It is apparent that today we’re living in the digital marketing age. It has already attained the reach and influence that traditional marketing once enjoyed on its own. We’re now looking at an era where communication hurdles brought by distance is a thing of the past, where news are delivered and consumed in an instant, and where information is literally just a few clicks away.
It’s easy to believe that traditional marketing will soon be rendered obsolete. However, it’s evident that the traditional channel of marketing only evolved to coexist with its digital counterpart. It has, in its own way, withstood the test of time. Let’s take a look at some of the values of traditional marketing and how it is relevant to every digital marketer.
Sustaining the proverbial backbone
Indeed, we’re in the digital age where everything is cheaper and faster. It’s easy to see why most digital marketers have forgotten the values of traditional marketing, values that helped shape where we are and what we are today. Unfortunately, this thinking has made its way to the startup scene, which led founders to believe that they can survive and thrive on digital marketing alone.
What startups need to learn is that digital is the latest product of a long-winded evolution of marketing. The history of marketing can be dated back to the time when Egyptians used papyrus to sell their products. Gutenberg’s introduction of mechanical printing paved way for direct mail marketing through brochures and flyers. The marketing momentum picked up from there and led to the creation and use of billboards, radio, TV, and telephone. No matter how anyone looks at it, it remains clear that new marketing mediums relied on its predecessors for growth—a lesson every digital marketer and startups should commit to heart.
Putting importance in foundations
The fact is traditional marketing will remain relevant in a number of ways. Just look around you. Look at brochures pinned on the door of your fridge, that TV that solemnly waits to be switched on in your living room, or even at the billboards that stood proudly on your way to work. Let the evidence speak for itself, a strong foundation lasts.
The other value of traditional marketing lies in the significant amount of knowledge and skill to be learned from its mediums. Each medium requires a different approach and mindset before a marketer can navigate towards the end goal of reaching their target market. The tricky maze of traditional marketing improves a marketer’s overall skill and knowledge. As digital marketers, learning and respecting each medium will lead to stronger marketing foundations which will eventually lead to digital marketing innovations.
Focusing on consistency
Traditional marketing gained the people’s trust by focusing on providing values that people can reliably count on every time. It is the painstaking adherence to consistency that leads to favorable opinions which results to awareness, conversion and, eventually, loyalty.
This belief led to the creation of lean thinking, a business methodology adopted by some of the big brands today. Toyota, for example, focuses on consistently aligning customer and employee satisfaction while eliminating unnecessary costs. The adoption of lean thinking led Toyota to capture significant market shares despite the unfavorable views on their products. Considering the time and effort spent in digital marketing, plus the results enjoyed by Toyota, digital marketers should start thinking about adopting lean thinking in digital marketing.
Respecting the demographics
Digital marketers should consider the demographics of every digital marketing channel the same way traditional marketers do on every traditional marketing medium. That’s because a one-size-fits-all strategy won’t work when it comes to people. Failing to respect and consider the demographics will bring more harm than good.
Tailor your marketing approach depending on the demographics of the channel. Your Facebook marketing content tone and style should not be the same as your LinkedIn marketing content. Failing to do so is akin to selling luxury cars to people with low purchasing power.
Integrating every possible channel
No traditional marketing strategy relies on a single medium. Relying on a single medium is neither effective nor efficient especially when time is a major factor to consider.
Reflecting on the world of digital marketing, relying on a single channel proves to be costly in a hundred ways. Digital marketers make sure that they weave different digital channels as seamless as possible, like deploying click-worthy PPC ads that lead to the web content that would drive conversions, and working on your social capital to foster loyalty.
Sticking to the brand
One of the gems of traditional marketing values is its strict adherence to brand relevance. Every activity that traditional marketers do is a step towards an overarching goal: a sustainable and recognizable brand.
This is what startups need to learn: content virality doesn’t matter if it doesn’t build your brand. Make sure you stick to your brand in every step of the way or else end up like the Chinese gaming company that took the effort to make viral angel hoax videos that never helped their case.
Aiming for quality
Traditional marketing is known for its overly expensive advertising mediums. The effort alone is significant enough to prompt traditional marketers to make every second, every image, and every word count. These overwhelming cost and effort required forced the improvement of marketing quality of traditional mediums, the way Toyota implemented lean thinking to its business processes.
This is a valuable lesson for every digital marketer: aim for quality. Even when marketing through digital channels is cheaper, even if it’s easier to blast through every digital channel with template approach, still aim for quality. This will give you a significant edge as a digital marketer over time.
Doing the right thing
Coca-Cola once tried to offer a new taste for their product, an allusion to innovation. The backlash was unimaginable: the people wants its signature Coca-Cola taste back. Despite being deep into their attempt at innovation, the beverage giant decided to revert back to the original taste to the delight of the masses.
This is one of the critical traditional marketing values digital marketers and startups should emulate: the ability and courage to go back to square one. Innovation is never a bad idea, but sometimes it takes a lot of courage to stop yourself from fixing what isn’t broken.
Provide a lasting impression
It’s rare when a traditional marketing activity evokes an emotion from you. It doesn’t matter if it made you happy, mad, afraid, or sad. What matters is that you’ll remember and instantly associate it to the brand that evoked an emotion from you.
Always aim to provide a lasting impression—this should be at the forefront of any digital marketer or startup company that plans for a digital marketing campaign. This is how the people remember, this how you convince the people to take your side
The value of traditional marketing cannot be understated. It will continue to withstand the test of time and provide a helping hand, a gentle prodding to the right direction that both digital marketers and startup companies will eventually need.
To understand, respect, and value traditional marketing and its place in the digital age is a critical factor to drive and sustain growth. Never underestimate the power of strong marketing foundations.
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