Introduction of Traditional Marketing

What is Traditional Marketing?

Traditional marketing is a rather broad category that incorporates many forms of advertising and marketing. It's the most recognizable types of marketing, encompassing the advertisements that we see and hear every day. Most traditional marketing strategies fall under one of five categories: print, broadcast, direct mail, and telephone.

• Print
• Broadcast
• Direct-Mail
• Referal
• Telephone

Print marketing is the oldest form of traditional marketing. Loosely defined as advertising in paper form, this strategy has been in use since ancient times, when Egyptians created sales messages and wall posters on papyrus. Today, print marketing usually refers to advertising space in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and other printed materials intended for distribution.

Broadcast marketing includes television and radio advertisements. Radio broadcasts have been around since the 1900s, and the first commercial broadcast—a radio program supported by on-air advertisements—aired on November 2, 1920. Television, the next step in entertainment technology, was quicker to adopt advertising, with less than ten years between its inception and the first television commercial in 1941.

Direct-mail marketing creates awareness of a product through postcards, brochures, letters and fliers sent through mail. Direct mail is called a targeted type of marketing strategy because information is sent to a specific target market. However, direct-mail marketing can be expensive as a business incurs design and printing costs as well as postage expenses to reach its target. One of the earliest and most well-known examples of direct mail is the Sears Catalog, which was first mailed to consumers in 1888.

Referral marketing, also known as word of mouth, relies on customers to spread information about products or services. Referral is not a strategic or planned marketing activity, but it might help a business build a loyal client base. It also costs close to nothing for the business. However, a business shouldn't rely primarily on referral marketing; it should combine this with the other types of marketing to reach a wider target market.

Finally, telephone marketing, or telemarketing, is the practice of delivering sales messages over the phone to convince consumers to buy a product or service. This form of marketing has become somewhat controversial in the modern age, with many telemarketers using aggressive sales tactics. Many countries government has passed strict laws governing the use of telemarketing to combat some of these techniques.