Is Social Media Marketing Different Than Traditional Marketing?

TL;DR

What are the key differences between traditional push marketing and social media marketing?

Core Definition: The comparison of Traditional Push Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing involves analyzing two distinct approaches to reaching customers. Traditional marketing is a one-way 'push' method that broadcasts a message to a wide, untargeted audience through channels like print and billboards, aiming for direct sales. In contrast, social media marketing is a two-way 'pull' method that uses valuable content to attract and engage a specific audience, nurturing them into customers over time.

In a world filled with terms like inbound, outbound, push, and pull, understanding core marketing approaches is crucial. At its heart, the difference comes down to direction (inbound vs. outbound) and location (online vs. offline). We'll explore the primary differences between traditional 'push' marketing and the more modern, inbound approach of social media marketing to help you decide which is right for your B2B strategy.

Traditional marketing 'pushes' a one-way message to a broad audience, while social media 'pulls' in an interested audience with a two-way conversation.
While traditional methods like print ads can be expensive and hard to track, social media marketing is often more cost-effective with precise targeting and measurable analytics.
Traditional marketing is well-established and expected in certain industries, offering the potential for rapid sales boosts through mass exposure.
Social media excels at building community and engagement through diverse content formats, but it requires consistent effort and can be time-consuming to manage effectively.
The ultimate goal of traditional marketing is often direct sales, whereas social media marketing focuses on attracting followers and nurturing them with valuable content until they are ready to buy.

Traditional marketing, inbound marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, online marketing, outbound marketing, "push" marketing? Sometimes it seems like the marketing world has gotten a bit overly complex in recent years, doesn't it? So what ARE the differences between all those seemingly different niches listed above?

In reality, the differences in Social Media for B2B come down to the direction of your marketing activities and the location.

Direction as in push or pull, outbound or inbound. And location, as in online or off.

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That's all you need to know on the surface. For today's deeper dive, we're looking at the primary differences in technique between one subset of online, inbound marketing—social media—and traditional marketing, also called outbound or push marketing.

Let's start with a quick description of these terms:

Traditional/Outbound/Push Marketing

Traditional marketing, also known as outbound or push marketing, is a marketing approach characterized by a one-way monologue where a company broadcasts its message to a wide audience. This method involves the company speaking to its audience, regardless of whether they have expressed prior interest. Common tactics for traditional marketing include print media, billboards, mail flyers, cold calling, pay-per-click banner ads, and unsolicited email blasts. The primary goal of traditional marketing is to increase sales directly.

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Inbound/Content Marketing

Inbound marketing is a marketing methodology centered on creating a two-way conversation between a company and its customers. Unlike traditional marketing, inbound marketing focuses on attracting an audience by providing value. Inbound marketing consists of tactics like content marketing, blog posts, building a social media presence, and using highly targeted ads and emails. The goal is to attract followers and nurture them with valuable content, so they choose your company when they are ready to make a purchase.

Traditional Push Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing: The Showdown

Each set of marketing techniques comes with its positives and negatives. The key is to know what to pull from which playbook and when to deploy each set of styles and tactics to impact your customers, your product, and your goals most.

Traditional Marketing Plusses

Well-established and time-tested. This isn't called "traditional" without cause. The tactics and techniques here can be connected in a straight line to the origins of marketing in the late 19th century.
It can be extremely effective at elevating sales numbers quickly. That's mainly down to the law of large numbers. Print ads reach millions of people simultaneously, so logic says a certain percentage will be ready to buy.
Expected in many sectors. When did you last see a social media ad for a mobile phone service? How about a billboard? Exactly.
Tradeshows are awesome for putting a face on the company. That way, your audience has someone to associate with the product and will remember your smiling, good-natured banter.

Traditional Marketing Minuses

Expensive. Getting that print ad in the papers and that billboard up along the freeway are not cheap endeavors.
A high bar to entry. The costs involved in publishing the ad and the additional costs of having it produced in the first place. Writers, designers, graphics, and so on all add up fast.
No effective targeting. You can choose which paper edition to go in or which stretch of freeway to put up your billboard, but that's about it for targeting. You cannot control who sees the ad, making it difficult to tailor its content effectively.
Difficult to track effects. Since these are primarily analog techniques, they don't have a good way to track metrics.

