Does traditional marketing still have a place?

Traditional marketing methods such as mail shots, relationship building campaigns advertising and market research still have a valuable place in modern marketing strategies but there has been a shift in marketing to the digital side.

With the rise of the entrepreneur, combined with an ever innovating society, consumers are no longer swayed solely by traditional marketing approaches. Instead, they have grown to expect more from companies and are fickle in their affections. Companies that implement more current, technological and en vogue marketing strategies will thus stand out amongst a sea of images, sound bites and strap lines. Inevitably, these companies will succeed over those that don’t move with the times.

So what are these new attention grabbing methods? The most discussed marketing term of 2010 surely has to be that of content generation… Such content isn’t as demanding or disruptive as advertising, but allows a brand to be promoted in an authoritative yet discrete manner. Well written, informative content can be used in a variety of mediums such as blogs, white papers or company newsletters. Unlike advertising, content can be re-utilised and inform customers of important developments in a particular field. Most importantly, content engages with a reader, especially when integrated with social media marketing tools like Twitter and LinkedIn.

White papers by organisations such as Click Predictions and Junta42 rave about the use of content marketing this year, with marketers spending more of their budget on good quality content generation, promoted in relevant arenas. What is perhaps so relevant about content is that it can be harnessed by the private & B2B sector, the public sector and by small or large organisations. The reason why content generation is so encompassing is that whilst a good level of quantity is helpful, quality is the king – personality and a catchy, innovative article are the reason why people read and act on content. In particular, personality is emerging as a strong market advantage, identifying with readers. After all who wants to read anonymous company copy?

So content marketing must be expensive right? Far from it, content marketing is one of the most financially viable of all marketing strategies, yet it is one of the most effective. Whether content is generated internally or a digital marketing agency is enlisted, content can be considerably cheaper than taking out full page newspaper adverts or organising intricate promotional events.

Savvy companies relish the opportunity to establish their business as a trusted, valuable and fresh provider of the latest information – posting this information direct to where their clients are. As such, utilising content pushes a company to the top, waving goodbye to competitors who are stuck using old marketing favourites.