Nowadays, consumers live in the digital age that focuses on the online presence and connectivity. Modern marketers focus on the digital approach, in order to reach out to their audiences and customize their experience with brands. This new trend has overshadowed traditional means and old-school marketing. Many professionals argue that traditional means are dead and are no longer relevant to modern audiences. This debate is enduring ever since 1994 when digital marketing started to make its appearance.
However, traditional marketing methods are still present and very much alive. Not only that, but traditional marketing is still very effective at capturing attention, driving business goals, as well as business success through old-school methods.
Businesses that use traditional means are able to reach their potential customers and even gain a competitive advantage over businesses that focus primarily on the digital marketing. Implementing an old-school approach into your marketing campaigns can easily elevate your business and help you stand out in the overcrowded and highly competitive market. That being said, here are a few advantages of old-school marketing.
A more direct approach
Digital marketing is omnipresent, but that doesn’t mean traditional ways are no longer meaningful. The online world and market are highly competitive and oversaturated, which creates a lot of noise. This noise makes it difficult for consumers to decide with which company to do business with and it makes it difficult for businesses to effectively reach their audience. However, old-school marketing can easily cut through noise made by digital marketing and provide you with a more direct approach to your audience.
For instance, direct mail has almost been completely forgotten by modern marketers. That makes it an ideal marketing channel nowadays. The main reason direct mail is efficient is that very few marketers are using it these days and are primarily focused on email marketing. The very reason businesses should consider direct mail is due to the fact that email inboxes have become overloaded.
For example, most of the citizens in the United States discard 80% of emails they receive, but they do in fact open 80% of their direct mail. An average consumer receives well over 120 emails on a daily basis, aside from other 49% of emails that are either spam or promotional emails. What’s more, around 70% of consumers believe that direct mail is more personalized than other online promotions. Back in 2016, around 100 million consumers in the U.S. have made catalogue purchases and 42% read catalogues received via direct mail. Furthermore, the average response rate of direct mail is 10 to 30 times greater than that of digital efforts.
Extends your local reach
Many businesses operate in their local area. Traditional means of marketing and advertising can have a significant impact on your local audience. Whereas, the digital approach also helps you improve your local presence, old-school methods can have the right kind of impact at the right place. A good example is billboard advertisements.
Billboards have the potential to extend your reach to your local audience and they’ll remain as effective as long as you have them up. In other words, these advertisements are up 24/7 as long as you want them to. That being said, 96% of consumers are directly exposed to OOH (Out-Of-Home) advertisement while on foot or in a vehicle every week. Having billboards around helps remind your consumers about your brand and they can also influence purchasing decisions. Not only that, but billboards are 80% less expensive than TV ads. It goes without saying that traditional methods can still have a major impact on your customers. For instance:
- 71% of consumers claim they remember the ad they saw on a billboard.
- 72% of consumers shop on their way home from work.
- 32% of consumers claim they’re influenced by a billboard to stop by a store and make a purchase there, while 24% do so the same day.
Traditional means, such as OOH advertisement can greatly help you improve local presence and reach with the right approach in mind.
Improves the efficiency of your promotions
Online promotions help you get the audience’s attention through personalization and customization. However, traditional promotions are more efficient at forming first impressions and establishing good relationships with your customers. Face-to-face meetings are always more meaningful for your customers and will make them remember your brand.
A good example of traditional promotions is branded merchandise. The fact of the matter is that branded merchandise is one of the oldest forms of advertisement that has a significant impact on consumers even today. In the U.S. alone, businesses spend over $20 billion annually on branded merchandise. That being said, leveraging promotional items in your promo campaigns can be very beneficial for your business. The power of such items can influence your customers’ purchases and do wonders for your brand awareness.
In fact, 79% of consumers claim that they were more likely to do business with a brand that gives them a promo gift. In addition, 84% of consumers state that branded items help improve their brand awareness. You can hand out items on events and social gatherings, just make sure your items are relevant and meaningful to your audience. As a matter of fact, 89% of your customers will hang on to a gift if it’s practical and useful to them. Aside from building brand awareness, your branded merchandise can also boost customer engagement and loyalty.
Helps you reach a broader audience
Every business has their unique target audience. Most businesses mostly focus on their online consumers and oftentimes neglect their passive audience. In other words, not every member of your consumer base is constantly online. The fact of the matter is that the number of passive audience members can be significantly lower than online ones, but even offline customers can make purchases if you reach out to them.
Focusing on a single marketing approach makes you miss out on potential sales. After all, the primary goal of every business is to improve their revenue, profits and the bottom line. Traditional marketing methods are more suited at reaching out to your passive or offline audience members. If you include old-school marketing efforts into your marketing campaigns, you be able to reach a broader audience. Simply put, you can ensure that both your online and offline customers are targeted with your promotions and campaigns. Not only that, but you might also acquire new leads generated from both approaches.
Gives you a competitive advantage
As mentioned before, focusing on a single marketing approach, either digital or traditional, makes you lose potential sales and opportunities to grow your consumer base. Sadly, many businesses nowadays focus only on the digital marketing, as they believe it’s more relevant, effective and easier approach to branch out to their audience. For businesses that leverage both approaches, this presents a unique opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.
Traditional marketing isn’t solely meant for offline audiences. In fact, traditional methods can be used to engage your online audience as well, when they’re not online. Old-school marketing serves a purpose of reminding your audiences about your brand. That includes online users when they’re disengaged from the Internet. Simply put, your brand is omnipresent on every marketing channel, effectively encouraging the audience to do business with you. Moreover, using both methods helps improve your publicity and improves relations with your customers. A good reputation can be a powerful advantage in today’s competitive market.
Old-school marketing is far from being dead or irrelevant. Even though modern consumers are used to online digital marketing, traditional marketing can still have significant impact on them. Businesses that don’t neglect the power of traditional marketing can gain a competitive advantage and enjoy a broader audience that will help their company grow, as well as develop further.
