Contrary to popular opinion, digital marketing didn’t arrive to bury traditional marketing—it came to fulfil it.
Across Africa, I notice a worrying trend: marketing departments, often led by digital-first professionals without a grounding in traditional marketing, adopt an extreme view: “To hell with traditional marketing! It’s outdated. All we need is digital, and we’ll be fine. In fact, let’s never mention billboards, events, radio, or any ‘old-school’ channels again!”
But let’s pause for a second. As someone who actively practices on both sides of the divide, I can confidently tell you that traditional marketing is far from dead.
What Really Happened?
The introduction of digital marketing didn’t kill traditional channels, it expanded the toolbox for everyone: marketers, customers, and brands.
Take this example: gathering 5 million impressions in 24 hours through traditional means (billboards, flyers, radio, TV) would have been logistically complex and financially draining. Today, with social media ads, that’s possible within hours and at a fraction of the cost.
But here’s the key truth, digital works best when it complements, not replaces, traditional marketing.
What In-House Teams Must Understand
- Over-Reliance on Digital Has a Ceiling
- Digital marketing can drive reach and growth, but it rarely scales a brand beyond a certain threshold.
- A 2024 Nielsen study showed that traditional channels still drive 60% of consumer trust, compared to 40% for digital.
- Awareness ≠ Sales
- Depending on the product and other rare peculiarities, digital may only build awareness at best. Conversion often requires offline reinforcement.
- Example: In Africa, 70% of FMCG sales are still triggered by in-store visibility and activations, not online ads.
- Match Channels to Product Life Cycle
- New launches may benefit from the virality of digital, while mature products often need the stability and credibility of traditional channels.
- The Power is in Integration
- A Kantar cross-media study found that campaigns combining traditional and digital deliver up to 35% higher ROI than digital-only campaigns.
- Human Connection Still Sells
- People buy from people. Activations, word-of-mouth, and in-person experiences remain powerful conversion drivers.
- Digital Fatigue is Real
- With ad saturation, algorithms tightening, and rising costs of digital ads, companies are seeing diminishing returns.
- In fact, Meta’s CPM rates in Africa grew by 32% between 2021–2024, while engagement rates dropped.
- Digital Excels in Marketing, Traditional Closes the Sale
- Digital is excellent for reach and precision targeting, but traditional remains the closer (not to say closing doesn’t happen in digital, but the nature of the product and the stage of same are critical deciding factors), especially in markets where trust, visibility, and relationships dominate.
Bottom Line
It’s not digital vs. traditional. It’s digital + traditional.
The smartest marketing departments don’t choose sides; they build hybrid strategies that leverage the speed of digital and the trust of traditional to drive both awareness and sale.
Before you crucify your digital marketing team for not bringing in the sales, think again.
#Ololadefagbohunlu #Marketing #Business #Sales #DigitalMarketing #Nigeria #Lagos