The main goal of advertising has always been to encourage people to take some sort of action. While the methods may have changed over the years the goal has always remained constant.
As technology evolved so did the habits of consumers which lead to a shift in marketing and advertising trends – from traditional to digital.Digital marketing has exploded over the last decade with every type of brand and business cementing their spot in the digital space.
But once you’ve created a cool online presence with a website and social media profiles the next step is to figure out the best way to advertise your products and/or services to your audience.
In any businessbrand exposure is the key to successful marketing. The trick is to get your brand in front of as many people as possible. These days there are many ways to do so; you just have to pick the option that best suits your advertising needs. In this blog we’re going to take a look at content marketing and traditional advertising.
While the main focus of content marketing and traditional advertising are the same, their approaches are different. Let’s examine each approach to see how they differ.
Content Marketing
Content marketing focuses on creating, publishing and sharing content that people can engage with. It refers to anything you can create in the digital space, such as blog posts, video streams, photos and social media. Content is generally created with a specific target audience in mind and actively seeks out and engages with them. It’s useful in creating brand awareness, expanding your audience and generating leads.
Traditional Advertising
Traditional advertising refers to the promotional methods which have been used by brands over decades. These methods are well established with a proven success rate. Traditional advertising includes print, radio and television adverts, billboards and more. This type of advertising is created to appeal to as many people as possible at the same time.
How Are They Different?
Although traditional advertising has a successful track record, it has taken a severe hit in the last decade. This is largely due to the fact that consumers now spend so much time online. As a result marketing in general has started to move in a different direction. These days content iseverything. Its plays a massive role in how people consume information and has a major influence on their decisions.
While traditional advertising aims to increase sales through awareness, content marketing focuses on providing value to a specific target audience. This value exists through the engagement, information and personalization offered in tailored content.
Because content marketing is more personal marketers are able to create lasting relationships with their audience. They are also able to learn about their interests, likes and dislikes. This type of information is extremely valuable because it can be used to adjust their marketing campaigns as needed.
Simply put, the main focus of content marketing is engagement whereas traditional advertising is focused on sales.
But let’s take a look at a few more differences between content marketing and traditional advertising.
- Audience Reach
The biggest difference between content marketing and traditional advertising isaudience reach. Content marketing relies on people actively seeking out a brand/product/service, while traditional advertising fits itself into an unrelated activity. For example, the adverts you see while watching TV, the print ads that appear in a magazine you’re reading and the pop-up ads that appear online.
- Information
Content marketing tends to offer more information to the audience. This is mostly because content marketing uses a more flexible space for advertising to consumers. (Blog posts, social media posts or videos that are uploaded on Youtube.)While traditional advertising does offer information, it’s usually limited due to time constraints on television adverts or limited space in magazines and on online banner ads.
- Relationship Building
Content marketing aims to create a relationship with the audience. This is done with the intention of developing brand awareness and loyalty with the audience. By interacting with customers and sharing valuable and helpful information you will establish your brand as a reputable, reliable leader in your industry.
- Adaptability and Cost Effective
Content marketing allows you to easily change and adapt your advertising campaigns. Because customer feedback is almost instant you are able to adjust your campaigns, find solutions to problems and provide requested information to your customers in real time.
Traditional advertising campaigns are a little more difficult to adjust. Campaigns that appear on TV, radio and on billboards can only be tweaked once a new campaign is launched. It would just be too costly and impractical to pull a campaign for minor adjustments.