We’re experiencing digital
breakthroughs each and every day. As marketers, we have a serious urge to
maintain the control over our working routine. That means besides doing our
usual work – that involves developing content, building products, or
advertising on different channels – we still
need one more thing.
That one important thing is the
complex process of staying up to date with the marketplace’s changes. You see,
if you want to make a profit, no matter what business you have or advertising
methods you practice, you still need to
be up to speed with the new opportunities.
So today I’m presenting two of
the most relevant marketing environments
that seem to be practiced quite frequently in the present times. Those two
are social media advertising and traditional advertising (media buy).
Therefore, in case you need to
convince yourself which environment you should focus on the most, we’re
presenting some pros and cons of each of these ways. We’ll present them in the
format of PROs that automatically link to the CONs of the other alternative.
Advantages of Social Media Advertising in
Relation to Traditional Media Buying:
1. You
Can Target Your Audience Better:
Social media networks give you
great advertising features that allow you to create personalized campaigns.
Each of these campaigns can be made differently, according to the knowledge and
intuition of the marketer.
For example, Facebook gives you so many advertising angles that you
would need to perform millions of campaigns in order to create all the
combinations. In fact, if you think about it, the targeting possibilities are
endless considering that you can target different pages and demographics.
2. You
Have More Control Over Your Campaign:
Traditional media buying doesn’t
give you much control over your campaigns. You pay for the ad, you see how many
people see it, and you get some little more extra details. On the opposite
side, social advertising campaigns are full of metrics and analysis
opportunities. You can see exactly how your customers behave and react to your
offers, and you can quickly optimize them for the better.
3. You
Get Instant Feedback from Your Prospects:
Feedback is important for any business.
In order to maintain the consistency in quality, you need to understand that
your customer comes first. With social media channels, it is so easy to get in
touch with them. You simply need to post a campaign, wait for the results, and
see for yourself.
The feedback could be direct and
indirect. Direct means that your customers or potential customers are actually
leaving their feedback on your products and services. Indirect feedback means
that you observe whether your target audience is engaging with your ads or not,
so you know which angles work and which doesn’t.
Advantages of Traditional Media Buying in
Relation to Social Media Advertising:
1. It
Has Been Proven to Work Countless Times:
Traditional media buying works.
That’s a fact, and it has been proven countless times. You have the proof under
your eyes right now – people still do it. Companies, to be more exact,
understand the importance of covering such broad audiences. Their main purpose
is to enlarge their brand awareness up to the point where thousands of people
know their products or services names.
2.
No Tools or Internet Access Requirements:
When you choose a traditional
media buying opportunity, you need to dig deeper and understand your target
audience (yes, even if it’s on TV). The people that you’ll target will be
accessible to you even if they don’t own
or use smart devices or an internet connection.
That’s a huge advantage in case
you’re targeting people that could be elder, or less into technology. However,
don’t forget that these people do have
money to spend, and they could all go into your pockets.
3. You
Generally Cover Immense Audiences:
When you play your ad on TV,
radio, or place it on a famous newspaper in your country, it’s pretty obvious
that you’re getting a huge reach.
People from all over the country – or, who knows – maybe even from the entire
world will see your ad. That’s a great chance to capture the attention of your
possible customers.
Conclusion:
You first need to assess your
business. What are you aiming for? If you want to expand your product awareness
because you’re planning to sell it in supermarkets, you should go for
traditional media buy. But then, if you want to sell to a single audience of a
restrained niche, you’d better choose social media.
Either way, you need to test and
see. Once you’ve invested a bit in your testing, you should be able to make the
right choice. Then, you need to stick to the environment that brings you the
most value while you keep optimizing it over and over again.
About author: Olivia
is an incurable optimist who always sees the glass as half-full. She likes nature, knows
how to enjoy silence and keen on writing for different websites as well as for aussiewritings.
