Why Internet Marketing is winning an edge over Traditional Marketing?

Marketing has been an important process of reaching out to the customers, since ages, for the promotion of products/ services of a business. In the beginning it used to be through conversations i.e. word of mouth. Then gradually, with the advent of the media, it took the form of billboards, fliers, newspapers, radio and television advertisements. Now the latest and fast emerging formula to join the wagon is that of Online Marketing or more prominently as Internet Marketing.

Although at medium and small scale, the traditional marketing process is still preferred but in the case of large enterprises, this process alone is quite time consuming and involves sufficient manpower. Also the rising change in the lifestyle, with maximum people spending time on internet surfing sites for multiple services and information, makes sense for the businesses to reach out to the potential customers through the web via advertisements, mails, social media, blogs, flash banners, press releases, etc.

The use of either of the two mediums completely depends on the target audience, budget, time and level of promotion i.e. regional /national/ international. And on the basis of these factors, a company decides as to which method they should opt for. Usually the multinational firms go for a combination of both the types of marketing as they have the resources to accomplish it, but the same factor limits the choice in case of medium and small firms.

Now the question arises that what factors are making the internet marketing as the most preferred medium of advertising and promotion over the traditional marketing.

Cost
We all realize that spending money in the right direction is very necessary to achieve the desired output. The traditional marketing involves huge sum of money and renders good results, but to some extent only and obviously is a slow process, while the internet marketing method employs less money and leads to faster, intended and improved results.

Time & Manpower
Traditional marketing requires more time and people, which is directly proportional to the expenses involved. On the other hand, Internet Marketing is almost like, free of cost, involving much less manpower and time. Tracking
In case of Internet marketing, the source and amount of traffic can easily be tracked which in turn can be used to increase the performance while in case of traditional marketing, it is difficult to track the reach and promotion of the products/ services.

Web Services
The increased usage of web services, especially social media, on the handheld devices such as mobiles, tablets, etc. is also one of the major factors that govern the marketing world.

Global Recognition
Online marketing helps a company to achieve global presence while the traditional method of promotion covers a limited area which may be a city/ state/ country. International recognition is difficult to achieve through the latter process.

Life & Sustainability
The life of online promotions, especially through blogs, articles, social media, are much longer as compared to traditional means which is contract based, may be for a year or so.

The above factors lead to the conclusion that Internet marketing is in rapid progression and soon will overtake the traditional process of advertising and promotion.