There’s no doubt that digital marketing is here to stay. If 2011 and the first part of 2012 were revolutionary years for the digital marketing industry, I expect the remaining part of this year to be even better. While conventional marketing ruled the roost a decade back, rapid advancements in social media and technology has meant that businesses can no longer afford to miss the digital marketing bandwagon. Whether it’s social networks, location-based services, mobile websites or social web, digital marketing has well and truly arrived.
However, does that mean that traditional marketing techniques are no longer as effective as they used to be? Should marketers abandon conventional marketing techniques and rely solely on digital marketing? Has traditional marketing outlived its shelf life? Clearly, there are no easy answers to these questions.
In my opinion, the right mix of traditional and digital marketing can help any business achieve the best results. Here’s why.
It’s Not about either/or
I’ve always believed that traditional marketing vs. digital marketing is a non-starter debate. It’s not about choosing one over the other, but it’s more about how to use the two together to gain maximum traction for your business.
While traditional media such as TV and print are regarded as evergreen, they no longer rule the roost in the marketing world. New Media – a term coined to represent a wide array of modern techniques including Web 2.0, Social Media and Rich Internet Applications (RIA) represents what is now the world’s most popular media.
However, TV and print are still valuable marketing mediums when coupled with new media techniques.
Is TV dead?
Though I’m a staunch social media loyalist and a new media admirer, I still believe that TV as a marketing medium isn’t dead yet. I believe that TV and print media can work wonderfully well in conjunction with new media to maximize business gains for any organization. In fact, TV experience has completely changed from what it used to be 5 years ago. Live TV on internet has further boosted the popularity of TV channels and continues to demonstrate the increasing influence of the web in our lives.
In fact, it’s no surprise that most modern marketing success stories use Television advertisements along with online campaigns.
The world is going mobile
Most traditional marketing techniques had a major drawback – they had limited reach and these techniques weren’t instantaneous. Digital marketing has fulfilled the dream of anytime anywhere marketing. Till date, mobile has been a nice-to-have/ wishlist medium for most digital marketers. I reckon mobile (smartphones and tablets) will no longer be an optional channel for digital marketing next year. On the contrary, digital marketers will use the best of both worlds – native apps and mobile/ hybrid websites to enable anytime anywhere connectivity for prospects.
What’s your thought on using a mix of traditional and digital marketing for best results? Please share your views by leaving a comment.































