Digital Marketing Advantages: 5 Ways Digital Beats Traditional Marketing
Competent business leaders know that traditional marketing is an effective way to generate revenue. Reaching out on billboards and using radio ads can be highly effective.
However, many company bosses now see digital marketing as superior to the conventional alternative. This observation is particularly true for wineries, breweries, law firms, and product-driven brands, as we shall discuss below.
But why? What gives digital marketing the edge?
Primary Digital Marketing Advantage: Targeted Audience Reach and Engagement
The primary advantage of digital marketing over conventional is its targetability. Platforms can be calibrated to show adverts to leads, which is people who are most likely to buy from you. This avoids the additional costs associated with advertising to individuals who aren’t interested in what you sell/provide (which isn’t as easy through conventional marketing methods).
Email digital marketing is the most targeted because users self-select to receive content from your brand. Many people want to sign up for your newsletters for the latest deals and content related to what you do.
Platform-based marketing, like pay-per-click (PPC) ads on Google and Facebook, is slightly less targeted. However, these services let you choose who you want to see your ads, either based on search queries or, in the case of social media, their demographics.
User-generated content works similarly. Usually, you present this on:
- Your social media channels, which audiences self-select into watching
- Your product pages (helpful for driving conversions for product-driven businesses)
- Your email newsletters (perhaps explaining your legal services)
Cost Effectiveness
The second significant advantage of digital marketing over traditional is its cost-effectiveness. When done correctly, it is substantially less expensive on a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) basis than conventional approaches.
Naturally, how cost-effective it is depends on implementation. However, brands that get it right often see massive returns on investment (ROI).
This affordability is critical for product-driven businesses with modest margins. It makes marketing more sustainable for their ideal customers.
Email marketing is essentially free. Yes, there are mail-client subscriptions, but these are quite low in the grand scheme of things.
SEO is more expensive, but it pays for itself over time. Once you create the content and links, they are there forever.
PPC is the most costly and falls closer to the expense of conventional marketing methods. However, it usually offers a higher ROI than conventional methods, which we discuss below.
Measuring Success Statistics
Measuring success statistics is another benefit of digital over traditional marketing. It is more data-rich than traditional approaches.
The number of tools to collect marketing information online is almost endless. You can use:
- Google Analytics
- Social media insights (most large social networks offer these)
- Email marketing tools
- SEO tools
All these track campaign performances, allowing you to see in real-time how your marketing efforts are doing.
You can also collect detailed demographics. Your brand can use digital tools to gather granular audience data to define who you target, such as their:
- Age
- Location
- Gender
- Interests
- Online behavior
These allow you to tailor campaigns for maximum effectiveness, matching your targeting to your pre-defined buyer persona. For example, suppose you are a legal firm targeting spouses. You could choose people most likely to get divorced (between ages 35 and 50), in cities, and focus on women (because they initiate more divorce proceedings). Or, if you run a winery and want to grow your wine-tasting business, you could appeal to people interested in being connoisseurs and spend time reading reviews online.
The ability to A/B test campaigns is another way to measure their success that isn’t possible through conventional marketing channels. You can try two similar campaigns with minor changes to see which is most effective. It could be as simple as changing a few words on a PPC ad.
Finally, digital marketing lets you track customers’ journey from the initial interaction to conversion. If you set up your system correctly, you can see how they move through the various stages, such as awareness and consideration. This knowledge allows you to tailor your marketing to audiences in specific parts of the buying cycle. You can provide informational content at the awareness stage and more sales-driven ads when you think the prospect is ready to buy.
Adaptability and Flexibility
Digital marketing’s adaptability and flexibility represent a further advantage over conventional methods. Being able to chop and change approaches is essential for many businesses.
For example, suppose a conventional radio campaign isn’t working for your wine business. You have to wait for the current contract to end before you can change your ad, or pay fees to get out early. That’s not ideal.
But with digital marketing, you can make mistakes and recover quickly. Pulling PPC campaigns from Google Ads is something you can do immediately if you feel they aren’t working for you.
Furthermore, you can create the ad types your audience is most likely to see. For example, you might collect email addresses in person and send content-rich emails to them digitally, or you could advertise on podcasts you know your audience listens to instead of the radio.
Return on Investment
Finally, the ROI of digital marketing is often higher than on TV, magazines, and radio. For example, the return on email marketing is around $36 for every dollar spent, the highest of any marketing method. Emails are free to send and require minimal time investment per lead, especially when the mailing list is long, making them highly competitive compared to conventional forms of advertising.
The ROI of search engine optimization (SEO) can vary substantially by industry. However, it is still significantly better than conventional options. For product-driven firms, like pharmaceutical companies and PCB design/manufacturing, the return on advertising spend is 9.85 to 12.40. The range is similar for manufacturing and medical devices. The return is slightly lower for legal services, around 6.15. However, this figure is often substantially higher than radio advertising, the conventional approach for businesses in this sector. It means that every $1 spent on SEO marketing yields a $6.15 return.
What about PPC? Estimates suggest it has an ROI of $2 per $1 spent. While this figure is lower than the methods discussed above, the impact is immediate, making it ideal for firms wanting to enter the digital space quickly.
So there you have it: five reasons why digital beats traditional marketing. Get a digital marketing evaluation today and see how you could benefit.
