The marketing landscape has been changing with more and more budgets being moved from traditional marketing to digital media. Some experts go so far as to say that traditional marketing is dead. We don’t believe that it’s dead, but we can clearly see that there is one thing that makes traditional marketing inherently inferior as compared to digital advertising and if brands don’t resolve this issues in traditions sectors, it’s going to be stalled.
And that thing is the ability to have a two-side conversation. And it’s here on Medium that it can be seen best. We all like to read comments since they usually resonate with the questions that we have too. In traditional marketing, which includes advertising methods that have been around for decades, i.e. billboards, print media, TV, radio, the messaging is only broadcast to people and people can’t give feedback or ask questions they might have.
In digital advertising, social media enables brands to directly communicate with real people via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Anybody can make a post about their favorite brand of clothing with several pics of a new sexy apparell. Hard-core miners can sport a new uber-powerful miner, so that other fans can peruse the pics and descriptions, make comments and learn something new. Brand fans virtually turn into brand ambassadors, spreading the good word around.
This is completely opposite to ads from the past, when you could only look at or listen to them. Now, it’s the turn for traditional marketing to become more engaging, open to discussion and joint operations with digital.
How can businesses turn their traditional campaigning around and make it more engaging?
Read on to find out.
#1 Source messaging from social media
Before, businesses used to employ creative agencies which were staffed with dozens of talented designers, copywriters and managers. Together, they were working hard on developing messaging that would, in their opinions, get a strong response from users online. But it was only a hypothetical.
Today, it makes much more sense to look through Twitter and Instagram and find out something that people are already saying about you.
Then, you need to add clear branding and make the message pop. Using such materials in traditional advertising — billboards, leaflets, booklets and TV ads — will help you connect with users, speaking to their needs and ideas in their heads.
#2 Stitch traditional and digital media together
As we wrote before in one of our previous articles, digital out-of-home advertising is poised to see enormous growth in the years to come.
The biggest secret is that people have nothing else — more important — to do, when they come in contact with out-of-home ads. They see big splashy pictures and clear messaging at the bottom. And they want to read it.
In comparison, digital media always ties ads to other important activities, like watching videos, reading posts or searching online. Users might be tempted to skip ads because they feel like ads and because they have other things to do.
As you can see, boards can be a strong interactive tool that brings useful information to passers-by just when they need it most.
Researches show that digital out-of-home advertising can be a strong driver in activation of mobile users. Smartphones are everywhere today and it feels only natural to google a brand after seeing a juicy board in the streets.
In this case, advertising is all about showmanship and crafty use of visuals.
#3 Make it personal in real life
In the introduction part, we showed that traditional methods need to get on with their engagement and fast.
Personalizing user’s experience is a great way to do that. We wrote before about how augmented reality can click together with digital out-of-home advertising, enabling customers to find answers to their questions just as they appear.
Another great option is to do something good for the local community. If you decide to host an event, say a 5K or spring fare, you get to handle out lots of branded merchandise. People love this level of engagement by brands and will surely flock to your stores or call centers when they need services or products that you offer.
Such efforts to give back to community always feel sincere and not so focused on making sales, while they also draw attention to your brand in an unobtrusive manner.
#4 Introduce measurement mechanics
The digital marketing has always been about metrics, while traditional methods have been opaque.
Today, it’s possible to use various solutions to gauge performance of traditional campaigns.
For instance, you can place a QR code on your print ads in magazines. Scanning it will automatically transfer a user to an online store, where she’ll find a 10% discount on the item in question.
In this way, you will start receiving valuable insights into how well each individual ad delivers and what sells better. Then, you’ll have a chance to redistribute your resources and optimize the strategy.
#4 Dabble in publishing
Today, brands like Coca-Cola, Sephora and many others, find out that storytelling can be extremely powerful since users value worthy information materials that are devoid of any branding.
Such stories — print ads, placards in buses, TV testimonials — should help users understand how the business’ products can help reach their goals instead of telling them how good your products are.
Some companies decide to get rid of pitching at all and kick off their own blogs. Digital natives — the generations that have spent all their years online — use blogosphere to find answers to their questions and compare competing offer. It’s quite similar how word of mouth was used before.
Our Project — Tachain
We decided to create Tachain project in order to bring the benefits of blockchains to advertising and transportation. We believe that traditional advertising methods, including marketing in transport, can become a strong driver under any campaign, provided that they leverage modern technologies, answer customers’ questions and help learn more.
Augmented reality and well-operating platform for local advertisers can turn a taxi or a public transportation drive into a pleasant experience, helping users learn something valuable and bringing them in contact with local brands. And that’s exactly what might help such businesses stand out among companies that bank too much on digital. By watching targeted ads, users are going to earn TCHN tokens which can be then used in Tachain ecosystem or can be exchanged to any other cryptocurrency.
Subscribe to our Medium channel and keep track of the latest developments in our Tachain project.
Website: https://tachain.io
