The long-awaited answer to the question on everyone’s minds is finally here: Digital marketing, specifically SEO, can replace traditional offline methods like TV ads and leaflet drops. It already has! However, there’s a lot more to this topic than just saying yes or no to the question in the title. So let’s dig deeper into what exactly makes digital so powerful and how this will affect businesses in the future.
Throughout human history, the Internet has always been something of a mystery for most. Breakthroughs come through discoveries made on the journey from one society to another (language, writing, astronomy, physics, etc.). In comparison, the real breakthroughs made on the journey offline occurred gradually and not all at once.
With the construction of ARPANET or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network in the late 1960s, the first working prototype of the Internet was born. Initially supported by the United States Department of Defense, ARPANET used packet switching to allow several computers to communicate over a single network. In January 2021, 4.66 billion people worldwide access the Internet, up 316 million (7.3 percent) over the previous year. The global internet penetration rate has reached 59.5 percent.
Digital Marketing and e-Commerce Strategy
Digital marketing appears to be on the upswing right now, with more Companies adopting an e-commerce strategy to reach customers who are, for the most part, online. Given the advancement of technology, digital marketing will eventually supplant traditional marketing even though, at this time, they are complementing one another. Because of the benefits that online advertising delivers, most entrepreneurs have found it challenging to go without it in recent years.
The following are some of the advantages of online marketing:
1. Allows you to target specific customers.
As the globe becomes more interconnected, new techniques of targeting clients emerge. Business Owners can now leverage more data from digital platforms to develop tailored ads based on consumer opinions, interests, and lifestyles. When you run these ads on Facebook or Google, you might capture the attention of a hitherto untapped population. Online Advertising is similar to GPS in that it directs you to a particular location. On the other hand, some businesses are still reliant on traditional marketing and have grown as a result. If you work for a company that needs tailored advertising, internet marketing is the way to go.
2. Cost-Effectiveness
Smaller companies have a larger marketing budget. In comparison to traditional forms versis internet marketing is more cost-effective. The costs of launching a marketing strategy are modest, and the impact they provide is enormous. When you hire the services of digital marketing businesses like Bluestone Digital, you can expect increased online visibility and traffic to your website. Increased traffic leads to increased sales and, as a result, more money. Most SEO businesses’ work online and tend to charge reasonable fees for their services.
3. It’s easy to assess the success
It is simple to determine whether or not a online campaign was successful. Compared to a traditional campaign, we can evaluate the effectiveness of a digital campaign 90 days after it being launched. Entrepreneurs can track their results with email marketing software. For example, you can tell how many emails were delivered and read by the recipient using such software. You can also use Google Analytics to track the progress of the targets you established at the start of the campaign.
4. Digital marketing is a worldwide phenomenon
With the transformation of the global market into a village, we can now market to the world, creating an opportunity for small businesses to expand globally. In addition, most of today’s large corporations have benefited greatly from digital marketing in recent years.
Before online marketing, there was traditional marketing. While digital marketing has advantages, conventional marketing has advantages as well. Below are some reasons why traditional marketing is still effective in certain terms:
- First, it is easy to reach the local audience – Print (newspapers), broadcast (FM radios and television), postal (postcards), outdoor (billboards), and telephone marketing are all examples of traditional marketing (SMS marketing). These platforms may appear to be outdated, but they continue to draw a large number of users.
- Easy to comprehend – Traditional marketing guarantees that consumers with little digital marketing knowledge are not left out. Because the topic being pushed is simple, this type of marketing does not require a lengthy explanation. A flyer or billboard effectively communicates the message.
- Ads can be preserved – Online information is not required for Printing or broadcasting. As a result, traditional marketing resources can be saved and viewed at a later date. Furthermore, the materials utilized can be kept and recycled to create new products.
- A higher rate of success – Despite the upsurge in the popularity of digital marketing, it has been discovered that traditional marketing has a greater success rate. While online material may reach a global audience, that does not guarantee that it will reach your ideal customer, prompting them to make a purchase. You should be aware that not everyone interested in your brand has access to online platforms or can look for what you are selling on the Internet. You risk losing these potential customers to the competition if you undertake a digital marketing strategy. As a result, traditional marketing is more relevant, convenient and significantly increases your revenue.
Conclusion:
Traditional marketing is still relevant and influential with specific age groups, despite the current internet marketing trend. However, for the former to outperform the latter, IT specialists must provide material that appeals to the demands of the older generation, which does not seem to understand technology.
Read the next article “How to create an engaging social media strategy in 5 steps“
