For business owners—especially in Jordan—making marketing decisions based solely on instinct or past experience is no longer enough. One question keeps coming up:
Should I rely on traditional marketing or go digital? And which is more effective?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Each business has its own nature, audience, and goals. However, there are clear criteria that can help you, as a business owner, make the right decision based on practical understanding—not assumptions.
Traditional marketing refers to all non-digital promotional methods, such as:
- Newspaper and magazine ads
- Billboards
- Radio and TV commercials
- Printed flyers and brochures
- Trade shows and physical exhibitions
Digital marketing is the use of the internet to promote your products or services. It includes:
- Social media platforms
- Google Ads
- Email marketing
- Written content (blogs, articles)
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
Traditional marketing tends to be expensive, especially TV and radio spots.
Digital marketing, on the other hand, allows you to launch campaigns with a small budget—and scale later as needed.
With digital marketing, you can know exactly how many people saw your ad, clicked it, and made a purchase.
Traditional marketing offers very limited metrics, making it hard to evaluate ROI accurately.
With print or TV ads, your message may reach many people—but not necessarily the right ones.
Digital tools allow precise targeting by age, gender, location, interests, and behavior.
Digital ads can be edited or updated during the campaign.
With traditional methods, once something is printed or aired—it’s locked in.
A digital campaign can go live within hours.
Traditional ads often take days or even weeks to prepare and launch.
Digital marketing allows two-way interaction. You can respond to comments, messages, and reviews.
Traditional marketing is one-directional with no real-time engagement.
Traditional marketing may help in highly local contexts, especially if your audience isn't online.
Digital marketing makes it easy to reach both local and international audiences—even from Jordan.
- If you’re targeting an older audience that doesn’t actively use the internet.
- For community-based campaigns (e.g., sponsoring a local event).
- If your business relies on field presence, like a trade fair or roadshow.
- If you're working with a limited budget and need measurable results.
- If your audience is online daily (which is true for most Jordanians today).
- If your product or service can be sold or booked online.
Imagine owning a restaurant in Amman.
Instead of placing an ad in a local newspaper, you could run a targeted Instagram or Facebook campaign within a 5km radius of your location—with a compelling photo of your signature dish and a short, tempting caption.
More reach. Less cost. Better results.
Absolutely. In many cases, the best strategy is a smart blend of both.
For instance:
- Place in-store posters encouraging customers to follow your social media.
- Add a QR code to your brochure that links directly to your website or online menu.
The choice between traditional and digital marketing shouldn’t be random.
Start by asking yourself:
- Who is my audience?
- Where do they spend their time?
- What’s the goal of this campaign?
- What’s my available budget?
Then, choose the channel that serves you best—or combine both if it makes strategic sense.
Marketing isn’t just about being seen. It’s about connecting with the right people, at the right time, in the right way.
Choose wisely—and launch your next campaign with confidence.