Traditional and Online Marketing – Does Your Business Really Need Them Both?

The web is full of marketing opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, including blogging, social media, and advertising networks. These channels allow them to connect with existing customers as well as to reach wider audiences. It’s not surprising then that many young entrepreneurs and marketers focus entirely on online marketing, whose low cost and easy data-tracking make it very powerful. But traditional marketing still has some important benefits for businesses.

Blending Tradition with Technology

If we look at the brands that excel at advertising — not only big names like Coca-Cola, Nike, or Apple but also smaller brands — their promotional efforts are all grounded in solid real-life brand-building. Traditional marketing and online marketing don’t have to clash. On the contrary, they can complement one another.

Traditional marketing can make your brand more tangible. Online marketing can establish a connection with consumers and drive engagement. Use both and your brand could grow a lot faster.

A Strong Foundation

Online marketing alone has the power to make people like and follow an organization. But when that organization happens to be a business, whether it’s selling physical or virtual goods or services, a solid real-life foundation anchored in traditional marketing and brand-building remain indispensable for creating a business identity and winning customer trust.

Let’s be honest — we are more likely to listen to and buy the products of a brand we know has a physical location. We also tend to trust more brands whose ads or billboards we’ve seen already than a brand that operates entirely online and hides behind a website.

Doing It Right

As a business, you should try to use the most effective traditional marketing channels available locally. It could be print, radio, television, or good old billboards and fliers — anything that works for you.

However, you should also develop a long-term social media strategy that is consistent with your traditional marketing efforts. One that balances them by creating engagement and connecting with people on a personal level.

Just don’t bring the old-fashioned concept of direct selling to social marketing — it won’t work. Instead, use social media marketing as a complementary strategy that harnesses the power of technology to tell the story of your brand and promote your values.

You’ll need a reliable social media marketer if you don’t have one already. Find one who has the knowledge and the experience needed to integrate social media marketing with your other marketing efforts.