The walls of the Roman city of Pompeii excavated from a lava flow are a remarkable time capsule. That’s because the extreme event froze the graffiti messages on the walls.
Some of these are affectionate messages to lovers, while others are more ribald. Still more are commercial marketing messages like ‘best fresh bread here’ and ‘opening new wine at so-and-so’s tavern’.
These traditional marketing messages are in your face everywhere you walk. Nothing much changed in marketing after the Vesuvius volcano eruption until digital marketing arrived almost 2,000 years later.
So What Are the Differences?
Lets explore.
The Broad, Philosophical Approach
Traditional Marketing is in your face. It pushes a product at you on the assumption you already want it and will rush off and buy. There’s little or no attempt at all to make sure you will actually benefit. Digital Marketing is far more subtle. It lures you in with really useful, valuable information about the benefits of the product. It just wants you to know the company is there should you need the offering.
How It Intrudes Into Your Thoughts
Traditional Marketing hits you between the eyes. How else could you describe a blaring television advertisement interrupting your favourite program, or those irritating pop-up advertisement on news sites. Traditional push marketing also uses the internet, but that is not true digital marketing. True Digital Marketing tickles your fancies. It describes the benefits of the product by explaining how to use it. It knows you are intelligent enough to make up your own mind.
How It Engages You as Consumer
Traditional Marketing Talks At You. It does not care whether you want to receive the message. The communication is one-way. There is no way to respond except by turning it off. No wonder the close rate is under 2% according to HubSpot. It’s no wonder Digital Marketing has an over 14% close rate. That’s because it wants an interactive communication. It’s asking you to message on social media. It longs for you to comment on its blog posts.
However Digital Takes Longer to Materialise
Successful relationships leading to trust take time to achieve. However, once realised they endure for a long time. You will make more money with digital marketing, provided you allow Google time to understand you, and are patient about growing your reputation on social media.
Therefore, you should never abandon your traditional marketing efforts all of a sudden. You should slide across gradually because traditional and digital marketing both play important roles in society. Your life will probably always be a mix of both.
