Traditional Advertising vs. Social Media: The Differences and How to Use Them
In the past 5 years or so, social media sites have become more than just casual, interactive platforms. They now serve as a more serious promotional tool which both small and large businesses can use to sell products, share ideas and engage their customer base. But one cannot overlook the effectiveness of traditional advertising. Here we will be highlighting the key differences between social media and traditional advertising, and discuss different ways to use them:
The Key Differences
- Social media offers two-way communication (through comments, tweets, messages), whereas traditional media, such as newspaper and TV adverts, offer one-way communication.
- Traditional marketing is designed for mass consumption, but social media offers one-on-one marketing. This means the message you convey addresses individual users. Thus, marketers should understand their target audience on every network in order to customize their messages to each individual.
- Social platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, are free, whereas traditional methods of advertising, such as TV and billboards, cost HUGE sums of money, especially if you are running a campaign.
- Social media advertising is rather quick as compared to traditional advertising as the latter takes months and months to finalize and launch.
- Traditional advertising can be a little more persuasive yet deceiving solely because it features celebrities and actors and highly polished content. On the other hand, social media thrives on reviews from actual users and influencers, and there’s a high chance of finding out if a product is at par simply because feedback and reviews are easy to find. So, it is safe to say that social media advertising is a more honest means of communication and thus more beneficial for the customer.
How to Use Them
Traditional Advertising
You can use traditional advertising in the following forms:
- Billboards: Billboards are perhaps the largest means of traditional advertising, and are typically intended to tempt passersby.
- Newspapers, Magazines & Brochures: Adverts are in printed form and can be kept as a reference for long periods of time.
- Direct Mail: This can include postcards, catalogs, fliers, letters, and other printed material that is mailed directly to your target audience.
- Telemarketing: This method involves cold calling and requested calling to convince potential leads to buy a product.
Social Media
Here are 5 steps you can use when utilizing social media platform as a business promotion tool:
- Come up with creative content that has catchy, bold headlines and lots of visual elements
- Choose the right social medial platform. Carefully assess the platforms and choose one (or more) that offers you the highest level of audience engagement.
- Filter your audience by applying demographic and behavioral filters
- Post or share the content when the time is right. You can post it more than once.
- Repeat and rotate your ads frequently. Remember not to overdo it by spamming your audience as you may end up losing more business than you actually gain.
