Critically Evaluate the Proposition that Digital Marketing Has Replaced Traditional Marketing in Strategy Development Assessment Answer

Subject Name : Marketing

Critically evaluate the proposition that digital marketing has replaced traditional marketing in
Strategy development

Introduction
In the era of globalisation, the companies are facing intense competition as well as many challenges so as to stay relevant to their clients. Moreover, consumers are changing their habits and consumption pattern which makes it difficult for the companies to adapt to the changing trends. Due to change in consumer behaviour, the companies have started using new marketing tools, in order to engage their potential customers. In this context, the essay aims to critically evaluate the fact that weather digital marketing has replaced traditional marketing or not in the context of strategy development. Marketing can be defined as the management process through which goods and services are moved from the concept to the customer. It basically includes the coordination of four elements which can be stated as product, price, place and promotion. The main purpose of the marketing is to build long term relationships between an organisation and the public it serves. Marketing strategy plays a very crucial role in the success of long term goals of the organisation (Kotler, Keller, Armstrong, Armstrong, amp Keller, 2016). The main aim of the organisation while setting marketing strategy is to establish a competitive advantage. Furthermore, the structure of the work includes the concepts of digital marketing, the importance of digital marketing, concepts of traditional marketing, the importance of traditional marketing, digital marketing preferred over the traditional marketing and combining both digital marketing and traditional marketing.

