Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing: Which One Is Your Best Bet?
It’s no secret that social media has changed the marketing game. Thanks to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, businesses can target specific audiences and create easily shareable content.
Working with a limited budget and resources can be challenging if you own a small business. It is not easy to attract customers when you are competing with big brands and corporations. To create an impact on the market, you need to develop an effective marketing plan.
Social media marketing has become the most popular way to reach out to potential customers and grow your business. Small businesses have been using social media as part of their marketing strategy for a long time. According to statistics, almost 95% of marketers use social media as a marketing strategy.
However, while most companies have jumped on the social media marketing bandwagon, not everyone is convinced that it’s the best strategy for reaching your audience and expanding your brand. For example, you might hear people say that traditional marketing is still better than social media marketing.
Social media may be trendy right now, but traditional marketing strategies are still effective for growing a business. Each type of marketing strategy has its pros and cons. The key is figuring out which makes the most sense for your business and your budget. Here’s an in-depth look at traditional vs. social media marketing to decide which suits you.
What is Traditional Marketing?
Traditional marketing is any form of advertising outside of your product or service. Whether you advertise on television, radio, in newspapers, magazines, or any other medium, you reach new customers outside your existing customer base. There are several other key differences between traditional and social media marketing.
- Traditional marketing campaigns take more time to produce results.
- You can’t start seeing results from traditional marketing right away.
- Most traditional marketing campaigns take one to three months to generate revenue.
- Traditional marketing also involves a budget.
- Advertising costs money, and while it’s an investment, it’s not free. You have to pay for space in a newspaper or billboard, and you’ll also have to pay for TV commercials.
- Traditional marketing can be a good investment.
- It’s worth the money because it brings in a large (and targeted) audience.
- Traditional marketing strategies serve as an excellent complement to your in-house marketing campaigns, too.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing, on the other hand, is an in-house marketing strategy. When you use social media for marketing, you create content that lives on social media sites. Most social media marketing campaigns revolve around creating posts, ads, and other content that people can easily share on their social media accounts.
- Some social media platforms, like Facebook, are more conducive to sharing than others.
- Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all great for marketing. Pinterest, though, is not.
- Pinterest is more suited to product-related content than marketing materials.
- Social media marketing campaigns are quick.
- You can start seeing results from social media marketing right away.
- If you know how to use the right social platforms, you can start growing your audience immediately.
- Plus, social media marketing is easy on your budget.
- You don’t have to spend money on ads or space in a newspaper or magazine.
- You can start marketing for free on most social media sites.
Why Is Social Media Marketing Worth Your Time?
Social media is a quick and easy way to build an audience. If you know how to use the right platforms, you can start growing a loyal following right away. If you’re just starting your business, this is an excellent way to generate buzz around your product or service.
You’ll have to invest some time to build a social media following. You can’t build an audience overnight. It takes time to build a loyal following. If you want to succeed on social media, you’ll have to be consistent. You have to post new content regularly so your audience can keep up with what you’re doing.
Arguments Against Traditional Marketing
Losing Appeal:
Most businesses still rely on traditional marketing (print ads, radio ads, billboards, etc.) to reach their target audiences. However, these channels are quickly losing their appeal.
Hefty Price Tag:
Traditional marketing comes with a hefty price tag and doesn’t offer the same level of targeting, customization, and scalability that marketing automation platforms provide.
One-Time Campaign:
When you invest in traditional marketing, you’re not only spending money on a one-time campaign but also losing potential customers due to the lack of targeting. It does not engage customers, does not generate leads, and does not offer any value.
Lack of Trust:
Traditional marketing is like a newspaper that people have stopped reading. It is not useful. People have stopped trusting newspapers because of the false news and have started preferring social media for their information.
Shift to Social Media:
People have stopped trusting traditional marketing. They have started avoiding it. Social Media has become the primary source of news for most people. Similarly, social media has become the primary source of marketing for most businesses.
