Trend 4.0, choose Digital Marketing or Traditional Marketing?

10 years is not long, but not short enough for us to see that marketing and communication in Vietnam has changed, has made impressive and breakthrough steps. Impressed by new technology platforms, new applications on compact, smart mobile devices; diverse forms of promotion, marketing and trend updates... This brings opportunities to all businesses and individuals, success no longer only comes to big brands.

There would be no revolution that disrupted traditional marketing if it weren't for the explosion of the Internet in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Technology developed rapidly and created two opposing lines for marketers: Traditional and Digital.

Technology is evolving at a rapid pace and creating two opposing paths for marketers: Traditional and Digital.

Before the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, when talking about marketing, people would immediately think of tangible elements such as business cards, advertisements, magazines, flyers, posters, or advertisements on television and radio; there was almost no participation of digital devices or smartphones and the internet. Thus, traditional marketing builds relationships with customers through classic tools that do not include the internet.

Over the past decade, digital marketing has grown along with the development of technology. Nowadays, to find information about products/services, customers no longer have to "go there and touch it". Websites, web advertising templates, viral videos via tiktok, youtube; search engines and applications, social networks (facebook, zalo, viber, igrastam, email...) used on technology platforms will help people quickly get the information they need and easily access products and services. That is the first change in "how to proceed" and "tools used" in marketing activities. Now, customers can easily search for your products and business through search engines, through paid advertising templates that you run or read information on social networking sites...

In terms of space and time: If traditional marketing is limited by national and regional scope; advertising activities, leaflet distribution, flag hanging, roadshow advertising... will only be effective if taking place in a large enough scope due to limitations in space or maintenance time. Digital marketing overcomes this problem. With the global Internet connection, building a website to introduce a business or product becomes simpler, and importantly with social networks such as Facebook, Zalo, Viber, Igrastam, Youtube, Tiktok... marketing activities take place at any time and anywhere there are users.

The two absolute advantages of Digital Marketing that are difficult for traditional marketing to overcome are “customer feedback” and “information and data storage”. Traditional marketing activities are mostly one-way interactive activities, making it difficult to meet the marketing function of “learning and satisfying customer needs and desires”. With Digital Marketing tools, customers receive information and feedback immediately, which helps businesses quickly overcome product problems or easily grasp customer needs. In business, having a technology platform to store a huge customer base (customer data) is crucial if a business wants to develop sustainably; especially in industries such as real estate, finance - banking, insurance, securities, tourism, aviation, education, etc. Customers will feel comfortable and return to use your services if they feel satisfied and well taken care of; Digital marketing with modern technology platforms and software will help businesses easily manage and exploit customer information.

Digital marketing is an inevitable development trend in the era of industrial revolution 4.0.

The last criterion that managers consider comparing is the cost of implementing traditional marketing or digital marketing. The cost depends a lot on the implementation method, tools and time that managers carry out. Managers consider the company's marketing budget, product characteristics, as well as the target market, social trends... to make appropriate and effective decisions for the business.

So the question for marketers is: Should we combine traditional marketing and digital marketing? Or just choose and pursue one school?

The answer for most marketing managers is yes. In many cases, traditional marketing can support digital marketing and vice versa. This is done flexibly in many industries and business areas.

In fact, for real estate business, large investors carry out traditional marketing as a stepping stone to cover the market through a series of channels such as advertising on mass media, hanging flags or banners on roads and streets near the project; telesales or distributing leaflets in areas with many potential customers... Besides, a series of digital marketing activities are indispensable to bring information and products to customers quickly and effectively: websites introducing investors, projects, products... distribution units spend money to compete with Google Adwords to get to the top; social networks with a large number of users are also used to find customers such as Facebook, Zalo, Viber, Tiktok...

Thus, once you have a clear understanding of Digital Marketing, researched and applied it, managers will see many interesting and effective things when combining traditional marketing and Digital Marketing. Traditional marketing principles are always practical, while Digital Marketing is always updated with the development trends of technology and the market.

Faculty of Business Administration - Dai Nam University