Online vs Traditional Marketing

Both small and large jewelry businesses struggle with how much of their marketing budget to dedicate to the traditional forms of marketing and how much to dedicate to online marketing. Should you focus on one or both?

What is Traditional Marketing?

Before we delve into what the best choice for your business is, let’s explain what I mean by “traditional marketing.” Traditional marketing involves several different methods of communicating with your customers, including newspapers, magazines, flyers, television commercials, radio ads, and even billboards. This is the way that everyone used to advertise before the birth of digital marketing.

What is Online Marketing?

Similar to traditional marketing, businesses invest in online marketing as a way to reach out to their customers. Online marketing works through websites, social media, and advertising across various platforms like YouTube.

Pros of Traditional Marketing:

• Easy for customers to understand
• Accessible to masses through the television or radio
• Paper ads can be held onto as a reminder
• Proven success throughout the years
• No technological understanding required

Cons of Traditional Marketing:

• No direct contact from the business to the customer
• Printing can be costly
• Hard to measure success of campaigns
• Less effective with younger generations
• Paper can be thrown out easily

Pros of Online Marketing:

• Customers can control how they are contacted
• Easier to target audiences anywhere in the world
• Businesses can interact with customers directly
• No material cost, just time and training
• Data success can be easily tracked and recorded

Cons of Online Marketing:

• Digital overload can cause customers to ignore contact
• Real-time customer feedback and complaints
• Customer complaints open for the public to see
• Trained crew needed to keep on top of social media
• Customers must have some digital understanding to use it

Verdict:

Realistically, you will need to put some of your marketing budget to both traditional and online marketing. Sticking with only traditional marketing will lose out on customers who rely on online communications. Online only will lose out on customers who respond better to traditional marketing. Ultimately, having your business’s name out in the public in multiple places will keep it fresh in your customers’ minds.

At GemFind, our experienced team of marketing professionals can help your business manage your digital marketing options. It does not have to be a challenge. Our crew would be happy to get your business on the right track to success. Contact us today.