Digital marketing can be regarded as the promotion of products or services by using one or more form of digital media such as internet, social media, electronic billboards, mobile phones, television, radio channels etc. Digital marketing aims to target a specific segment of the customer base. It is mainly used to market more than one product or service. Inbound marketing approach which is also called a customer-centric approach is the main concept in digital marketing (Patrutiu-Baltes, 2016). A company which uses this approach follows two main strategies the first one is to communicate with their audience by using channels and the second one is to pay attention to the questions which are asked by the people through the internet. Traditional marketing is that type of marketing which has been used since the concept of marketing and advertisement came into existence. This form of marketing has always been defined by the 4Ps product, price, place and promotion (Kotler amp Keller, 2016). Traditional marketing techniques mainly focus on identifying the right customer segment, understanding their behaviour and on the basis of this providing those products or services.
Most traditional marketing techniques fall under the four categories broadcast, direct mail, print media and telephone. Among these four categories, print media is the oldest form of traditional marketing. These traditional marketing techniques were the primary techniques through which the audience learned about new products. Traditional marketing provides a clear understanding of the companys brand as well as message to its audience. Digital marketing has a major significance in the marketing strategy of any company irrespective of size, sector or origin of the country (Wood, 2004). Moreover, to remain competitive in the industry the companies are forced to use this form of marketing. Thus, this form of marketing helps in gaining huge profits at low costs. Previously the communication between the company and the consumer had a linear format (one to many). Nowadays, the companies are using one to one or many to many models so as to interact with their customers. Customers have the liberty to share their ideas, thoughts, content and build a relationship online. Companies have access to information from their customers which help them in determining the behaviour and preferences of their customers. On the basis of behaviour and preferences of the customer, the companies can make profiles and can target a particular segment (Wood, 2004). This may help companies in gaining more profits and revenues. On the other hand, traditional marketing is focussed more on planning and strategy rather than implementation.
It has been observed that digital marketing is preferred over traditional marketing. Nowadays, the utilisation of traditional marketing is declining due to changes in the tastes and preference of the consumer behaviour and it is much more expensive than digital marketing. Digital marketing mainly focuses on serving the customers as fast as possible as opposed to trying to change their perception like in traditional marketing. Through the use of digital marketing, customers can easily know about the products and services through which they can easily compare products or services and can make purchase decisions quickly. There are mainly online sites available which help the customers in comparing their products and services on the basis of price, quality etc. Digital marketing is very cost effective than traditional marketing as the investment is done on these mediums such as Google ads and Facebook ads (Hollensen, 2005). The interaction with the audience is quite smooth and more effective in digital marketing as this form of marketing encourages its audience to visit websites, providing feedback forms etc. but, in the traditional marketing, the interaction with the customers is very difficult as well as very challenging.
Both digital marketing and traditional marketing are different in the context that online marketing gives the chance to its customers of opt-in and opt-out options whereas, traditional marketing does not provide these options to the customers. Through using digital marketing, the companies can target not only its local audience but the international audience too. In digital marketing, the data and results can easily be recorded and measured by using various digital media tools such as Google analytics. The company using these digital tools can check their marketing campaign at any point of time but in traditional marketing, the data cannot be recorded quickly. Digital marketing helps in giving quick results as compared to traditional marketing. With the use of online marketing, the company can easily measure its number of visitors and conversion rate whereas traditional marketing does not help in providing quick results. Digital marketing plays a very important role in the strategy development of any organisation as it helps in gaining competitive advantage in the market. A well-defined marketing strategy helps in attracting customers and making a unique position in the market (Murray amp ODriscoll, 1996). It also helps in interacting with the audience and engaging them with the brand. Therefore, with the use of digital marketing strategies, the companies can make prompt decisions which ultimately help in gaining more profits and growth.
Many industries considered that in todays scenario traditional marketing is still relevant irrespective of digital methods. Many marketers use traditional marketing tools because traditional marketing has been in use for years. People are more familiar with the traditional marketing tools such as radio ads, TV ads, printed ads like newspaper as well as magazines, direct mail etc. Traditional marketing is focussing on all the generations so as to influence the customers to buy the products and also to increase the buying habits of the customers. Traditional marketing uses tangible or physical materials which can be easily understood by the customers about the product features, its benefits as well as usage. Whereas, digital marketing does not use tangible materials. Traditional marketing easily targets its local audience of a particular city by using traditional techniques such as FM radio and local newspapers (Kotler, Kartajaya, amp Setiawan, 2016). It has been found that traditional marketing methods can easily be understood by potential customers. In traditional marketing, no expertise is required whereas, in digital marketing expertise are required and the organisations have to hire someone who possesses expertise in the particular field of knowledge and this expertise is required to know about the activities of the organisation.
People are used to traditional marketing as it has been around for ages. Face to face interaction is preferred more by the companies. As many companies present their best products by offering samples as well as test cases to their customers so as to maximize their sales and profits but in the digital marketing, face to face interaction is not involved. Outbound and inbound telemarketing are still ruling the marketing industry. Some of the traditional marketing techniques are declining but some of the marketing techniques are getting stronger (Londhe, 2014). Direct marketing is also a part of traditional marketing, as it is very helpful for local businesses. Direct marketing options such as flyers and brochures are still used by many organisations. Business cards are also used by the organisations as it contains specific information about the business and it is very easy to carry. Traditional marketing is still considered very important for promoting any particular brand.
It has been observed that both digital marketing and traditional marketing helps in strategic development. Many companies are using both traditional marketing methods as well as digital marketing methods so as to increase their sales as well as profits. Traditional marketing is a form of promotion which has been used by companies for years. Marketers believe that through online marketing and social media, they will be able to generate more sales. A large portion of the population mostly depends on online platforms. However, traditional marketing still plays a very important role in the success of any business because not everyone depends on the online medium. It has also been considered that some of the products give better results if marketed online, while some of the products give better results while doing offline marketing (Todor, 2016). The main aim of every business firm is to attract more and more customers to buy their products as well as services. By using digital marketing methods, companies can deliver messages quickly and efficiently through social media. On the other hand, traditional marketing includes the use of television advertisements and other forms to deliver the message to potential customers. Publicity helps in increasing awareness about the brand, product, business etc. Therefore, publicity is involved in both digital marketing and traditional marketing. There are many ways to gain publicity and one of the main strategies is content. The content includes valuable information, detailed explanations and it helps for traditional marketing as well as for digital marketing (Baltes, 2015). When the companies use both the forms of marketing, they cover all their sources so as to ensure that they reach their whole audience. Digital marketing and traditional marketing can also work together so as to deliver a personalised experience to its customers. Traditional marketing uses demographic and psychographic factors and this information can be used to target specific customers. It is very difficult for companies to attract customers as well as gain loyalty from the customers. Instead of using digital or traditional marketing, companies may have chances of achieving success by adopting various marketing strategies by targeting potential customers.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that in todays competitive era, digital marketing and traditional marketing both are considered an effective form of marketing which is practised by many organisations. By comparing both the forms of marketing, it is observed that the weightage of digital marketing is more than traditional marketing. Throughout the evaluation of both the forms of marketing, it is concluded that traditional marketing cannot be avoided completely. Many organisations still use traditional marketing in order to gain more profits and attract more and more customers. Moreover, traditional marketings ground rules still apply over modern marketing such as defining the purpose of marketing, how to target the particular segment and defining the marketing mix. Because of internet marketing, the channels of promotion have changed. Nowadays, people prefer to spend more time online rather than on traditional marketing channels such as radio, television, magazines etc. These elements of traditional marketing are replaced by social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, online series, online publications etc. The main concern of every organisation is whether they are able to target their potential customers by using correct channels or not. Thus, both digital marketing as well as traditional marketing helps in the strategic development of the organisation.
References
Baltes, L. P. (2015). Content marketing-the fundamental tool of digital marketing.Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V,8(2), 111.
Hollensen, S. (2005). Marketing Planning a Global Perspective. London McGraw-Hill.
Kotler, K., amp Keller, K.L. (2016). A Framework for Marketing Management. 6th Global Edition. London Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., amp Setiawan, I. (2016).Marketing 4.0 Moving from traditional to digital. New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons.
Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Armstrong, G., Armstrong, G., amp Keller, K. (2016). Marketing Management. 15th global edition.England Pearson Educationn Limited.
Londhe, B. R. (2014). Marketing mix for next-generation marketing.Procedia Economics and Finance,11, 335-340.
Murray, J. A., amp ODriscoll, A. (1996).Strategy and process in marketing. London Prentice Hall.
Patrutiu-Baltes, L. (2016). Inbound Marketing-the most important digital marketing strategy.Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V,9(2), 61.
Todor, R. D. (2016). Blending traditional and digital marketing.Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V,9(1), 51.
Wood, M. B. (2004). Marketing Planning principles into practice. Prentice Hall Harrow