Treditional Marketing

What is Traditional Marketing?

Traditional marketing is a rather broad category that incorporates many forms of advertising and marketing. It’s the most recognizable typse of marketing, encompassing the advertisements that we see and hear every day. Most traditional marketing strategies fall under one of four categories: print, broadcast, direct mail, and telephone. (See also Cross-Media Marketing)

Print marketing is the oldest form of traditional marketing. Loosely defined as advertising in paper form, this strategy has been in use since ancient times, when Egyptians created sales messages and wall posters on papyrus. Today, print marketing usually refers to advertising space in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and other printed materials intended for distribution.

Broadcast marketing includes television and radio advertisements. Radio broadcasts have been around since the 1900s, and the first commercial broadcast—a radio program supported by on-air advertisements—aired on November 2, 1920. Television, the next step in entertainment technology, was quicker to adopt advertising, with less than ten years between its inception and the first television commercial in 1941.

Direct mail marketing uses printed material like postcards, brochures, letters, catalogs, and fliers sent through postal mail to attract consumers. One of the earliest and most well-known examples of direct mail is the Sears Catalog, which was first mailed to consumers in 1888. (See also Direct Mail Marketing)

Finally, telephone marketing, or telemarketing, is the practice of delivering sales messages over the phone to convince consumers to buy a product or service. This form of marketing has become somewhat controversial in the modern age, with many telemarketers using aggressive sales tactics. The U.S. federal government has passed strict laws governing the use of telemarketing to combat some of these techniques. (See also Telemarketing)

Who employs Traditional Marketing?

Because it encompasses so many different strategies, nearly every company selling a product or service uses one or more types of traditional marketing as part of an overall advertising strategy. For the most part, this form of advertising depends on the company’s available marketing budget.

Mid-sized companies and large corporations are most likely to use TV commercials. Advertising on television is usually the most expensive form of marketing, with prices depending on the time slots and programming content. For example, a 30-second commercial during Super Bowl 2012 was around $3.5 million, more than $100,000 per second—and that figure doesn’t include production costs.

Bigger companies also use direct mail more often, as the design, printing, and mailing expenses can add up to substantial amounts. Mid-sized and large businesses often use all forms of traditional marketing in one way or another.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses, who may have limited marketing budgets, most often use print marketing in newspapers or newsletters to advertise to local customers. Many also place local radio advertisements. Some use direct mail, and a few may employ limited telemarketing.

While network television commercials are usually out of the budget range for smaller companies, local cable programming has made television advertising more accessible for these types of businesses, with costs running as low as € 200 for a 30-second spot, plus production expenses.

How is a Traditional Marketing plan developed and employed?

The strategies for developing a traditional marketing plan vary widely, according to the form of advertising used and the type of business. In some companies, particularly small businesses, the entire staff will contribute to planning and execution. Larger companies often have marketing departments dedicated to creating advertising campaigns that use traditional marketing.

The first step in developing a plan is to choose print, broadcasting, direct mail, or telemarketing. This choice depends on the budget and the marketing message conveyed. For example, a store that’s announcing a sale will use more immediate impact strategies like broadcasting or print, while a business launching a general awareness campaign might choose direct mail, which stays in consumers’ hands for a longer period of time.

For print and broadcast marketing, the business must arrange to purchase advertising space. The timing of this step depends on the lead time, or how far in advance the advertising space must be purchased. Some print media, such as wide-circulation magazines, have lead times of several weeks. For example, an advertisement in Sports Illustrated magazine must be reserved at least five weeks in advance and longer for premium placement. Other markets have shorter times, with some newspapers allowing next-day ad placement.

The development of marketing materials also varies depending on the form. Direct mail and print campaigns require graphic design and copywriting. For telemarketing, the advertisers write a script for the sales representatives (or outsourced telemarketing company) to follow. Radio ads may be either produced and pre-recorded, or scripted and read by on-air personalities. Finally, television commercials can either be written by the marketing department and produced in-house, or contracted out to production companies.