Why Is Traditional Marketing Still Important?
Traditional marketing and advertising campaigns are important for a few reasons.
- First, they bring in a large, targeted audience. You know exactly whom you’re reaching when you run a traditional marketing campaign. You might run an ad on TV to reach people in a specific geographic location.
- Second, you might decide to run an ad in a specific newspaper to reach people in a particular demographic.
- Finally, to reach a large audience, traditional marketing can help you get your name out there, which is helpful if you’re just starting.
If you’re starting your business, you might not have a large enough customer base to support social media marketing (more on that in a minute). Traditional marketing can help you establish your name and build a customer base.
Downsides of Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is much cheaper and more convenient. But there are some disadvantages, too, regarding social media marketing.
You can’t control the message:
When it comes to traditional marketing, you can control what your target audience sees by carefully crafting your message. But with social media, you don’t have that luxury because the audience is in charge of what they see on their feed.
It isn’t easy to measure ROI:
With social media, it’s hard to measure ROI because many variables are involved, such as the number of followers or likes on a post. In traditional marketing, there are two measurable factors money and time.
For social media marketing, it’s hard to tell the ROI unless you can count how many followers or likes you have.
You need to build a strong presence on all platforms:
With traditional marketing, you have to focus on one channel and spend resources accordingly so that it will be successful. But with social media, you have to build a strong presence on each platform.
It’s difficult to target the right audience:
Traditional marketing will be easier to target potential customers because they’re watching a specific channel. But with social media marketing, it’s more challenging because there are so many different platforms and you need an advertiser account for each one for your business to be seen or heard.
It’s tough to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing:
It’s difficult for marketers to know how much an individual piece of content or advertisement has generated revenue from social media, as opposed to other channels. However, measuring ROI monthly is important because it will give you a better idea of how effective your social media marketing is.
Reasons Why You Should be Using Social Media for Business
Targeted Audience:
Having a targeted audience can be advantageous in social media marketing because it enables better engagement with and collects data on customer preferences. This can help marketers design their messages, products, and services in ways that are more tailored to those customer preferences
Feedback:
Getting feedback from the masses is difficult for most traditional forms of marketing but through s social media site, you have direct access to your customers, which allows for instant feedback without any middlemen
Quirks & Personality:
Being unique is essential when standing out amongst competitors; however, one form of creativity many ignore is deciding how much personality will be shown!
A Little Investment Brings Big Rewards
Spending money on ads today may reap big rewards tomorrow by attracting new customers if status updates or pictures are posted regularly and become content-rich.
Which Is Better for Businesses: Traditional Marketing or Social Media?
Traditional marketing and social media marketing are two very different strategies. If you only focus on one, you might be leaving money on the table.
Why Not Both!
The key is to use both traditional marketing and social media for marketing campaigns. This way, you can reach a large audience and earn more money in the process.
Traditional marketing campaigns are great for getting your name out there. Social media marketing campaigns are great for building your audience. If you combine the two, you’ll reach a large audience and earn more money.
If you’ve been debating traditional marketing and social media marketing, it’s time to decide. Both strategies have many benefits and reasons why each is worth your time.
Bottom line
Traditional marketing and social media marketing are two strategies that can help your business grow. If you only focus on one strategy, you might be leaving money on the table.
Traditional marketing is an excellent choice for businesses in industries where the customer base is made up of people who are more likely to be familiar with the company and comfortable with it. Launching a new product or a revamped version of an existing one can use traditional marketing to gain exposure and build brand loyalty.
Social media marketing is more suitable for businesses with a customer base that is less likely to be familiar with the company and less comfortable with it. Social media generates buzz, but it’s not as effective as traditional marketing in driving business.
If you want to build brand loyalty on social media but don’t find your audience, consider running a contest or giveaway on Instagram or other social media platforms.
If you are interested in building your brand through social media, focus on building a community on your business’ online pages and promoting your brand there. You can also create a blog and interact with your customers on an ongoing basis.