Comparison of Traditional Media and Digital Media - Essay Example

Running Head: Marketing Communication Marketing Communication [Institute’s Marketing Communication Traditional Media Vs DigitalMedia In its simplest sense, traditional media refers to communication mediums like television, newspapers, magazines, radio and others; however, the digital media may go on to include internet, mobile devices, interactive kiosks, interactive TVs and projectors, compact discs, e-books and others (Dave, pp. 69-72, 2005). One of the major differences between them remains the interactive nature of the digital media. Traditional forms of media are like one-way streets, the flow of information is defined, and that is from company to the customer. Experts refer it as “push media” where the recipients are passive. However, digital forms of media have earned the title of “pull media” because of the fact that the customers of these media forms are proactive and select the message for themselves. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, it allows the customer to interact with the company thus making it a two way street (Pavlik, pp. 33-34, 2008). Traditional push communications often send the same message to many customers, belonging from various segments and thus poorly targeted. On the other hand, digital media provides the chance of tailoring the message according to the demographics and needs of different segments and niche. Mass customization and personalization is thus a product of digital media. When traditional media is “one to many”, digital media works on the formula of “one to some” or even “one to one” (Cant & Heerden, pp. 73-75, 2005). Other differences between these forms of media are related to speed, cost, diffusion, transmission, and reach of these media forms. Digital media appears to have a greater speed, lesser long-term cost, faster diffusion and more reach. However, the traditional media has now become slower, more costly for the companies, has slower diffusion rates and with its decline its reach or spread is shrinking (Pavlik, pp. 33-34, 2008). Personal Selling Today, marketers from all parts of the world agree that it has become important to shape marketing communications in such a way that it becomes an interactive dialogue between the customer and the company. This is where the idea of “direct marketing” comes in. Now companies do not only ask, “How can we reach our customers”, however, they also ask, “How can our customers reach us?” (Anderson & Dubinsky, pp. 5-9, 2003) One of the forms of direct marketing is personal selling. Despite the fact, that has gained much attention in the recent decades but it has been there since the earliest times. Personal selling occurs when a sales representative from a company directly approaches the customer to have an oral communication with him or her, which end up with both the parties obtaining value (Mathur, pp. 89-92, 2008). For sales person, the value would refer to the financial rewards that come with closing or making the sale and for the customer; value is linked with the benefits that come through consuming the product or service (Marks, pp. 56-58, 2006). However, it is important to note that personal selling may initially start off by building a relationship with the potential buyer and at times much of the personal selling would remain focused on the same; however, the activity will always end up with the sales person closing the sale. Quite understandably, the sales force of the company plays an important role in this process. Experts have identified the six major roles of sales force as “prospecting and qualifying, preapproach, presentation and demonstration, overcoming objections, closing, and follow up and maintenance” (Hair, Anderson, Babin & Mehta, pp. 41-46, 2008). Personal selling is growing trend these days because it offers some distinct advantages. Firstly, with personal selling customers get more attention due to the interactive communication, which results in higher degree of customer satisfaction. Secondly, personal selling offers the companies a chance to tailor and alter the message according to the requirement of the specific customer of that specific segment or niche of customers. Products that are highly expensive and are sold or purchased in lesser volume involve a high degree of post purchase dissonance (Cant & Heerden, pp. 73-75, 2005). Personal selling remains important for these businesses because personal selling tries to build relationships that helps coping with the purchase and post purchase dissonance. Thirdly, personal selling is at the top of list for companies that sell their products to customers that belong to a niche are widely spread, or are difficult to reach by other communication mediums. In addition, with interactive communications companies get the chance to respond to the concerns and queries of the customer directly and promptly thus contributing to customer satisfaction (Dave, pp. 69-72, 2005). However, personal selling comes with strings attached to it. As mentioned above, for effective personal selling, a company needs highly effective and trained sales force. Quite understandably, there is a cost of recruiting, employing, training, and motivating the sales force (Anderson & Dubinsky, pp. 5-9, 2003). Moreover, it is not the best option if a company is trying to reach a large number of audiences because meeting or talking to every customer individually may take a lot of time. In addition, sales jobs witness a high level of turnover as compared to other marketing jobs, which means even higher costs of recruiting. Personal selling is different in business to business than it is in business to customer. During B2B, the sales person must spend more time in firstly identifying the decision maker in the business, spend a lot of time with him or her in building trust and then finally execute the sale (Marks, pp. 56-58, 2006). Personal selling also plays different yet vital roles push, pull, and profile strategies. In a push strategy, the sale force is expected to create the demand of the product through personal selling. However, in a pull strategy relies more on the already created customer demand rather than trying to create the demand by personal selling (Marks, pp. 56-58, 2006). Furthermore, a profile strategy occurs when any company is trying to reach a diverse range of customer with different messages for each. Here personal selling may play a crucial role since it personal selling is the best way for this strategy (Mondy, Young, Premeaux & Young, pp. 102, 113-115, 1999). It is also important to note that most of the personal selling revolves around the concept of AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) (Hair, Anderson, Babin & Mehta, pp. 41-46, 2008). The sales person starts off with catching the attention for the customer. Once the sales person has all the attention of the customer, he tries builds the customer’s interest with his pitch and high interest levels ultimately results in the desire of having the product. If the desire created by the salesperson is strong enough then the customer will up taking the action of buying the product (Mondy, Young, Premeaux & Young, pp. 102, 113-115, 1999). References Anderson, Rolph E., & Dubinsky, Alan J. (2003). Personal Selling: Achieving Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. Houghton Mifflin. Cant, M. C., & Heerden, C. H. van (2005). Personal Selling. Juta and Company Ltd. Dave, Chaffey. (2005). Internet Marketing. Pearson Education India. Hair, Joseph F., Anderson, Rolph E., Babin, Barry J., & Mehta, Rajiv. (2008). Sales Management: Building Customer Relationships and Partnerships. Cengage Learning. Marks, Ronald. (2006). Personal Selling: A Relationship Approach. Cengage Learning. Mathur, U. C. (2008). Sales Management. New Age International. Mondy, R. Wayne, Young, Shane R., Premeaux, Shane R., & Young, James Ryland. (1999). Personal Selling: Function, Theory, & Practice. Dame Publications. Pavlik, John Vernon. (2008). Media in the digital age. Columbia University Press. Read More