Does Modern Marketing Mean 100% Digital?

DIFFERENTIATE DIGITAL AND NON-DIGITAL MARKETING

But first, what is digital marketing and what is it not?

Digital marketing is all promotional activities of brands that occur online and via other digital platforms. Marketing here can be display ads, SEO, SEM, social media posts, bumper ads, and the list goes on. The term often covers marketing activities that are promoted on screens such as computers, phones, and laptops. Oddly, despite being an enormous screen, TV is often excluded from the digital list and falls into the non-digital or traditional marketing category. 

As revealed by the word “traditional”, traditional marketing is a practice that has been in use for decades prior to the embarking of the internet. It entails everything from print ads, billboards, and radio, to direct mail. Despite ruling the industry for decades, the use of traditional marketing has plummeted since the internet comes into existence.

WHY CAN’T MARKETING BE 100% DIGITAL?

Looking at the big picture

Gen Z marketers and audiences grow up with their computers and smartphones. Thus, it is hard for us to imagine the world without them. And that is dangerous because focusing solely on the digital side is an effective way to lose out on the rest of the population. 

There are older generations who grew up in a world with books, magazines, and CDs and they are still embracing them. Teenagers, the supposedly infamous Instagram-addicts, are now starting to turn their back against social media. Altogether, these facts indicate that our target audience lives beyond the dimly lit screens. 

The need to cut through the digital clutter

Millions of businesses are tweeting their way to our feeds with their brand accounts. CEO of companies are now adding ‘popping to a TikTok dance’ onto their working calendar. Our daily news page is filled with banner ads left and right, top and bottom. It is truly mission impossible to scroll through our online space without seeing a call from consumerism. This constant exposure to marketing products has made customers grow numb to the cluttering brand messages. A Hubspot survey found that 64% of US and Europe internet users find ads annoying and intrusive while 43% didn’t even watch them. 

As marketers, we need to make our voices heard. So logically, moving to a less overpopulated territory is a good idea. This is when traditional media comes to the rescue. Traditional formats such as magazines, newpapers, radio, etc, outperform their digital counterparts in terms of reach, attention, engagement, and trust. This is thanks to the on-demand nature of many traditional media and the match of target audiences to the delivered content. 

The thirst for authenticity

As Photoshop becomes an uncompromisable skill, what do we see that is actually real? With the prevalence of AI-generated content, what emotions on display are actually genuine? With everyone moving online, do we even know who we are talking to? Within our tech-maniac era, people long for authentic interaction. This is a great opportunity for marketers to create interactive activities with their customers. 

One effective method is event marketing. It can take various formats from music festivals, and conferences to seminars, making it suitable for all businesses from education, and businesses to healthcare. During events, attendees absorb the brand culture using all senses. They look at the decorations, smell the atmosphere, hear the background music, and feel all kinds of emotions as they walk through the experience. While promoting brand stories, events also inspire, teach, entertain, and connect their attendees in the most unique way. It is a great tactic to bring back the sense of genuity that digitalised people have been longing for.  

The change in marketing costs

Marketers are drawn toward digital marketing because they are cost-effective, meaning it produce good results with a reasonable price. It is obviously a superior option compared to traditional marketing who may require up to $160,000 for a print ad. 

However, the situation has changed. Costs for online marketing have increased, especially in an era of impression, click, and conversion fraud. Meanwhile, the prices for traditional marketing is on the decline. Therefore, it would be economically wise to reallocate marketing spending between digital and traditional tactics.

The upcoming decline of third-party cookies

Marketers have been using third-party cookies to track webpage visitors. By “stalking” users’ search tendencies, cookies help marketers to improve and personalize their experience with branded content. However, with existing and forthcoming restrictions placed by Google and Apple, third-party cookies will meet its retirement. This change has put some challenges on modern marketers, leading to an astonishing 19.8% of companies choosing to invest more in traditional channels. 

BEST PRACTICE

It is undeniable that digital ads will continue expanding in popularity. But traditional marketing is also slowly climbing up the ladder after years of neglect. Hence, a combination of both approach is the answer to your problems. 

After all, technologies have blurred the boundaries between virtuality and reality. We have our morning coffee while scrolling through our phones. We hit the gym while Spotify runs our favourite workout playlist. We live a hybrid life: half online, half offline. Thus, an omnichannel approach is an optimal choice. It personalizes customers’ brand experience, reaching them on every step of their purchasing journey, and maximizing brand impression and engagement.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

An important thing to note when curating a marketing campaign is to study our target audiences. For instance, B2B marketing and B2C marketing is very different. 

B2B marketing

B2B customers make purchase on behalf of their companies, leading to longer decision-making process. Their decisions are based of logic and evidence, and is consulted through a number of people. Therefore, it is important to make sure that your companies’ profile and content are visible and easily found. This explains the popularity of digital marketing among B2B-targeted campaigns. 

Email newsletters is recommended as it is a powerful tool to share brand information and nurture long-term relationship. Another must-have is to maximise your online visibility through an effective website development strategy that highlighs your achievements and product values. 

B2C marketing

Different from B2B customers, B2C customers are more inclined to accept short-term offers. Their purchasing decisions are self-made and based on emotions rather than logic. Hence, marketing strategies targeting B2C customers are more emotive and aim at one-to-one interactions. 

Social media can engage customers in brand conversations, fostering the brand-customer relationship and create the one-to-one emotional bond. Offline events are great opportunities to fully engage customers into the “brand atmosphere”, which may lead to heightened brand love and even direct purchase on the premise. 

Nonetheless, every rule has exceptions. A B2C company offering a high-priced product, e.g.a car, can offer more informative and serious content. A business belonging to the education field can strike a balance between the two by offering both educational content and emotional benefits.