Not too long ago, digital marketing was the big unknown. These days, it’s a hot product for many companies, with traditional often left behind. On the other hand, some companies are still very wary of digital and hold onto old-school marketing thanks to its tried and tested nature. Should you be ditching traditional for digital? Should you stick with what has worked for decades? Can the two work in harmony?
Our agency typically has a high success rate with traditional. It’s an area that the market already understands quite well. Digital, on the other hand, is cost-effective and can reach far more people than traditional marketing. This method allows interaction and feedback directly with the audience and has easier reporting metrics built in. We also find this to be a useful marketing method for clients. Long story short, there’s pros and cons for both.
So, should you favour traditional or digital when it comes to your marketing efforts? It’s the golden question. Our answer? Neither should be used in isolation. It’s akin to the idea of hybrid IT – there is something to be said about finding balance between different methods. The same goes for traditional and digital marketing. Both certainly have their place in your marketing mix depending on business needs.
Finding the right balance comes down to your understanding of the marketing funnel. Every funnel flows a little differently, so we’ll explain what we commonly see during our marketing campaigns. Here’s how the B2B funnel at RAW looks:
As you can see from the funnel, we have a highly balanced mix of tactics that create an effective combo. Our Top of the Funnel (TOTF) tactics are awareness centric with content creation playing a key role. TOTF activities tend to reach the most amount of impressions in a given marketing campaign. Journeying down towards the Middle of the Funnel (MOTF) is where intent starts to become more important. Most MOTF activity has demand generation built in (e.g. lead capture forms) as nurture becomes a focus towards the Bottom of the Funnel (BOTF). The BOTF is where all your hard work pays off into precious conversions. For B2B clients, we typically find this occurs during a face-to-face meeting and less frequently through an online enquiry. This funnel can change based on your personal business outcomes and objectives.
While digital is known for its cost-efficiency and easy-to-measure results, it is important not to overlook traditional methods to support and increase the effectiveness of digital. While it is dependent on your business objectives, ultimately the two should be looked at holistically for an all-encompassing approach.
Need help figuring out how your funnel looks or maybe just on deciding what tactics are effective for your business? Reach out to your friendly neighbourhood marketing funnel experts, RAW Marketing.
