TRADITIONAL MARKETING CHANNELS

Traditional marketing is simply any form of marketing that is not done online. We always have one form of traditional marketing around us, on radio, on our tv sets, on billboards and so many others. Traditional marketing channels are considered best for creating, building and improving brand awareness for businesses. This is asides the fact that they advertise and promote a company’s products and services. 

Traditional marketing channels include all the media marketers and companies use to market their products offline. Most often business owners especially small business owners are wary of marketing of all forms, both digital and traditional. Mostly because marketing when done wrongly can be a waste of time and valuable resources both financial and otherwise. On the other hand, when marketing is done right, it produces the best results.

Finding the right channel to market your product is one of the determining factors of the failure or success of your marketing campaign. For instance, you run an a store for Italian foot wear and you go to a children’s park to share fliers to the children there; let’s say a few of the children give the fliers to their parents, most of your fliers will end up wasted because those children aren’t the target audience for your business. 

In this post, we will discuss the traditional channels for marketing. Lets get to it. 

Traditional Marketing Channels

As it is with digital marketing, traditional marketing also has a number of channels to market a business, brand, products or services. All these channels fall under three major umbrellas:

1. Print channels

2. Broadcast channels

3. Direct/Personal channels

Print Channels

Print is considered one of the most widely or commonly used traditional marketing channel. It includes all form of marketing that is printed on a surface to promote a brand, business or product. One of the major reasons why print is widely used is because, it is mostly cost effective; although some form of print ads can be quite on the high side. Examples of print channels for marketing includes:

• Flyers
• Billboards
• Branded T – Shirts, products or stationaries,
• Handbills, 
• Newspaper ads, Magazine ads, etc.

Broadcast Channels

The use of broadcast media for marketing is the most recent form of traditional marketing although, it did not start today.

The earliest marketing done on broadcast was on the first radio transmission where an opera session from a theatre was broadcasted, the number of attendants on the next opera show in the theatre was said to have tripled.

Today, broadcast has evolved to include a number of channels, thus, improving the options for marketing for businesses.

Broadcast marketing channels are quite popular and effective as well especially if a business is seeking to create aware over a wide demographic of target market, such as Abeg on BB Naija.

Examples of Broadcast channels for marketing include:

• Television Broadcast
• Radio
• Gramophones
• Newspapers and Magazines

Direct/ Face to Face Channels

This is one of the oldest, no, it is really the oldest form of traditional marketing and marketing itself. And guess what, it is still very much in use today.

Research has shown that although B2B Businesses favour digital marketing channels over traditional marketing, a majority have confessed that direct marketing produces a high ROI.

Direct marketing channels refer to any form of marketing that is done face to face. Where the marketer or individual directly speaks to a prospective client(s).

A lot of financial institutions such as banks practice this form of marketing, where they send agents to get a target number of customers for the bank.

Forms of Direct Marketing Channels includes:

• Speaking at Trade fairs, Seminars or Conferences
• Hosting or attending interviews to talk about your business
• Using marketers to promote your brand
• Referrals from customers, and
• Good customer service

One last thing,

Good customer service is a sure way to market your brand. There is no miracle on earth that will make an unsatisfied customer refer another person to your business, especially one who is treated poorly.

Good customer service should be ingrained into every part of your business, and should be offered to every customer that walks through the doors of your establishment whether they buy from you or not.

Your business should always aim to meet and exceed a customer’s expectation.

Thanks for reading ; -)

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