. It is beyond dangerous to use your mobile device while driving, but listening to the radio is much safer and reading a billboard takes no effort at all.
You probably even recognize a few jingles or wacky car salesman personalities after watching local TV ads. More often than not, a sponsored post about the top new vehicles of the year while scrolling up and down your Facebook feed is less efficient than driving past dealer lots on a brightly-lit road just out of town.
Businesses aren’t making mistakes pouring money into traditional marketing campaigns but only if those same companies are making an effort to push a digital brand. Relying solely on traditional marketing avenues will result in ambiguous analytics and an emptying expense account.
Relying solely on digital marketing, however, can also eliminate a large consumer base before you decide to spend one dollar of your budget.
Society blames Millennials for the death of many things. But changes in the marketing landscape are brought on directly by the generations preceding them. Baby Boomers like Bill Gates invented the modern computerized world and those on the cusp of Generation X, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, made communicating – and selling – on the digital plane effortless.
Not all Baby Boomers adapted to the technology as quickly as Gates. The cohort of 70+ million people still relies on materials they can see, touch and read without turning on an electronic device.
For a quarter of the American population, receiving a business card or direct mailer is preferable to an email or pop-up ad. Sure, the mailer may be regarded in the same classification as spam and end in the trash bin just the same, but the marketer can’t make that wholesale bet.
Even this blog post may seem oddly placed, considering we are an online marketing operation. But we also print promotional materials handed out at luncheons and new client meetings.
Just because something is old, doesn’t mean it’s on its way out of circulation altogether. Or is inept at helping you succeed in any way. Our elders teach us wisdom, after all.
To discover how Valorous Circle can add to your traditional marketing attitudes or maybe just translate them into the digital world, please schedule an appointment or give us a call today.
