Flintstones Meet Jetsons – Blending Traditional & Digital Marketing

When marketing agencies skillfully pair digital and traditional marketing tactics, they maximize their clients’ chance for success across multiple platforms and with many audiences. Traditional marketing has been around for ages–between TV commercials, print ads, billboards, direct mail, and more. It’s usually more personal, quite costly, and can often be hard to measure, but when it works, and when it’s done right, traditional marketing can work rather well. Digital may have a reputation for being more complex and seemingly less personal, but whether it’s SEO, PPC, email, banner ads, social media, or beyond, the future is here and when handled correctly, it can make all the difference marketing-wise. The danger for any company lies in exclusively using traditional or digital tactics instead of blending the two into one seamless strategy of “old and new.” 

Brands or businesses that focus solely on traditional marketing can’t track results as easily. Due to high costs, competitive rates, and the very nature of traditional mediums, tracking results can be difficult, split testing or A/B testing is nearly impossible, and these tactics – radio, TV, print, billboards, etc. – are hard to measure and may miss opportunities to build consistent relationships with leads.

Similarly, when brands focus solely on digital media, they may lose the chance to connect with clients or customers in a personalized way or rule out demographics who may be interested in their services. Digital can seem complex to build and costly to manage and some tactics like SEO can be slow to build credibility and take a long time to pay dividends while others like PPC and paid social can see immediate results but aren’t as sustainable.

It’s clear more than ever–your company needs a combined, creative marketing strategy that blends both traditional and digital marketing for a successful, lasting, dynamic strategy. Keep reading for a useful deep dive into digital and traditional tactics that work best when paired together.

Dynamic Pair # 1: TV Commercials meet TikToks and Reels

Before you rule out TV commercials as a viable part of marketing, you need to understand that TV ad spending has increased over the last two years. According to Variety, “2021 saw a total of $49.1 billion spent on TV ads and an increase of 6% on 2020’s $46.3 billion spent.” TV is excellent for static messages, lead generation, and offers that don’t expire. Because commercials are replayed over and over again, they should have a long shelf life, ultimately saving ad budgets over time. Speaking of time… If the classic ‘90s commercial could see its 2022 counterpart, it would be so proud. 

Short videos on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are booming in marketing. The beauty of TikToks and Reels is that they allow business owners–large companies and solopreneurs alike– to build relationships directly with their audiences. These relationships make the customers and clients feel connected, appreciated, and involved in the brand. Instead of being talked to like a TV spot, TikToks and Reels immerse the audience in a brand experience and make them feel like part of the show.

Both TV ads and TikToks are excellent alone, but they’re incredibly powerful when used together. Here are some skillful ways to pair traditional and digital video tactics:

• Introduce your main product or service on TV and mention your social media handles. Hook your audience by offering unique and branded content. Offer tips, resources, humor, and personality in your TikToks and Reels

• Creatively display your product or service on TV while leveraging relationships with influencers who utilize product placement. Viewers will see your product or service organically in videos and feel more inclined to test it out.

Dynamic Pair # 2: Direct Mail meet Email

Remember getting mail as a child and feeling super excited? Yeah, that feeling pretty much disappears when adulthood hits with bills, political flyers, fake credit cards, and pesky grocery ads–but there’s always that one piece of eye-catching mail that restores your faith in even opening the mailbox, to begin with.

For marketers, direct mail poses fun challenges–getting your audience’s attention and providing value to the customer so you don’t get thrown out with junk mail. When done correctly, direct mail is delightful to receive, often helpful, and certainly memorable. In fact, “70% of consumers say that direct mail is more personal than online interactions” (Source, Fundera.) Direct mail like flyers, discount offers, and letters can boost sales, increase brand loyalty, and direct audiences to your digital marketing efforts like email. 

Similar to “snail mail”, emails need to be eye-catching to generate that higher open rate. The beauty of email marketing and sales funnels is that they can be evergreen, provide tons of customer data, build relationships with audiences, and are much cheaper to send than direct mail. The downside, similar to its old-school counterpart, is that emails are easy to delete and unsubscribe from. The key is providing value like attention-grabbing subject lines, discounts, new offerings, relevant resources, and fun content.

Expertly blend direct mail and email by:

• Offering clear benefits in direct mail that can only be redeemed through email, such as, “Subscribe to our email list to receive your one-time 40% off discount code.” Then you can both track your direct mail response rate and your click-through rate for emails.

• A simple message is key! Focus on one offering or subject at a time with your mailers. Be creative, and make it fun. Apply that same creative mindset when building your email funnels. We all want fun, easy-to-read, relatable content!

Dynamic Pair #3: Print Ads Meet Social Posts

A common misconception exists that magazines and newspapers are dying. Though these print mediums may not be as popular as they may have been in the past, print advertisements are not only incredibly lucrative, but they also do wonders to drive audiences to your social media pages. According to FinancesOnline, “82% of consumers trust print ads the most when making a purchase decision.” Brand trust is crucial for customer conversions and loyalty!

The digital counterpart to a print ad is a social media post. As previously mentioned and commonly known, social media is excellent for generating relationships, exploring data diagnostics, creating authentic brand placement, and leveraging partnerships. Social media is instant and always changing, which makes for fun ways to build a brand!

As digital marketing spending is only increasing, more and more companies take advantage of social media marketing. As the market saturates, it can seem overwhelming for consumers to find trustworthy brands–which is why it’s crucial to include both print and social in your marketing strategy:

• Use print ads to establish credibility while guiding viewers to your social media accounts.

• Explore relevant trends, partnerships, and content online while occasionally posting your print ads in your social feed to form consistency across mediums.
   

Dynamic Pair #4: Billboards Meet PPC

Billboard spotting is a fan-favorite road trip activity. Whether commuting across town or across the country, there’s no denying that billboards can be iconic–especially taking into account various locals, demographics, and marketing outcomes. Billboards beg for creativity in bold, quick ways to have audiences take the desired call to action. Fun for viewers, artists, and writers, Billboards are a great way to advertise; however, despite their creativity, there’s not an easy way to track their success.

PPC (pay-per-click), on the other hand, offers a measurable way to track viewer interactions and conversions. It’s a great option for companies because they only pay for the ad if it’s clicked on. Once the viewer clicks on the ad, it then tracks how the user interacts with the content. All of that data is incredibly useful to refine your marketing strategies. PPC also helps viewership by placing ads on the first page of search engines.

No, PPC isn’t one of those pesky pop-up ads. But it does make your website pop up first on a google search (Kind of like a billboard on the side of a country road.)

Whether you’re a fan of The Flintstones and trusted traditional marketing tactics or you prefer the more futuristic Jetsons-like found with most modern digital marketing efforts, the secret to a sound marketing strategy is expertly blending both. If your business exclusively rolls with the Flintstones and sticks to traditional marketing such as TV commercials, direct mail, print ads, and billboards, it’s time to join the Jetsons. (And vice versa.)

Skilled, strategic marketing is extremely successful at boosting viewership, creating relationships, generating leads, and converting those leads into sales. Your company deserves a traditional and digital marketing strategy that’s skillfully paired together and works in tandem toward company growth. 

Contact Good JuJu Agency to diversify and strengthen your marketing tactics at [email protected] 

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