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Social Media Marketing Plusses

Cheap. Regarding person-hours, especially when considering how much of your presence can be automated with the strategic use of marketing automation software.
Ad targeting is easy and accurate. Most major social media outlets offer dashboards where you can develop your audience profile down to the zip code and whether or not they like pineapple on their pizza.
Massive numbers of people to get your message in front of. In terms of your overall presence, posts, interactions, etc., millions of people are on social media daily, so your chances of hitting the right person at the right time increase exponentially.
Multi-media possibilities. Film a product release, or a day-in-the-life of your street team, create an infographic detailing the amazing ways your widget will solve your audience's problems, or write a lengthy thinkpiece about the state of your industry. All of these have a place on social media.
Engagement. Likes, comments, re-posts, and shares can encourage your followers to engage with your social media team (even if that's just you for now).

Social Media Marketing Minuses

It can be time-consuming. Without strategic use of automation, social media can quickly become just as addictive for marketers as it can be for the general public.
Requires constant updates to stay relevant. With the speed of timelines, if you’re not posting something multiple times per day, you won't see the ROI from this one.
Many channels to choose from. It's easy to find yourself posting to a dozen sites in an attempt to reach everyone at the same time. This goes back to the first item on this list.
Easy to become overwhelmed by data. Every platform has its dashboard where you can dig into the metrics on how your presence is performing. The problems arise when you're unclear on which metrics you care about and get lost in the data weeds.

Traditional and Social Overlap and Interplay

The true strengths of these marketing methods come out when you realize how much overlap there is and start to develop your own push-and-pull mash-up.

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It's in this gray area where the biggest ROI benefits can be found.

Try an email blast that contains content designed to address a specific pain point, then links to an eBook for a deeper dive. Or how about using QR codes on your promotional materials that link people to a landing page for gated content developed specifically for attendees of that conference? On a basic level of cross-over, you can create a landing page just for special events, full of links and content targeted at the same audience as the event.

The growth of what's being called "hybrid" marketing shows that there are creative ways to blend old-school and cutting-edge in and outbound techniques to create a marketing campaign that is unique to you and your product. Think outside the box, formulate your integrated strategy, and see how you can put this theory to work for your next campaign.

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Inbound vs. Traditional Marketing FAQ: Key Differences Explained

What is the core difference between inbound and traditional marketing?

Popular

The core difference is the direction of communication. Inbound marketing uses valuable content to "pull" in an interested audience, creating a two-way dialogue. Evidence shows traditional marketing "pushes" a one-way message to a broad audience, regardless of interest.

Can inbound and outbound marketing strategies be combined?

Popular

Yes, combining these strategies creates a powerful hybrid approach. Evidence suggests using QR codes on print materials to direct users to a specific landing page yields a high ROI. This integration leverages the reach of outbound with the engagement of inbound marketing.

Is traditional 'push' marketing still effective today?

Yes, traditional marketing remains effective for specific goals. Its strength, as evidenced by print ads and billboards, is in reaching a massive audience quickly to elevate sales. This approach is time-tested and expected in many established business sectors.

What are the main advantages of social media marketing?

The main advantages are precise targeting and cost-effectiveness. Evidence from social platforms shows you can target audiences by specific demographics and interests. This leads to higher engagement and a better return on investment compared to expensive traditional ads.

How does audience targeting differ between social media and traditional ads?

Social media offers granular targeting, while traditional methods are broad. Evidence shows social platforms allow targeting by user interests, behavior, and location. In contrast, traditional ads like billboards only offer general geographic targeting, making them less precise.

What are the primary drawbacks of traditional marketing?

The primary drawbacks are high costs and difficulty in tracking results. Evidence shows that producing and placing print or billboard ads is expensive. Because these methods are analog, it is very difficult to track metrics and accurately measure return on investment.

Inbound Marketing Social Media Marketing

Written By Jesse

Jesse hails from Seattle, WA. When he's not creating great content or staring at his laptop screen waiting for inspiration, he's probably walking in the trees somewhere in the foothills of the nearby Cascade Mountains.