Traditional marketing vs digital marketing: which is best for your business?

What’s the difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing? And does traditional marketing still deserve a place in your marketing mix? Let’s find out.

Nearly every person in the UK now has internet access. And across the world, internet users spend an average of 400 minutes a day online.

So for many businesses, it makes sense to market products or services online, where the vast majority of consumers like to hang out.

Does this mean traditional marketing is dead? Far from it.

TV advertising has been shown to drive more profit than any other form of advertising. And while print advertising accounted for a relatively small proportion of marketing budgets in 2023, it produced the best return on investment (ROI).

For small businesses without the budget to invest in national TV, radio or print campaigns, traditional marketing can still pay. UK businesses spent £171.1 million on door drop leafleting in 2023. And the proportion of door drops resulting in a sale rose from 2.3% in 2022 to 2.8% in 2023.

For many companies, a mix of digital marketing and traditional marketing helps them to achieve their business goals. So in this article, we look at both digital and traditional marketing techniques — along with the advantages associated with each approach.

Traditional marketing vs digital marketing: techniques

Traditional marketing techniques

Traditional marketing techniques pre-date the internet. They’re based around offline marketing channels. Examples of traditional marketing include:

• TV and radio adverts
• Newspaper and magazine ads
• Events and networking
• PR — getting your company or its leaders featured in the press
• Direct mail — sending letters to your mailing list
• Leaflets and flyers
• Catalogues and brochures
• Banners and billboards

These traditional marketing techniques may seem pretty old-school. But — as we’ll see a little later — they can still be an effective way to reach your target market.

Digital marketing techniques

Digital marketing techniques are based around online marketing channels. Some examples of digital marketing include:

• Social media advertising
• Content marketing — social media posts, blogs, videos, white papers, e-books and email newsletters
• Influencer marketing — paying social media personalities with lots of followers to promote your brand, products or services
• Pay-per-click adverts
• Search engine optimisation — improving your website’s visibility on search engines
• Email marketing — email campaigns designed to nurture leads and create conversions

Your website is also a valuable digital marketing channel. It’s a place to showcase your brand, products and services. You can use it to publish content and get signups for your email newsletter.

With the help of analytics, you can also use your site to gather customer data, which can then inform your marketing strategy.

Traditional marketing vs digital marketing: advantages

So should you use digital marketing or traditional marketing for your business? Let’s take a look at the benefits of each.

Advantages of traditional marketing

Cutting through the noise

Users are bombarded with online adverts. In fact, 32.8% of internet users now say they use an ad blocker to hide ad content while they browse the web.

That’s where leaflets and direct mailing can make a real difference. These printed marketing materials are one of only a few ads that land on a consumer’s doorstep. So they can cut through the noise and make a big impression.

Making an impact

Traditional marketing is more effective than you might think. As we mentioned above, TV and print advertising offers a good ROI.

And according to research from The Data and Marketing Association, 89% of consumers remember receiving a door drop mailing. That’s more than any other marketing channel. What’s more, with 45% of consumers keeping leaflets on a noticeboard or in a kitchen drawer, these traditional marketing materials hang around for a considerable amount of time.

Appealing to a wide audience

Nearly all the UK population is now online. But that doesn’t mean everyone has easy access to a device or an internet connection. Among those who do have access, not everyone is comfortable using tech tools to shop and access information.

Traditional marketing is great at reaching a wide audience because people don’t need a device to learn about your brand and its offering. Consumers see banners and billboards as they walk into town. They’re served ads as they watch TV or listen to the radio.

It’s important to note that traditional advertising isn’t just for older and tech-phobic consumers. Research shows that the age group who most engage with door drop marketing are people aged 34 and under.

Local marketing

Print advertising can help you build connections with a local audience. According to research from the US, 62% of consumers trust small, local businesses over large national companies.

When you use traditional marketing techniques, like catalogue and leaflet drops, you highlight your local credentials. You can create hyper-local advertising content and connect with consumers on a personal level.

Providing a link to digital channels

One disadvantage of traditional marketing is the disconnect between marketing materials and your online presence.

A customer sees and is interested in your flyer. But there are lots of steps they have to take to get from that piece of paper to your website to your checkout page. And we know the more stages involved in a transaction, the more customers you lose along the way.

However, it’s possible to link your traditional marketing materials to digital channels. You can do this by picking a domain name that customers find easy to remember and type. You can also use QR codes to quickly transfer consumers to your online marketing channels.

Not reliant on big tech policies

Third-party cookies allow marketers to track user behaviour across multiple websites. This helps them serve targeted ads based on a user’s browsing history — and it makes digital marketing more effective.

But to protect user privacy, third-party cookies are being phased out. Safari and Firefox have already stopped using them. And while Google Chrome has u-turned on its decision to phase out third-party cookies, it’s likely that increased privacy controls will still prompt a drop in revenue for marketers.

