Comparison Between Digital Marketing And Offline Marketing
Either you own a business or you are just curious regardless of the fact it's important to be equipped with the difference between online and offline marketing. There are ample similarities and differences between the two. And both aspects are tried and tested in the market over a period of time. This leads us to make a decision for a viable option. That can be made as a default marketing system. The debate for the online vs offline market is not easy to end but we are here to give you some details about both the options. Which may help you to come to a conclusion.
ONLINE MARKETING
In layman terms online marketing can be defined as a form of advertisement which can be functional only through means of the internet, the consumers can witness these advertisements when they visit any web portal. There's a technical term called search engine optimization (SEO). This is an organic way of climbing up to the top of the search pages. For instance, when you type a specific keyword you get the most relevant pages listed. Another form that is commonly understood is Social media marketing. This involves primary usage of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and this can be split into two ways either you can advertise via paid ads or simple posts that can be shared by friends and family.
Some people even prefer other methods such as lead generation, influencer marketing, Affiliate marketing, and Email Marketing. Lead generation can be interpreted as a marketing strategy where the advertiser plants a seed of interest in the product in consumers' brains. With the hope of conversion in near future. Influencer marketing can be elucidated where a person with a considerable amount of followers promotes a product, with a view that people buy that product on the basis of influencers' credibility. Then comes affiliate marketing which involves a third party such as an agent or broker that performs the sale on your behalf in exchange for a commission. Lastly, there’s email marketing where emails are sent to potential consumers with hope of conversion.
OFFLINE MARKETING
Offline marketing is simply used without the presence of the internet. Offline marketing uses offline media channels to build awareness about the products and services provided, this involves traditional methods such as television, radio, newspapers, flyers, and posters. Millennials don't believe much in these strategies but they are highly effective to date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONLINE AND OFFLINE.
There are several parameters when you start comparing online and offline marketing which includes cost, level of exposure, convenience, and personalization. Online marketing turns out to be significantly cheaper than offline as offline marketing requires a number of formalities like the level of exposure, convenience, and personalization. Reserving advertisement space on television turns out to be more expensive than delivering
One of the major outcomes of online marketing is that it provides tons of information, that can be about the market you are operating in or the customers you can target, offline marketing simply doesn't analyze the facts on its own, online marketing can target the necessary customers and lure them into becoming leads and which eventually turn out to be sales. There’s an amicable difference in costs too. In online marketing, you only pay for what you get. Unlike offline marketing.
Then comes exposure. The world is your canvas, you get clients from all over the world. With a click, a person in whichever corner of the world gets what he needs and this is really difficult with offline marketing. Mainly locals get to know about your product or service in offline marketing.
IS OFFLINE MARKETING ONLY A LEFTOVER FROM PAST?
Now the main question arises: what is the new default strategy? Is it too soon to let go of offline marketing? It has been here for a while and has its own perks. Contemplating the benefits of online marketing comes to a conclusion on being a better choice and studies show that 78 percent of the population in the U.S is online. This leaves nearly 70 million Americans who can't be reached through online marketing efforts at all!. Whereas if you need to get in touch with that specified group you need to channelize via offline marketing.
Offline Marketing – is it only a remnant of the past?
The central question we would like to answer is whether online marketing is the new default strategy, or whether off-line marketing still has a justified reason to exist.. Considering the advantages of online marketing, it is easy to say that it appears better in every way – and is the better choice for any business. However, while the impact of the internet on marketing is undeniable, it may be exaggerated. For instance, according to Internet World Stats, 78 percent of the population in the U.S is online. This leaves nearly 70 million Americans who can’t be reached through online marketing efforts at all! The fact that some user groups can be reached only via offline channels is only one of the many reasons why many companies still regard offline channels as a fundamental aspect of their marketing mix.
Another reason is that it really depends on the message of whether online marketing or offline marketing is the better channel. For some messages, for instance, for those that are highly local, offline billboards might just be more visible than ads on social media.
Online Marketing utilizes the Internet, its tools, and applications to increase brand awareness. This includes registering on online listings, search engine optimization (SEO), website creation, social media, online banner advertisements, email marketing, video blogging, and others.
Pros of Online Marketing
There are plenty of advantages businesses can gain when using this new form of marketing.
It is more measurable. You can easily see the real-time results and measure the return on investment (ROI) of online marketing activities using online tools. You can see how many impressions, follows, likes, views, shares, and even purchases.
It is convenient. Online marketing is accessible to all types of businesses from all over the globe as long as they have a computer and Internet connection.
It has a global reach. Businesses are not limited to promoting their brand in their neighborhood. Their business will be able to reach customers even outside their country.
It allows for direct feedback from customers. Customers can just send an email or comment on your post if they have any comments, questions, and criticisms of your business. Meanwhile, you can quickly address their concerns through the appropriate channels.
Cons of Online Marketing
Though online marketing has many benefits, there are also some downsides.
It requires special expertise. You need to learn how online marketing and online functions work before you can master how to make effective online marketing strategies.
It cannot reach those who are offline. With online marketing you cannot reach audiences, which do not use technology, have decided to switch off or simply got too annoyed with ads and turned off their social media adverts or decided to pay for applications that don’t contain ads.
The competition is tough. With so many local and international businesses marketing their brands online, it is difficult to make your brand stand out in the digital space.
It takes a while to build trust. People are always prone to online fraud, fake links, hacking, and data breaches when they participate in online activities. This makes it hard for customers to trust anything online.
It is important to recognize that in online vs offline marketing, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Why not try using the best of both marketing tactics to promote your brand?