Content Marketing vs. Traditional Advertising: Which Strategy is Most Affective?

Traditional Advertisement (advertisement through newspaper, magazine, television, etc.)  has long been the leading marketing source for a company or product. However, a new form of marketing and advertisement, Content Marketing, is rising quickly with the help of social media, blogs and mobile devices. Content marketing is a "marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action."(Content Marketing Institute) Content marketing through the usage of online advertisements, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) marketing, social media and more is becoming more prevalent in today's society.

Marketing Is Rapidly Changing

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Traditional Advertisement is becoming less useful in today's society. There was a time when advertisement and marketing was only seen through the newspaper or magazines, radio shows and emails. However, these forms of information are decreasing rapidly because of the Internet and Mobile Devices. For example, many newspaper and magazine companies are facing bankruptcy because society is now turning to the faster, cheaper, and easier alternative. With the rise of social media sites, the increase in technology including computers and smartphones, and the overall general migration from paper to digital, businesses' marketing departments are now keeping up with what the consumer wants. Traditional advertisement provides a temporary interruption where short advertisements just strike a consumers attention without actually giving them any type of value or information. This is why the information in this advertisement will not be remembered or actually processed. This form of marketing can be seen as obtrusive or annoying to consumers. Traditional Advertisements also cost significantly higher than marketing with content, while Content Marketing many times can be utilized at no cost. 

Content Marketing Gives Brands Value to the Consumer

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Content Marketing provides much more benefits for the consumer and the business. It gives the consumer a feeling of value, because they also receive something other than the product being offered. For example, many companies now put out free videos or blogs on information involving their market or field. This not only educates the consumer on certain topics, but it also influences them to buy the product. It is an easy and cost effective way of marketing, instead of using the traditional method of paper, which is very expensive. Content Marketing also provides value from the brand to the consumer. For example, many brands are now creating social profiles to interact with their customers. They may be posting information about a new product or service, answering questions, or acting as customer service by responding to any complaints or problems. This gives value to the company's brand.  The consumer feels a connection to the brand due to the interactions online. Lastly, the use of digital technology creates a broader spectrum of consumers due to the Internet and mobile devices. The consumer does not have to buy a newspaper or magazine to gain information about a brand's newest product. Instead, simply logging onto a computer or using a mobile device will help in making the completion of the task easier and faster than ever before.

The Future of Marketing Rests in Content Marketing's Hands

There is still much debate on whether traditional forms of advertisement will die out.  Research proves that Content Marketing is already being significantly more effective in most markets than traditional forms of marketing. For example, because 61% of consumers say they feel better about a company that delivers custom content, they are also more likely to buy from that company. (CustomContent Council). However, because SEO Marketing, social media, and Content Marketing as a whole is very new, businesses are slowly catching on to it. It is proven that it is much more effective than Traditional Marketing although it still is the second form of marketing used by most companies. This causes people to question. "Where will marketing be in the future?"

At the University of Maryland, a Sports Marketing Professor, Chartese Burnett, stresses to her students the importance of technology in the Marketing Profession. Through her various experiences with the Marketing Profession including the National Football Players League, National Basketball Association, and the Washington Nationals, Burnett describes her view of the future of Content Marketing: 

The demographics of the consumer are very important to keep in mind in marketing. Generation Y (the current generation of children and young adults where technology has been introduced at a very young age) rarely ever utilizes traditional media. However, the baby boomer generations of adults are also using technology to supplement the traditional media as well. In fact they are the fastest growing demographic to digital media, with Social network use among Internet users 50 years old and older has nearly doubled to 42% over the past year and as many as 15% of people aged 55 and older are using smartphones, according to data from Nielsen.

With the rise of advanced software and technological devices Content Marketing will eventually overtake Traditional Marketing. David Woodrow, Senior Vice President of Strategic Services for Skyword, believes:

The era of traditional marketing through product placement, direct advertisements, and promotions may as well be over. Content Marketing has rapidly picked up steam and is about to replace traditional marketing as we know it, with    nine out of ten B2B marketers currently engaging in some form of content marketing. 

With nine out of ten B2B (Business-to-Business) marketers engaging in content marketing, it is easy to understand the amount of B2C (Business-to-Consumer) content marketing that is occurring. It is significant to utilize content marketing and take in the value that companies offer with their product or service. Now, while scrolling down our Facebook News Feed or Twitter Timeline, we understand the mindset of major marketing companies when seeing our favorite brands interacting with fellow customers. 

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