Traditional marketing techniques aren’t reliant on big tech policy decisions. They’ve been around for a long time so regulations are unlikely to change dramatically. That means fewer surprises down the line.

Advantages of digital marketing

OK, so we’ve looked at the advantages of traditional marketing. Now let’s see what you stand to gain by using digital marketing for your business.

Converting customers

If you sell products or services online, digital marketing makes it easy for you to convert customers. Users just need to click on your ad — or on a link within your content — to get to a landing page or website. Here, they can make a purchase, download a resource or make an enquiry.

This process involves minimal friction. Users are already on a device with an internet connection. They don’t need to remember and type out your domain name. So when your marketing materials interest a consumer and they want to find out more, nothing gets in their way.

Global reach

Traditional marketing techniques are useful for national and local campaigns. You can drop leaflets at houses in your area or send direct mail to mailing list subscribers across the country.

But digital marketing reaches much further. You’re not restricted to consumers in your geographical location. Your marketing materials can reach a global audience, which means more eyes on your brand.

Personalisation

Personalised marketing materials create a stronger emotional connection with your audience. This improves engagement, loyalty and profitability.

It’s easier to personalise ads on digital marketing channels than on traditional marketing channels. With data on user behaviour and preferences, you can tailor your marketing content to better spark their interest and meet their current needs.

Lower cost

In comparison to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing is often significantly cheaper.

The cost of making a TV advert ranges from £30,000 to £250,000. And that’s before you factor in ad placement costs. Design and placement of newspaper ads can cost up to £3,500.

Costs for a flyer campaign are generally cheaper. But the design, printing and distribution of flyers is likely to cost at least £300.

In contrast, you can get started with digital marketing with a non-existent marketing budget. You can make SEO improvements to your site and post on social media for free. Pay-per-click ads and micro-influencer campaigns can be cost-effective options, too.

Measuring ROI

Online marketing makes it easy to see which of your marketing efforts is making the most impact. That’s because social media and email marketing platforms — along with your website — provide lots of useful data on user behaviour.

You can use analytics tools to track metrics like post impressions, clicks, conversions and engagement. This helps you to see which marketing tactics produce the best results. You can then hone your marketing strategy, focusing on the marketing channels that provide the best ROI.

Two-way interaction

Traditional marketing is a one-way conversation. You tell your audience about your brand, product or services. But they don’t have an easy way to respond.

When you market your brand online, however, you encourage two-way interaction. Customers can comment, ask questions and leave feedback — all in real time. This leads to better engagement and a stronger connection with your target market.

Flexibility

Once a traditional ad has gone live, it’s pretty difficult to change it. But with digital marketing, it’s easy to stay agile and flexible.

You can update your ads to reflect the latest product information. You can also adjust campaigns based on insights. Using A/B testing you can test things like:

• Email subject lines
• Blog post headlines
• Video thumbnails
• Social post images

You get to see which version of your ad is most effective, then switch all ads to the most successful version, quickly, easily and cheaply.

How to use digital marketing and traditional marketing together

As we’ve seen, there are advantages to traditional marketing and digital marketing. Companies that incorporate both marketing methods into their marketing strategy successfully reach a wide and diverse audience.

So how do you make it work?

It’s about getting the right balance for your business — based on your products, services and target market.

Imagine you were advertising a lawn care service to older customers in your local area. Traditional flyers, banners and direct mail may make up the majority of your marketing mix.

But this approach is unlikely to work for an ecommerce store aimed at a global audience. For this type of business, digital marketing will probably feature more heavily.

Just bear in mind that whichever combination of traditional and digital marketing you opt for, creating a connection between the two is vital.

Let’s look at the example of leaflet marketing. Leaflet marketing is effective. But you can make it work harder for your business by connecting your traditional and digital marketing efforts.

You can use leaflet marketing to drive traffic to your website by:

• Including your web address
• Including a QR code that links to your website
• Including a call to action encouraging users to visit your website
• Incentivising users to visit your website with a special offer — like a discount or a free trial

Create a joined up experience for consumers, across both digital and traditional marketing channels, and you’ll do a better job of promoting your brand.

Make a success of your marketing campaigns with Radical

Here at Radical, we’ve helped lots of small businesses make a success of their marketing campaigns. With on-brand, creative design, we help companies catch the eye of consumers and stand out from the competition.

We can help with:

• Web design
• Web development
• Branding
• Landing pages
• Social media assets
• SEO
• Flyer and brochure design
• Website content

Whatever mix of traditional and digital marketing you’ve chosen for your business, we can create the marketing materials you need to win new customers.

Get in touch with the Radical team today to chat about your next marketing campaign.