Marketing managers are responsible for creating strategies that help businesses meet their sales objectives.
They manage and coordinate marketing and creative staff, and lead the market research team in efforts to discover the viability of existing products and/or services. They are also responsible for coordinating with advertising agencies and media organizations.
An organization’s marketing department relies on the marketing manager’s guidance and direction in executing strategic marketing plans, while company leaders count on marketing managers to achieve business objectives with best possible results.
Traditional Marketing vs. Digital Marketing
Years ago, marketers relied on traditional marketing practices to launch their product or service. They relied on print ads in newspapers and magazine, and some made use of television, radio, and static billboards. Others printed flyers, and hired people to put them in mailboxes.
Yet, with the advancement of technology, a new type of marketing was born: Digital marketing (in its simplest description) involves creating a business website and advertising the brand on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Related: Growing Your Business Through Video Marketing
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Traditional Marketing?
Advantages:
- People are already accustomed to traditional marketing. Despite the continuous advancements in technology, people still look at ads on TV, billboards, newspapers and magazines.
- You can reach your target local audience easily. Marketers can arrange for a TV or radio ad to be played in certain locations, based on demographics. On an even more “grass roots” level, individuals can be employed to place flyers in mailboxes in specific regions.
- People tend to keep newspapers, magazines, and flyers. Since people have a hard copy of these materials, they sometimes keep them and they tend to go over them again and again.
- People find this type of marketing easy to understand. Since people have been exposed to this type of marketing for several decades, they understand what marketers are trying to say. Traditional marketing makes use of proven techniques that have high success rates.
Disadvantages:
- Traditional marketing can be quite expensive. Local TV ads may cost anywhere from $200 to $1,500 for a 30-second spot at noon. National ads cost a great deal more, especially when aired during popular events such as the Super Bowl. Such ads cost an average of $3.5 million per spot. Popular reality shows, such as American Idol, have brought in as much as $475,000 per 30-second spot, according to a report by AdWeek.
- Companies barely interact with their customers. Through traditional marketing, manufacturers simply provide information about their product or service, in hopes that consumers will become patrons of their business.
- Results from traditional marketing cannot be measured easily. Unlike digital marketing where marketers can easily and quickly measure results, print ads do not offer the same ease of gauging either positive or negative responses. While TV and radio advertising does provide a certain amount of public feedback, the results usually take a longer time to assess.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Digital Marketing?
Advantages:
- It is less expensive. According to experts, the average monthly cost of traditional marketing for small businesses is $12,188 and the average monthly cost of digital marketing is only $1,998.
- Results can be measured. With digital marketing, marketers can use different tools to measure results. For example, Google Analytics is a free tool that can calculate a company’s return on investment (ROI).
- Marketing strategies can be easily refined. Using online marketing analytics can help test conversion rates at a fraction of the cost of a traditional media campaign. Based on the results that a business gets, marketers can refine strategies to improve the outcome. Digital marketing allows small businesses to compete in the market.
- Personal engagement with your target audience. Unlike print ads which some readers tend to scan as they read articles in the newspaper or magazine, digital marketing encourages people to visit the company website and read about the products and/or services that it offers.
- Today’s customers want more information. Before purchasing anything, most customers want to compare reviews of a product or service in addition to getting the opinion of family and friends. These reviews can be easily found online.
Disadvantages:
- Slow or intermittent internet connection can discourage customers. A slow connection can discourage potential customers and may make them switch to a competitor.
- Many customers still prefer to go to the store. According to a 2016 survey of 1,400 U.S. Consumers, the majority of shoppers still prefer to make purchases in physical stores.
- Concerns on privacy issues regarding personal data. Some individuals prefer not to make online purchases due to concerns on how their personal data may be used by other parties.
Conclusion
Regardless of how consumers feel about traditional marketing, digital marketing is here to stay. The career of a contemporary marketing manager is noticeably different in comparison to that of past decades.
Apart from the responsibilities enumerated earlier, marketing managers of today engage a great number of potential customers through social media. They try to connect with consumers by developing and nurturing working relationships with clientele.
By engaging customers and assuring their needs are met, marketing managers can help foster a greater sense of customer loyalty. This, in turn, increases sales and brings in more profit for the business: A true win-win.
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