People have been foretelling the doom of TV and print marketing for ten years or more; so where are we now? It turns out, although the media landscape has transformed over the years, traditional marketing is alive and well, and there are great opportunities for business owners to adapt and integrate their traditional and digital campaigns, rather than throwing the old out altogether. Here are a few reasons traditional marketing still has a role.
The decline in consumption is seriously exaggerated
Consumers haven’t abandoned traditional media. In a 2012 Nielsen survey, researchers discovered that Americans watch about 3 ½ hours of television every day—that’s live TV, not counting online content, DVR’ed programming, or any medium where you can block or skip through commercials. That number has remained basically constant for at least two decade—while people are spending more time online, they don’t appear to be spending less time watching television. A similar survey also found that while subscriptions are swiftly declining, about a quarter of the US still reads a print newspaper on a daily basis.
Consumers are more comfortable with traditional marketing
Recent studies indicate that consumers are actually more receptive to marketing messages from TV and print sources as opposed to online; over 75% of US consumers prefer print or TV ads to online ones—possibly because of the way online businesses are built. Many of the most popular online services built their consumer base by offering their service free at first, and only got serious about monetizing once they were popular—so online consumers have very little patience for sales pitches. You can get a sense of this by gauging your own reaction to a 30-second TV advertisement, versus a 30-second Youtube ad; what feels normal and expected on TV is an infuriating waste of time online.
There’s also the fact that fundamentally, people trust traditional advertisers more. For every legitimate business advertising online, there are twenty online casinos, virus-laden dating sites, snake-oil salesmen, and spam peddlers—so it can be tough to persuade customers that it’s even safe to click an ad, let alone buy your product.
The most effective campaigns integrate traditional and digital marketing
Skilled advertisers don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater—traditional marketing campaigns can be used to complement an online presence, and vice versa. Using social networks and hosting sites to publicize a funny TV spot can vastly increase its mileage. Slapping vinyl window stickers on a company van, with a QR code to visit the company website, can bring you more hits from curious passersby. All advertising methods experience diminishing returns, so diversifying a marketing campaign makes it much more effective. This holistic approach isn’t going away any time soon.
Many traditional marketing methods are cheaper than ever
Here’s where the “print is dead” narrative can actually work in your favor—it’s a buyer’s market for traditional ad space. Newspapers, TV stations, and classifieds have all had to slash the price of their space and airtime in response to the perceived flight from traditional media. You can now buy a full-page spread in the local paper for what used to be the cost of a tiny square of space buried in the back. Like any other market commodity, prices reach an equilibrium; the efficacy and reach of traditional media has shrunk in recent years, but since the price has fallen even more, smart business owners can find great money-saving opportunities.
Guest article written by: Tara Wagner is a staff writer for [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]TechBreach[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]TechBreach.com[/tp]. She has worked from home for over a decade, and loves sharing news and advice with fellow telecommuting moms and dads. She’s fascinated by new tech and new ideas; and when she finds time to unplug, she enjoys long hikes in the mountains near her home. She lives in Denver.
Hi Tara
I don’t read a printed newspaper any longer but I’d say I watch as much TV as ever.
One thing I am doing less of though is watching channels that rely on advertising for their revenue. I tend to stick with the BBC here in the UK.
If I do record anything on the PVR, I skip through all of the ads.
In terms of my blog, I’ve removed most of the ads because ad blindness is just too prevelant. I also want people to stay on my blog, rather than clicking on lots of ads to go elsewhere.
Marketing as everything else that has to do with sales is constantly reshaping in order to produce better results. So I guess it is logical traditional marketing to decline as it less effective nowadays.
If we are not using marketing… good that’s more for me! hehe. I’ve been using the internet to market products and services since 2005 and I can say from experience there is no other marketing or advertising method that gives you these results.
Traditional marketing is absolutely alive. A friend of mine owns a cleaning company that uses direct mailers, flyers, post cards and 5-page sales letters all the time. The ratios of returns for these things are quite high when the quality is high and the proper audience is targeted.
We are talking 5-7% consultations scheduled and 2-3% contracts landed.
I am super sad that traditional advertising media is slowly dying. I wouldn’t say its going anywhere to fast, but I know that I use the internet more and more often. I do kind of miss the feel of trying to sold something instead of it flashing in front me everyday. Now because of the internet spamming, legit advertiser flow by the way side.
Thanks for the article!