What would you have chosen of the two, if something is presented to you by your family members and the same by a marketer at your doorstep with a flyer? This more likely is the difference between the two marketing types we will compare today. Let’s have a brief understanding of what each type is focused on.
Influencer Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing offers the old ways of promotion in which brands would advertise them through billboards, magazines, print and TV ads, etc. It is also known as outbound marketing where marketers deliver their message coming to the people in a way they might not be interested in and by interrupting their routine. Do you remember the last time when you purchased after seeing any TV commercial or billboard?
On the other hand, influencer marketing is a newer concept that involves the most used internet category, i.e., social media. Based on influencers, it provides a dedicated following to market the products and services. This new influx of marketing impacts people with word-of-mouth and relatability when they are buying something.
Have a look at how she is tempting her followers to be engaged with the product she is an influencer to. Not only this, bigger brands like Samsung, Glossier, and H&M are boosting their conversions through social media influencers.
So, what are the factors that let influencer marketing keep an upper hand over traditional marketing? Let’s analyze them.
Which One is More Reachable? 
How many have you seen millennials and generation Z looking at the billboards carefully and remembering them, or reading newspapers and focusing on a TV commercial? I think very few. Most of them stuck to their mobile phones.
Michelle Klein, Head of Marketing for North America at Facebook revealed, an average adult looks to his/her phone 30 times a day whereas in case of millennials the ratio is increased to 5 times where they check their phones more than 150 times a day.
This gives influencer marketing a significant edge to traditional marketing because it focuses on the device that is glued the hands.
Thinking of The Budget 
We just cannot imagine how much it takes a company to showcase their products through expensive TV ads and huge billboards. In contrast, influencer marketing is quite cheap and free sometimes as well. Depending upon the influencer and the channel, cost varies. On average $1000 for 100K followers on Instagram, $500 for a Snapchat promotion of 24 hours and $2000 for a YouTube channel.
Return on Investment (ROI) 
An average lead generated by a traditional marketing campaign cost around $370. This is by far a considerable investment. On the other hand, influencer marketing generates 11 times better ROI as compared to all of the other digital marketing channels. Using advanced tactics, you can improve your ROI rate.
This is what attracts more marketers towards influencer marketing, and once they are skeptical they tend to work more seriously with it. Additionally, in contrast to traditional marketing where it is difficult to analyze the ROI, influencer marketing through tracking tools can calculate the investment and gained price easily.
Serves Through Different Channels 
Both types of marketing have a variety of paths through which they can target their respective audience and can engage more customers. Where traditional marketing has:
- Billboards
- TV commercials
- Radio Ads
- Print media
Influencers have multiple channels like:
- YouTube
- Blogs
- Snapchat
Mrs. Joe Wilson, Marketing Strategist at Crowd Writer, summarizes this point with her words, “Although, traditional marketing and influencer marketing has a lot to serve their audience through, the gigantic difference between the two is the usage and impact that social media has in the modern era.”
Which Creates Trust? 
Human Psychology is the feeling of being connected with the people who share the same interests. We are more attracted to the influencers, friends, and family because we share many things in common and that is what influencers take the benefit of. The connection ultimately results in higher trusted level.
Nielson data says that about 92% of users are convinced more to purchase a product when these influencers recommend them rather than the brand itself or a banner ad and billboards.
So, one of the essential reasons behind influencer marketing is a pitfall to traditional marketing is that influencers are more trusted in people’s opinion than TV ads and commercials. This is probably an answer to the question I started this discussion with.
While Summing Up The Discussion
Apart from all the above benefits, traditional marketing incorporates a message without any mediator in between. Depending upon the preferences of people it is necessary for a brand to utilize the modern wave of marketing but without completely neglecting the classical style.
Author Bio:
Amanda Jerelyn is an independent girl who has graduated from the University of London. She has a great passion for writing and sharing her views with people. Amanda loves to spend time traveling and meeting new people. She is currently working as a marketing tutor at Academist Help.