January 2016

Is it true that digital marketing is overpowering and surpassing traditional marketing in today’s world? There has been a lot of debate happening on this topic. Many think that for the most part, digital marketing has taken over and traditional marking barely exists, if at all. If we explore the technological advances and the speed with which new technologies are being embraced by organizations, along with the rising power of the consumers and their ability to get what they want, when they want it, from whomever they want, have opened up new challenges for marketing. With this in mind, the need for understanding the digital world and its application becomes one of the greatest competitive aspects of a business’s survival. The buzzword of ‘globalization’ holds no meaning without the concept of what is being termed as ‘digitization’. The era of the digital environment and digital convergence has opened up new marketing opportunities. The age of individualization, networking, and digitization, along with the evolution of consumers in the virtual domains is posing new challenges for marketers. In this digital age, it is quite imperative to revisit marketing strategies and adapt them significantly to contribute to the marketing value chain. The upcoming discipline of e-marketing offers opportunities for innovation, profitability, and affordability in the epoch of the empowered customer, who has graduated from standalone media platforms to ‘always-on’ devices, courtesy of digital convergence. This affinity for the Web can be harnessed effectively to leverage its impact on the consumer. WHAT IS TRADITIONAL MARKETING? Traditional marketing refers to any type of promotion, advertising, or campaign that has been in use by companies for years, and that has a proven success rate. Methods of traditional marketing can include print advertisements, such as newsletters, billboards, flyers, and newspaper print ads. Other forms of traditional marketing include television spots or commercials, as well as radio spots advertising a business, product or service. Let’s be clear about what traditional marketing platforms offer: TV commercials Radio commercials Print Ads Advertorials Outdoor advertising such as billboards Promotional items Events Exhibitions Sponsorship of events WHAT IS DIGITAL MARKETING? Conducting the marketing process of products or services through digital technologies, mobile phones, and display advertising is a part of digital marketing. The process of marketing implies particularly on the internet or on any of the trending social media platforms. Let’s be clear about what digital marketing platforms offer: Blogging Videos Podcasts Mobile Social media Email marketing Digital Analytics The Behavioural Internet  The Internet provides a virtual territory where individuals replicate their offline behaviors in the virtual world. This gives rise to the Behavioural Internet theory, which attempts to investigate the various dimensions of the Internet and an individual’s behavior, which can be synchronized together to benefit the domain of marketing. The Need for Digital Engagement The place of technology change is increasing exponentially and companies are finding it inevitable to use digital channels to create seamless and consistent engagement. The Implications of Digital Change The digital world is changing and smart organizations have realized that. To look at this from an Indian context, India is the 3rd largest country in terms of Internet users in the world, with a highly social and mobile audience. It is estimated that as many as 121 million Indians are logged onto the Internet. Consumers have changed as they have more choices in terms of their selection and comparisons. The consumer has a voice to share his/her opinions in the online world, for everyone to see. Consumer influencer has a significant role. Consumers trust other consumers more than Company advertising. Companies are interacting digitally with their suppliers and marketing intermediaries. Companies are also using the web to interact with their employees. The marketplace is becoming more competitive. The Downside of Traditional Marketing There is very little interaction between the medium used and the customers. It is more of providing information to the public that the brand exists with the hope of these people patronizing the brand. Print or radio advertisements can be very costly. Printing materials can be expensive and you need to hire people to distribute them. The results of this marketing strategy cannot be easily measured. Hold attention only for a short period. Importance of digital marketing Cost-Effective Impactful Content Choose your Ideal Target Access to mobile users Better ROI (Return on Investment) Higher Conversion Web Analytics Social Media support Customer’s trust Compete with your rivals Measurable At the current moment, digital marketing is a vast aspect of any business. The key objective is to promote brands through various forms of digital media. How We Can Use Both Digital & Traditional Marketing Together Our traditional marketing methods support our digital marketing efforts. The two do not operate in exclusion from each other mostly. But one can use both the platform to promote their business or brand and products. One can use social media for online marketing and traditional platform for the local public to further strengthen a relationship with a contact, referral partner, or client. We don’t invest in television or radio ads, for example, but we will give brochures or business cards to someone interested in our services. Digital marketing is about to enter a more challenging territory. Building on the vast increase in consumer power brought on by the digital age, marketing is headed towards being on-demand- not just always “on”, but also always relevant, responsive to the consumer’s desire for marketing that cuts through the noise with pinpoint delivery. The world has transitioned into a very digital environment. Even though traditional marketing still has a place, it is diminishing in our digitally based world. For today’s businesses, it is imperative to have a website and use the web as a means to interact with their consumer base. There are some successful traditional marketing strategies, particularly if you are reaching a largely local audience, but it is important to take advantage of digital marketing to keep up in today’s world. If you’d like to learn more about these solutions you can contact us.