Marketing and digital marketing share the same core objectives of promoting a product, service, or brand to reach and engage with a target audience. However, they differ in terms of the channels and strategies they use to achieve these objectives.
- **Marketing**: This term encompasses all traditional marketing channels and techniques that existed before the internet and digital technology became prevalent. This includes methods like print advertising, TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, direct mail, and in-person events.
- **Digital Marketing**: Digital marketing specifically leverages online and digital channels to reach and engage with an audience. This includes activities like online advertising, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and more.
2. **Medium**: The medium used in marketing vs. digital marketing also varies:
- **Marketing**: Traditional marketing primarily relies on physical mediums and offline channels. For example, print ads appear in newspapers or magazines, TV commercials air on television, and billboards are located in physical spaces.
- **Digital Marketing**: Digital marketing operates exclusively through online and digital platforms. It makes use of websites, social media, email, search engines, and various other online channels to reach and engage the target audience.
3. **Measurability**: Digital marketing tends to be more measurable than traditional marketing. With digital marketing, you can track various metrics like website traffic, conversion rates, click-through rates, engagement, and more in real time. This data allows marketers to adjust their strategies quickly based on performance. Traditional marketing, on the other hand, is often harder to measure accurately.
4. **Cost**: Digital marketing can often be more cost effective than traditional marketing. Running digital ad campaigns, for instance, can be more budget-friendly than producing and airing TV commercials or printing large quantities of brochures.
5. **Targeting**: Digital marketing allows for precise audience targeting through data analytics and ad targeting tools. This means you can reach a very specific audience based on demographics, behavior, interests, and other factors. Traditional marketing methods typically have a broader reach and may not be as precise in audience targeting.
6. **Global Reach**: Digital marketing has a global reach, allowing you to reach audiences across the world. Traditional marketing is often localized and may not have the same global reach.
7. **Interactivity**: Digital marketing often allows for more interactive and engaging campaigns. For instance, social media marketing enables two-way communication between brands and customers, while traditional marketing methods are usually one-way communication.
In modern marketing, there's often a blend of both traditional and digital strategies to create a comprehensive marketing strategy. This is known as integrated marketing. Marketers consider the specific goals, target audience, and available resources when determining the mix of traditional and digital marketing tactics to use.