What is the relationship of traditional media and new media?

You probably already know, or at least have heard, about the growing importance of digital media (such as search, display, and social media). Unfortunately, many people think that investing in online means leaving the tried and true methods of traditional media (like radio, TV, billboards, and print) behind. Using a combination of both digital and traditional techniques is the most effective method of marketing and is far more useful than using either on its own.

Traditional marketing tactics all have proven high success rates. Digital media can provide a company with maximum exposure and more customer interaction. When combined, the benefits of both plans help compensate for each other’s weaknesses. While newer methods do work well, it’s dangerous to let them completely replace traditional ones since each technique appeals to different people and audiences. Combining online and traditional is a great way to reach your potential customers.

For example, television and print ads are helpful in spreading information and can also incorporate a message to look for more information on a website (a ‘call to action’ of sorts). Coca-Cola is an example of a company who has done a great job of incorporating online with traditional. Their “Share a Coke” campaign allowed customers to find their names and names of friends on bottle labels (a more traditional method). These labels included hashtags, encouraging customers to share pictures and tag friends on social media (an online method). Coca-Cola was able to actively engage customers through this strategy, which combined aspects of both traditional and digital.

Additionally, using both traditional and digital marketing methods allows your message to be spread across many different channels. Depending on the target audience, some techniques may work better than others. McDonalds uses multiple channels to their advantage, utilizing billboard and print ads to attract the attention of potential customers, but also having a strong online presence. This allows them to reach customers they may not have if they had stuck to only one channel.

Traditional media is a highly effective way to reach a broad consumer base, but digital media is a good way to reach a specific audience. Digital marketing is also used to build more relevant consumer relationships. Anthropologie, a popular women’s clothing company, sends monthly catalogs (throughout which they point back to the website). They have a successful and engaging Instagram page and announce sales and promotions on this page (which also includes recipes, DIYs, and other fun things – many of which incorporate their products). Their integration of digital media allows their audience to get more personally involved, but they also incorporate traditional media with the catalogs.

These are just a few examples that traditional and digital media can work together to strengthen your marketing plan. If you don’t use both types, you may not be reaching all of your potential customers. In order to maximize your impact, it is crucial that you utilize both traditional and digital.

Have you as an entrepreneur, business owner, student or consumer asked yourself, “how do I keep up in today’s fast-paced economy?” With many things trending one day and dead the next, it’s important that we evolve with these changes and accept the fact that things change whether we like it or not. The same can be said regarding media.

The Internet has molded the way we are as consumers, allowing us the ability to find things in a matter of seconds. At the same time, traditional media still remains an integral part in our lives, allowing us to watch what we want, when we want. As an advertiser, it’s pertinent that we find and maintain a balance between both types of media.

Although new media has taken its grasp on America, traditional media is still an important means of communication to consumers. Let’s take a closer look at the two, and the effects they have on us as consumers.

What is Traditional Media?

Traditional media, or as some refer to as old media, has been used in the marketing/advertising world for years. When related to advertising, traditional media encompasses that of television, newspaper, radio and magazine ads. These forms of communication are the steadfast ways that businesses have reached both consumers and other companies for decades. They are the roots of advertising and the most common form utilized by businesses on a daily basis. Though traditional media is effective, over the course of the last few years we have seen more and more businesses utilizing new media to reach its target audiences.

What is New Media?

New media is the future of advertising. More and more consumers and businesses rely on new media to find their information. Ultimately, new media refers to content that is easily accessible via many different forms of digital media. When related to advertising, some examples of new media include online advertising (retargeting, banner ads, etc.), online streaming (radio and television) and social media advertising. Each of these are means in which businesses have the capability to reach consumers and other businesses with ease.

Effect of Traditional and New Media on Consumers

As consumers, we sometimes find ourselves in a conundrum when it comes to how get our information. Now-a-day, more and more consumers use the internet to quickly find information, making new media advertising pertinent for any type of business. However, at the same time, consumers still take a good chunk of time out of their day to use traditional media. On the way to work we have our radios playing, at home we have the television on watching the news, and at the doctor’s office we find ourselves reading the magazine on the end table next to us. Each of these are forms of traditional advertising that we use on a daily basis.

As consumers, we may also find that there are instances when we multitask each day. Take it from experience, there are many times when I’ll be at home watching television and at the same time I’ll be on my tablet looking up the next vacation I’m going to take. It’s at these times that as an advertiser you need to decide where the best place to put your money will be. Is it going to be running an ad on that television show that I’m watching, or is it going to be online while I’m surfing the web? For advertisers, it’s important to find that balancing act and not to strictly choose one over the other, but to weigh all the options, and find a harmonious mix between both traditional and new media.

Finding the Equilibrium

The million dollar question is this – how do we find this equilibrium between a world of traditional and new media? For starters, although traditional advertising is important for businesses to effectively reach mass consumers, I highly recommend finding a way to inject a type of new media into all media campaigns.

Traditional media tends to be a bit more expensive than new media, but it also has the ability to reach a broad target audience. If the ultimate goal of the business is to reach a broad range of people, this is definitely the way to go. If you want to target a more narrow audience, then new media may be the way to go.

New media is changing the overall media landscape. New media allows businesses to target ads more specifically to consumers based on their age, gender, marital status, etc. It also allows businesses the ability to track what these consumers are doing and how they end up on your website. All of these reasons make new media imperative to any media campaign.

There are ways that traditional media can be tracked, but sometimes we ask ourselves is the ad targeting the people we really should be targeting? New media allows us to get this data and analyze our target audience. From there, we may have a better understanding of where traditional media dollars should be spent.

All-in-all, the key to a successful media campaign is to have a well-balanced mix of media that ultimately targets your businesses audience. It’s important to not waste advertising dollars on media that won’t be effective. Take the time to analyze your business’s marketing plan and target audiences and ask yourself what types of media can be used to reach these consumers. Overall, utilizing a mix of the two has proved beneficial for a variety of our clients over the past few years.

Final Thoughts

When deciding between traditional and new media, it’s all about finding equilibrium. For some businesses traditional media may not be the right choice and new media is. For other businesses it very well may be the opposite. As a media guru, I encourage each business that I work with to see both sides of the spectrum and to know that there is always a way to reach the end consumer. Just because traditional media has tested the tides of time, doesn’t mean that new media won’t outlast. Next time you plan your media attack, analyze all options and decide what will work best.

If you’re having trouble striking a good balance between new and traditional media or could use some advice on what options are right for your business, we would be happy to help. Give us a call at 701-478-1111 and ask to speak with a Marketing Advisor or visit absolutemg.com/contact. We have the expertise needed to develop a custom media plan to fit your needs.