4 Reasons Digital Marketing Is More Effective Than Traditional Marketing

Digital Marketing

Having entrenched myself in the marketing arena for over five years now, I have seen quite a few changes. In the old days, billboard signs, newspaper ads, TV commercials and word of mouth marketing reigned supreme. If you wanted to get the word out there, all you had to do was utilize one of these channels.

Today, most of those avenues will not work (with the exception of word of mouth). Consumers are spending more and more time online and therefore, your marketing strategy must adjust. The companies that will withstand the test of time are blogging, interacting with fans on social media, buying digital ads on prominent publications and making YouTube videos. Clearly, these companies are adjusting.

Nonetheless, opinion means very little unless you can back it up. In addition to the image above, according to eMarketer, digital ad spending worldwide was expected to hit $138 Billion in 2014. Even so, numbers can only take you so far, so I decided to present four qualitative reasons why digital marketing is more effective than traditional marketing.

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1. Digital Marketing Provides A Wide Reach

Much of traditional marketing is limited as far as reach. Yes, a TV commercial can reach a wide audience, but what about a billboard or newspaper ad? Sadly, your audience is limited by those who drive by the billboard or read that newspaper. The same can’t be said of digital marketing.

With digital marketing, your audience is limited only by your imagination. Whether you are promoting your brand through social media, your website or any other digital outlet, your audience will never be cut off (unless you want to).

More and more consumers are flocking to Google, Facebook, Pinterest, Yahoo and Bing to find reputable contractors in their area. These consumers are calling your name and the only way to answer is through digital.

2. Digital Marketing Makes It Easy To Connect

As far as connecting, if a consumer is interested in your brand, they will either give you a call or try to connect via email or social media. Nevertheless, I would argue that digital marketing lets you connect on a deeper level than any traditional marketing outlet could.

Digital marketing lets you see what your fans are interested in. Yes, they may be interested in bathroom remodeling, but more specifically, they may be interested in modern bathroom remodeling or bathroom vanities or rainfall showers. Their activity on social media can tell you everything you need to know to make a deep connection with your customer. As long as you listen and respond, digital marketing surely makes it easy to connect with your consumers.

Digital Marketing

3. Digital Marketing Provides Better Targeting

One the key advantages of digital over traditional is targeting. When you put up a billboard sign, you don’t know who is driving by. Yes, people who live in the area are most likely driving by, but what about guests or those just passing by? They are most likely not your target audience, so why spend the money marketing to them?

Fortunately, digital marketing lets you target the exact customer you want to reach. If you want to share your awesome new company video with females aged 30-35 in the San Francisco area who like dogs, hardwood floors and chaise lounges, you can focus all your digital efforts on that exact audience. There is no traditional outlet in the world that can be that specific with its targeting.

4. Digital Marketing Provides Better Tracking

The biggest advantage digital has over traditional is tracking. When you run a newspaper ad, you don’t know exactly how many people saw that ad. Furthermore, you don’t know how many customers called you as a result of your ad. Yes, some companies provide a different phone number, but few track the results.

No matter what digital marketing avenue you use, it can surely be tracked, recorded and reviewed. If you are using your website to garner leads, you can see how many visitors you are getting through Google Analytics. If you are running Facebook ads, you can see how many people are clicking over to your website. If you are implementing email marketing, you can see how many people opened your email, clicked on a link in your email and/or called you for a quote.

Digital marketing easily provides better tracking than traditional marketing.

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Conclusion

I am not saying you should abandon all traditional marketing outlets. In fact, I still believe word of mouth marketing is the most effective. However, those of you who embrace the times and learn how to use digital marketing effectively will surely last for years to come.