What do we understand by the term traditional media? Advertising done through media formats such as newspapers, magazines, billboards, television, and radio is most commonly referred to as traditional media. Some of the most commonly used tools in traditional media are sponsorship ads, banner ads, flyers, print ads, posters, billboards, business cards, broadcast, etc.

Meanwhile, Digital media is anything connected to the internet. Any form of marketing which is done through email, websites, telephone messages, etc is termed digital marketing. Some of the most commonly used tools in digital marketing include content marketing, PPC (Pay per Click) advertising, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media marketing, web design, email marketing, video marketing, etc.

The fact is that even today, for most people, an ad in television, magazine, or billboards form more of a lasting memory than an ad that pops up on websites or while browsing. The reason for the same is that since traditional media entails a more tangible form of marketing, their impact is more lasting than intangible digital content. Research shows that people using traditional media had a brand recall percentage of 75% compared to the digital media brand recall of 44%. It is not to say that digital marketing is not effective. Over time, when customers keep interacting with a brand’s content online, it builds trust in the brand, which results in conversions and revenue.

For traditional marketing, there are four phases: Interest, Awareness, Desire, and Decision.

For digital marketing, the four phases are Planning, Conversation, Content, and Sequels.

Traditional marketing campaigns are costlier due to the expensive media. In contrast, digital marketing campaigns are practically free. All you have to do is send email flyers or post content on your social media handles. If you want a more aggressive campaign, then buying ad slots and spaces online will work wonders for your campaign. In general, a good ROI in digital marketing is $5 gained for every $1 spent. By way of traditional marketing, it is not possible to calculate the exact ROI. However, with digital marketing campaigns, every paise spent can be accounted for and exact ROI can be calculated.

It is easier to analyze and judge a digital marketing campaign. With the help of PPC or search advertising, marketers can analyze the audience behavior and the marketing campaign results. On the contrary, analyzing the statistics of a traditional marketing campaign is problematic and invariably inaccurate.

Traditional media cannot narrow down the target audience to sub-categories, thus limiting its effectiveness. Nevertheless, with people over 60 years, traditional media marketing works the best. Even though Generation Z is more active on digital media and prefers digital media marketing over traditional marketing methods, the older generation has a more paying power parity. Thus, ignoring the elderly does not help your brand.

On the other hand, digital media is quite efficient when it comes to narrowing down the sub categories of the users and target audience. The companies can track every useful customer data and retarget them for sales by showing them useful informative ads, mails, and trust.