At present time, numerous manuals and coaches offer innovative approaches to the promotion of the company. But, despite an existence of creative strategies, almost every second businessman prefers to have in his or her arsenal of several conservative ways. Firstly, they have repeatedly demonstrated their effectiveness. Secondly, the buyers’ reaction to new methods remains unknown. Third, the limited budget of the firm requires a reasonable and logical investment from the marketing team. Therefore, a lot of owners remain true to tradition.
Definition of Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing is understood as a combination of tools for the company’s presentation in a particular market sector. Most of the traditional marketing forms relate to categories such as print, broadcast, mail, and telemarketing.
As practice shows, large corporations and medium-sized firms prefer TV advertising. And this is not surprising because this kind of marketing is considered not only the most effective but also costly. But owners of large capitals also do not disdain postal mailing, as the cost of copywriters, design, and printing could reach quite impressive sums. Small businesses with a limited budget may afford print ads in weeklies for local residents or broadcast. This form of advertising also gives tangible results, as every fourth inhabitant of the planet listens to a certain radio station.
Before the advent of Internet marketing, many companies used the following practices to expand their customer base. Through registries or official inquiries, they compiled lists of people who needed to be covered by the mailing list. The same method was used to send a greeting card to the client or to transmit information about the receipt of a new item or huge discounts.
The holder of the local business offered other ways to attract attention. For example, he or she hired “street marketers” who distributed leaflets on the streets and stops or took samples of goods outside the store in order to familiarize themselves with public opinion. Many consumers for the sake of curiosity approached to try goods and responded to pre-compiled questions. They always left their contact details. So the list of potential clients was replenished. In addition, companies often attracted local artists to advertise or participated in local competitions.
Of course, along with classical forms, many business-persons attract innovative methods, mainly associated with Internet space. So, firms use social networks, online shops, and forums for establishing close links with clients and provide them with up-to-date information about services. An online presence allows you to advertise goods on other sites by redirecting to the official page.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Conservative Manners
The introduction of innovative advertising could complement your current strategy but is not able to displace conservative methods of promotion. That’s why a lot of businesses use traditional marketing methods. One of the reasons is the justification of their application. Classical tactics enjoy constant success among representatives of all social cohorts. If only Internet users fall under the influence of the Internet, everyone who has a TV, radio or newspaper at hand is affected by traditional marketing.
Online advertising is a great way to get close to the consumer, to demonstrate your care, but it is traditional marketing that will help to correctly understand a buyer and effectively segment the market. Through a conservative methodology, marketers determine the composition of the audience and how to deliver the material.
Traditional marketing approaches could be the impetus for the promotion of the company by delivering the right content to customers because the code of ethics for SMM-marketing is the same as for traditional one. If earlier experts relied on discounts, now the main driving force is timely data. But it should be valued by buyers as valuable and relevant.
Examples of Classical Marketing
Traditional marketing strategies were used by many well-known companies, such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola or Marlborough. Naturally, the development of the campaign plan itself will differ. In small firms, all personnel works to create a brand, in large companies, this is done by specialized departments. The expert identifies the next forms of traditional marketing:
- Printing includes advertising space on newspapers, magazines, bulletins and similar documents. It allows you to reach the masses of readers from different social strata.
- Broadcasting includes television spots or commercials. By it, you may reach certain target audience for a limited period of time. This tactic causes consumers a sense of realism, as they see the goods personally. True, the abundance of advertising on television limits its influence in comparison with printed messages.
- Mail allows direct mailing to recipients via letters, catalogs or booklets. This kind of advertising is called targeted because it is focused on a specific person.
- Telephone communication is aimed at working with incoming calls from customers.
First of all, you need to decide on the type of traditional marketing. It may be determined by criteria of efficiency, a volume of money resources or the message of the firm. If you conceive the sale of the winter collection of bags, it is advisable to refer to the broadcast or print. If you are launching a new line of cosmetics, you should think about the use of direct mail, which gives buyers the opportunity to become more familiar with the composition of the cream.
In any case, the purchase of advertising time or space has to be organized in advance. Concerning popular printed editions, the process could take several weeks. In other communicative markets, the timing may be shorter.
You should take care of the format of the materials. The main elements of print advertising are design and literate text. To conduct telephone conversations, copywriters make step-by-step action scenarios. Radio presentation may be either recorded in advance or read live on the air in the form of a mini-play. TV commercials could also be made by the company independently or through contractual cooperation with professional PR people.
Thus, traditional marketing refers to the particular type of advertising that has proved and keeping demonstrate its effectiveness. It has a wide range of methods, each of which, with the reasonable application, justifies the resources invested in it. Therefore, we should not abandon the classics.