Traditional Media vs. New Media: What's The Difference and Which Belongs in Your Marketing Plan?

What is the difference between tradition media and new media? Traditional media includes mostly non-digital advertising and marketing methods that businesses have relied upon for years, like television, radio, and print advertisements. New media, also known as digital media, consists of digital and advertising methods that occur online or involve the Internet, like social media or email marketing.

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If you want to learn more about the differences between traditional media vs. new media, you’re in the right place! We’re comparing the main differences between new media and old media here, so keep reading!

Here’s everything we’ll cover:

What is traditional media?
Traditional media examples
What is new media?
New media examples
Traditional media vs. new media: What’s the difference?
Traditional media vs. new media: Which is more beneficial for my business?

Let’s dive in!

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What is traditional media?

Traditional media, or old media, is mostly non-digital advertising and marketing methods. These are marketing methods that businesses have relied on for years. Up until very recently, these marketing and advertising styles were very effective and helped businesses just like yours make a profit.

However, as the needs and expectations of consumers evolve, marketing has no choice but to evolve as well. This is what has led to the rise of new media and digital marketing methods — and the decrease in popularity of some traditional methods you know well.

It’s also led to the debate between traditional vs. digital media.

Traditional media examples

Some examples of traditional media include:

Television advertisements
Radio advertising
Print advertising
Direct mail advertisements
Billboards and off-site signs
Cold calling
Door-to-door sales
Banner ads

What is new media?

New media, also called digital media, consists of methods that are mostly online or involve the Internet in some sense. It usually involves digital channels that gained popularity in the last decade or so.

New media examples

These methods include:

Many of these methods have been around for several years but have only gained prominence recently. So when the topic of traditional media vs. emerging media is discussed, it’s somewhat misleading to call these methods “emerging” as very few of them are new.

Having said that, these marketing methods continue to change as time goes on. Best practices for these methods are currently dependent on their sources, as opposed to depending on the attitudes of consumers. But over time, we may see another shift as consumer feelings change toward these methods.

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Traditional media vs. new media: What’s the difference?

What’s one main difference between social media and traditional media like television? One great difference between new media like social media and traditional media like television is the interaction level. New media are more reactive while traditional media may have a passive interaction with their target audience. Viewers may resort to new media to air their reactions.

Let’s compare the two terms a bit more and dive into some of their key differences.

Here are five differences between new media vs. traditional media:

1. Distribution and access

New and traditional media differ in how companies and individuals distribute and access them. Traditional media is usually distributed and accessed through channels like television, radio, or print.

On the other hand, new media is distributed and accessed through digital channels, like social media, search engines like Google, or email.

2. Cost

New media is known for its cost-effective marketing methods. Many digital media advertisements cost less than traditional methods. Not only will you pay less for your advertisements through digital media channels, but you’ll also pay less to acquire new leads and customers.

3. Audience interaction and communication

Another key difference between traditional media vs. digital media is audience interaction and communication.

With traditional media methods, it’s challenging to understand how your audience interacts with your ads and message since your ads will run on their TV or in their newspaper. Audiences can’t really communicate with your brand through your ads either. They’ll need to contact your company to be able to speak with you.

However, new media channels make it extremely easy for your audience to interact and communicate with your brand. For example, users can click on your social media ads to navigate to the product pages on your website. They can also comment on your social media ad or reply to your email to instantly get in touch with your brand and ask questions.

4. Results tracking

Tracking the results of your advertising and marketing campaigns also differs between new media vs. traditional media.

Traditional media methods are difficult to track and see which ads and messages drive the most leads, sales, and revenue for your company since they use a non-digital channel, like print or radio.

On the other hand, new media methods are incredibly easy to track the results of your campaigns. You can view detailed information like how many people clicked on or viewed your ad, bought one of your products after viewing your ad, or called your company after receiving your email.

As a result, you can easily understand which strategies bring the most revenue to your business.

5. Targeting capabilities

Another difference between digital media vs. traditional media is targeting capabilities. One of the biggest benefits of using online media channels is that you take advantage of powerful audience-targeting features.

For example, you can target your ads to users based on their age, location, interests, company industry, and more. That means you can ensure your messages and ads reach the people most likely to buy from your company.

When it comes to traditional media, it’s much harder to target your ads to your intended audience. For example, when you promote your brand on the radio, you’ll reach multiple people listening to that channel who may or may not be your target audience.

That means you could promote your products or services to people who have no interest in them and will likely not become customers.

Traditional media vs. new media: Which is more beneficial for my business?

No one can tell you which marketing methods are and aren’t worth your time and money. Since your business and audience are both unique, it’s impossible to say that something will or won’t work for you — and that applies to new media, too.

As we mentioned, many marketers are finding that traditional and outbound marketing methods are losing their effectiveness over time.

If you’ve noticed lower returns on your advertising or outbound marketing, this is likely a symptom of that decreased effectiveness. So it would be a good idea to slowly phase those methods out in favor of new ones.

Many companies have found that one or two traditional media methods still work very well for them.

For example, billboards, while expensive, may help businesses gain awareness in local operating areas. And print advertising can help some companies reach markets that include those who still read books or magazines regularly.

While often positioned against one another, traditional media and new media can offer immense value when combined with one another.

There’s no harm in continuing your current marketing methods if they are still working for you. It’s entirely possible to invest in both new and traditional media! However, with all of your marketing methods, you should pay attention to their performance and do frequent evaluations so that you can scale up or down your spending appropriately.

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Implement new media marketing strategies with WebFX

WebFX is a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in implementing new media strategies that reach your target audience and encourage them to purchase.

Our new media methods give you access to highly-targeted ad campaigns and marketing messages that reach the people most likely to purchase your products or services. The result? You won’t waste your marketing budget reaching the people who won’t buy from you.

Contact us online or chat with us by calling 888-601-5359 to learn more about how our top-tier digital marketing services, from PPC services to SEO services, can help your business grow!

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