Digital marketing generates 50% more interaction with customers than traditional marketing. This is largely due to the possibility to precision target your customers and tailor the advertising to specific target groups. But what does the term digital advertising include?
As the name suggests, it means all promotional activities that are done through digital channels and technologies using the Internet, computers, smartphones, tablets. The first things that come to mind when thinking about digital advertising are often banners, as well as videos of different length. However, digital advertising actually has very many different formats. Now, let’s take a closer look at them, and also compare digital and traditional advertising highlighting their main advantages.
Versatile Options of Digital Advertising
There are many different types of digital advertising. Here are the ten most common ones:
- Search engine advertising is related to certain keywords or phrases. Specially tagged ads appear on the search results page when users search for these words.
- Social media advertising refers to a variety of content that is created for promotional purposes and shared on social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, etc. – on the company’s page or shown as paid advertising in these environments.
- Content marketing focuses on consistently creating and distributing valuable and relevant content for a target audience to build and strengthen relationships with potential customers. Content can include blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, and more.
- Email marketing means sending newsletters, special offers, product updates, etc. to a group of people via email. Email marketing campaigns are often personalised and segmented to engage customers more and achieve better conversion rates.
- Native advertising consists of ads whose form and style resemble those of the publishing channel, blending into the rest of the content and therefore being more natural and less intrusive.
- Affiliate marketing means that a third party, either an individual or another company, promotes something on behalf of a company using referral links. Based on the generated traffic or sales increase such partners are paid a commission.
- In influencer marketing a company cooperates with people who have a significant number of followers. These influencers recommend the company’s products and services to their followers through social media accounts, blogs, etc.
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) involves optimising a website in order to rank as high as possible on search engine results pages. SEO includes, for example, keyword analysis, website optimisation, as well as creating links and high-quality content.
- Mobile marketing, which includes mobile-friendly websites, mobile apps, SMS marketing and in-app ads, is used to reach people who often read news and make purchases on a cell phone or tablet.
- Remarketing is displaying targeted ads to users who have previously visited a company’s website or encountered a brand online in some way, with the goal of bringing them back and getting them to make a purchase.
Lots of Advantages…
All these digital opportunities have several useful features in common: they are more interactive, cost-effective and flexible than traditional advertising, i.e., TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising, direct mail, etc.
Users can click on ads to get more information, visit a website, make a purchase, etc., and interact with special content or company representatives. Thus, users are also more engaged in digital marketing channels, which helps you create and maintain customer relationships.
The ROI of the campaign is generally better because you can target the potential customers better, and personalise messages for them. This allows you to achieve better conversion rates. It’s also possible to monitor the results in real time, change ads, if necessary, test different options, as well as optimise content, targeting criteria and budget.
Companies with international customer base also find it important that digital marketing gives them an opportunity to reach users anywhere, be it even on the other side of the globe.
However, There Are Buts
Traditional advertising can be more effective than digital marketing for certain purposes and situations.
While digital marketing can help build brand visibility and improve visibility online, the majority of brand awareness development still takes place on TV: as much as 72% of brand awareness ads are published on TV in the US. People are much more willing to buy a product, if they’ve seen it on TV.
Also, in many places traditional media is still considered more reliable than digital channels. Print and TV advertising are the most trusted formats, followed by direct mail, radio and outdoor advertising.
Internet may not be the best solution to reach an older target group either, because they are often not as proficient in using digital channels as younger generations, and do not spend as much time on the web.
Traditional advertising should also be preferred in the promotion of certain products and services. These are, for example, various events, material-oriented products, where customers mostly want to see or touch the product before purchasing, luxury products, and also certain niche products.
Outdoor ads promoting an event are well noticed by locals, and helps increase ticket sales. Advertising of luxury brands in the best newspapers, fancy magazines and prestigious events creates a feeling of exclusivity that cannot be achieved only in digital channels. Furniture stores often use direct mail and product catalogues, so that the customer can better imagine the products at home or, for example, touch the materials. Furthermore, it makes more sense for providers of certain niche products to advertise in some traditional magazines or newspapers that are actively followed in the sector, or to send direct mail to a limited circle of potential customers.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to use traditional and digital advertising together, and create a combination of both, including several marketing options.If you need help putting together the right recipe and finding the accurate dose of the ingredients, feel free to contact our Hundred Agency team.