Marketing has changed a lot over the years, and we now live in a world of digital marketing. What is traditional marketing? In this blog post, I'm going to list 8 types of traditional marketing as well as some resources for each type of marketing.
Marketing attracts potential customers to your business. The basic elements of any marketing campaign are planning, research, promotion, and sales. Marketing has been part of business for years, and every year the investment in marketing increases by more than ever before.
As the demand for a product grows, so does the competition. Businesses will try anything to get an edge over their competitors and marketing is at the forefront of that. Digital and traditional marketing are ones of many methods businesses use.
"Digital marketing" is used to describe methods of marketing which make the use of digital platforms to promote products. Typically, this term is used in tandem with "traditional marketing."
In this article, you will learn about what is traditional marketing, why it is called traditional marketing, different traditional platforms used for promoting products.
We'll start by describing what traditional marketing is.
What is traditional marketing?
Traditional marketing is the type of marketing where companies use print and broadcast media. Before digital and social media, traditional marketing strategies were typically used to market products to customers.
Traditional media is still a popular way companies promote their products. And they still spend huge amounts of money marketing their products with traditional media. You will come across traditional media often, whether you know it or not.
For example, when you watch a live telecast of a cricket match, you will see advertisements for various products.
Why marketer use traditional marketing?
Here are some reasons why marketers around the world prefer traditional media marketing:
1. The ability to reach a wide audience
With social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, you can reach millennials easily. But if your target market is younger than 18 years old, or spends most of their time online in rural areas without a lot of close-by technology, traditional advertising (i.e., TV ads) might be the best option for marketing.
For example, not everybody is technologically savvy, so they may rely on television and newspapers to learn about the world around them. That's why these media platforms are the best way to get people up-to-date with your products or services.
2. Large eyeballs share
The second reason traditional media marketing is that these platforms are visible in public spaces and people view your advertisements unintentionally. For example, you'll see a TV installed in every waiting area - whether it's at the train station or hospital lobby.
Adding to this, companies also advertise their products on large, outdoor billboards that can be seen by people when they are driving. This allows them to promote their products to the public even when they are on the go.
3. Caters to people with special needs
For example, you can use traditional marketing to promote products to people who are blind. You could promote the products by running a promotional ad on the radio and go in person with them to various gatherings where they might be present. These people need to be made aware of the benefits of whatever it is you're selling.
8 Types of traditional marketing
There are many different traditional marketing methods. Let's take a look at each of them.
1. Television
Television is the platform of choice for most people nowadays. And it's not hard to see why. People spend more time in front of the TV than anything else, so it's a perfect way to market your products. More and more companies are advertising on T.V., because it works!
In the US, both women and children spend more time watching TV than men. Women watch soap operas and movies frequently, while children spend the majority of their screen time watching cartoons. In contrast, men tend to watch sports channels. As a result, companies break their ads in-between televised shows on the basis of who's viewing them.
For example, companies advertising on kids' channels will promote their products during breaks between the cartoons. Meanwhile, products related to house-hold and women's use are advertised in-between the occasional break of soap operas. In addition to this, televisions are also installed in public places like airports, railway stations and waiting rooms of hospitals and lounges where people don't have much to do and they kill their time watching TV. Therefore, television is one of the best platforms to promote products to people.
2. Radio
Another platform which is used by marketers to promote products to a wide audience is radio. Even though radio has become the technology of the past when people had only one mode of entertainment to entertain themselves. However, Radio platform has not lost its popularity in the present time and there is still a large portion of the population which still listen to the radio to entertain themselves.
For example, people play the radio in their cars while traveling to work. therefore, marketer considers radio as an important platform to promote their products and to reach a wide range of audience and one benefit of using radio as a traditional market is that it is an inexpensive platform of marketing. Therefore, many companies with small marketing budget use this platform to promote their products.
3. Newspapers
Newspaper advertising has been around for a long time and remains an effective way to promote products. Newspaper advertisements are part of the traditional advertising that is still relevant, even in the digital age.
While newspapers are outdated and few people buy them, there's one important thing you might not know about them. Print advertisements still exist in newspapers, and companies run these ads to make sure their customers are aware of their products.
Using traditional marketing to promote their products, marketers will offer discounts in newspapers and advertise them. You'll see these newsletters and ads printed with different sizes on the paper.
4. Magazine Marketing
One way to promote your company through print media is marketing in magazines. They're created monthly, unlike the daily newspapers. Some popular choices are People, Vogue, Time Magazine, The New Yorkers, and Reader's Digest. You can also get ads in entertainment weekly, US weekly, and Men's Health: Cosmopolitan and National Geographic.
These magazines have followers all around the world, so companies spend a lot of money to advertise their products in them and usually, popular, expensive brands advertise their products in magazines. Readers of these magazines are people with high social status, who can afford such brands.
And, you'll see expensive perfumes advertised in magazines and cheap deodorants advertised in newspapers.
5. Outdoor
Outdoor advertising is another example of traditional marketing. However, unlike other advertisements that use the media of TV or radio, with outdoor advertising marketers promote their products by printing their advertisements on billboards and transit ads. The purpose of this type of marketing is to catch people's attention with an unexpected surprise and present them with your products using smart marketing tactics.
For example, one of the most famous and successful ads for outdoor print media is the Burger King "Flame Grilled" ad where they took pictures of their stores on fire and used it to promote sales. This was such a smart idea, it won awards.
It's not unheard of to get a phone call before or after your first date.
Cold calling has been one of the favorite types of marketing techniques from a very long time. Companies have used this technique to make people aware of their products, and to sell them to other people for years.
This traditional marketing idea, in which telemarketers call random people and tell them about products and offers is effective and inexpensive. Companies use it because it doesn't cost them too much money.
7. Direct Mail
Sending customers email with brochures or coupons may sound like an old-fashioned thing to do, but it's a good way to reach your loyal customers. Many companies are trying out this type of marketing again because they found success before with email technology.
Known as the “prosumer”, these customers have both consumer and producer status. They purchase products through retailers and then customize them with new packaging materials to make advanced packages for gifts. This can include taking store-bought products to celebrites, make one-of-a-kind customized items in their own home.
Companies are using marketing techniques to attract customers who would follow celebrities and then invest less to make a huge profit. They also send emails to their loyal customers to keep them attached when they invest less money.
When they see a loyal customer coming close to a special occasion like birthday or anniversary, they'll send them a gift to remind them how much they care about them.
8. Networking
Networking is a traditional way of marketing that has been around for ages but is still quite effective. In networking, companies approach potential customers and attract them with a demonstration of their products and success stories. They also organize conferences where people meet influential partners, clients who share common interests, etc.
Traditional marketing techniques can be quite effective, because they interact with your personal friends and people you are connected with on social media. While these companies run their business entirely on networking techniques and have some of the highest earnings, there are still many other efforts that need to be made.
One example of a company that uses networking as their marketing strategy is Amway. Similarly, there are several other companies like this.