Digital vs. Traditional Advertising Costs

For years, the word marketing has been taboo for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and medium-sized companies. Many see it as high-investment, risky, and potentially even unnecessary. Something that only large, national or international corporations with big budgets could afford since traditional marketing methods such as radio, television, and print advertising are so expensive.

In the difficult current economic situation, entrepreneurs are not willing to take risks. Instead, they think about making cuts in the budget for personnel and advertising. It should be the opposite!

Now is as good a time as any to invest in marketing and advertising. Small companies should know that a properly detailed marketing strategy, well-planned and carried out, is not an expense, but an investment that could mean great growth for the company.

It’s true, many companies don’t have millionaire budgets to invest in a television and radio advertising campaign, or to cover the city with print advertising. Fortunately for entrepreneurs, digital advertising has changed the game. 

Digital Marketing is a new ecosystem, full of opportunities, challenges, and tools (many of them free). You just have to know where they are, what they are for, and how to implement them to achieve your goals. 

For a company to sell, it has to know how to communicate. This has not changed. But what has changed, nay evolved, is the media with the constant introduction of new tools that entrepreneurs can take advantage of on the Internet.

Why is traditional advertising so expensive?

With the development of digital marketing, it seems that the traditional tools have been nearly forgotten. In fact, people question the effectiveness of traditional advertising and the ROI that it yields. So the question must be asked: has it become obsolete?

The truth is that traditional media is still valid, although it seems that the future is much brighter for digital marketing. On the other hand, although the influence of online marketing is not denied, the internet is not everything. Therefore, there is still a competition that can’t be hidden. 

The main problem with the relevance of traditional advertising lies in the high costs of creating a campaign. Producing a television commercial requires budgets that can often be compared to the price of shooting a Hollywood movie. In addition, the cost of transmitting a television commercial is always high, but there are seasons where the channels increase their prices even more, especially during times of higher sales, such as Christmas, and during sporting events that attract large audiences, like the Super Bowl.

In the case of press and newspapers, this sector is still in a period of adaptation to the new digital media. Currently, it is normal for a newspaper to produce physical copies while having a digital edition on an official website, adaptable to social media and other online platforms. Maintaining the costs of such complex structures requires selling their advertising spaces at high cost. In addition, the higher the journalistic reputation and the longer the history of the newspaper, the higher the price for advertising.

Finally, radio has also had to evolve and has found a way to do so by broadcasting its programs on the Internet, through platforms such as YouTube. Therefore, operating costs have increased, resulting in a more expensive advertising space.

Does traditional advertising allow an audience of millions of people? Yes, no doubt, but at a high investment cost for companies.

Digital marketing: a low-cost way to reach your audience

Digital advertising has several advantages over its counterparts in traditional media. You can get better results with a smaller investment, can modify any campaign at any given time, and customize the message for your ideal audience.

The number of Internet users worldwide is increasing every day. According to the latest report on this, by We Are Social and Hootsuite, while in 2018 there were 4.021 million Internet users (53% of the world population), by June of 2019, the figure reached 4.388 million (57% of the population). These numbers tell us this is not a thing of a little group, but a massive way of communication.

Digital marketing is scalable

This means that it is perfect not only for large organizations with multi-million dollar income but also for any project, whether it’s in its initial steps or in a growing stage.

If you are opening a fast-food restaurant, for example, you surely want to spread that news far and wide. Digital advertising can help with that!

Open a fan page, post some photos of your products, and put some money behind it. From there, play a little with the photos, the images, and your audience segment or combine everything to achieve better results.

If you have started the path yourself, you will have realized that digital marketing requires a lot more than just being on social media. It really is a large universe and there are aspects of it that are highly technical. At this point, you may realize that it is overwhelming for a small team and choose to hire a professional team, like Array Digital, who is experienced in all things digital and can make sure your product or service gets in front of the right eyes.

Even with an agency managing your advertising activities online, digital advertising is still cheaper than its traditional counterpart.

It is very difficult to put a value on digital marketing and generalize it for all scenarios, but this fact remains true: it is more economical, profitable, and measurable than other means.

The important thing is that digital advertising is adaptable to any reality. A small entrepreneur could not dream of doing television, and it might take years to raise the money for a radio spot. But with digital tools, he always has a way to reach his costumers and prospects.

In the end, digital advertising allows you to respond effectively and quickly to consumer consumption habits and influence their purchasing decisions. Not adopting this strategy is losing the possibility of enjoying all the benefits of digital marketing. Still not convinced? Check out these other resources or simply give us a call and we can walk you through it: (757) 333-3021.

Read more about whether digital or traditional advertising is best for your business here.