Traditional media is not dead!

As digital media takes over many marketing budgets it begs the question, is traditional media still worth it? Everyone is tethered to their phones or laptops for at least twelve hours of the day, so it should follow that advertising should be targeted to those mediums.

The peculiar market of Zimbabwe, does not necessarily adhere to those rules. In Zimbabwe, traditional media takes center stage, and in fact, it would seem more people prefer mass media channels. Whilst mass marketing strategies seem to work best the question still stands, with the number of digital devices in the country, why has it not made traditional media obsolete?

Traditional media is undeniably a trusted source that can elevate brands – consider news hour were business people are looking for ‘business-related’ content. Thus, whilst media consumption has changed, there is value in the wide reach and ability to connect and engage with audiences of above the line that must not be ignored.

On the other hand, it is also true that newspaper readerships are falling in numbers across the globe and media reach is no longer as reliable as it used to be. Could this be the eventuality in Zimbabwe? In addition to this, traditional media seems to exclude certain demographics as millennials are more prone to interacting and engaging on digital platforms, which makes the role of media buyers that much harder as they try to convince clients of the benefits of above the line media.

If traditional media is dead, who buried it? Not us, we at TotalMedia UM believe there should be a shift in the Marketers mindset, where we are no longer going after the medium, but seeking to understand our audience and thus the medium follows. So, if your audience predominantly listens to the radio, then radio it is. However, is that enough?

Thanks to technology we are now able to access non-personally identifiable data on our consumers. This is data with no name or home address, just a cookie trail or user device number. If you had the opportunity as a Marketer to access this information, wouldn’t you. That’s what digital does. It gives you the power to understand what your consumers’ interests are and how you can engage them. Because you are awesome, you then take all those insights and implement them above the line, delivering a super effective above the line campaign.

The key take out from all of this should be traditional vs digital does not matter. What matters is your audience, follow them and use the data to speak to them in a meaningful way that has a strong ROI.