Online Versus Traditional Advertising

There have been many articles written about online versus traditional advertising. Today, we add one more to the pile … but this one is going to come from an automotive point of view. As an advertising agency whose clientele are strictly automotive dealers, we’ve been around the block a few times and know what works – and we have years of experience, data and enthusiastic clients to back up our claims.

 

This subject seems pertinent to us, because it’s become obvious to us that many car dealers have questions about this subject. Recently, we’ve had multiple potential new clients come to us and say, “We have greatly increased our online advertising budget, and while we’re getting more Internet traffic, our sales are only a fraction of what they once were. It seems like we’re doing what we should do, but we just aren’t getting results.”

 

More On Online Versus Traditional

So that brings us back to the whole online versus traditional advertising thing. While these dealerships are getting more clicks – which is great – they are not translating into sales. Why not? Part of it might be that the Internet pages they’re visiting don’t pack a significant amount of impact to make them want to come to your dealership (and if this is the case, we can help). But a very big part of the problem is simply being caused by a large percentage of the advertising budget being misplaced.

 

Think about today’s big-time online companies. You know which businesses we mean; the ones with the famous lizard and caveman; the mayhem guy; the popular credit card companies; even the local attorney who shouts at you multiple times a day, telling you to call him if you’re ever in an accident.

 

What do all these highly successful companies have in common? Before they are ever discovered online, people found about them (or were reminded of them) repeatedly on … you guessed it … traditional media. It’s still important to have the online part of your advertising campaign, but the radio and television advertisements are what drives them there. Once the prospective customer is there, he/she can then get more details than a 30- or 60-second spot could provide them – and that’s important.

 

But what you cannot do, under any circumstances, is ignore what drives much of the Internet traffic in the first place! You need both online and traditional advertising, but most of it should be of the traditional kind.

 

Here are some stats to think about, and you can read more about them here: The big “dot-com” companies collectively spent $1.5 billion on TV advertisements in 2014. That’s a billion and a half dollars spent advertising with what has to be considered their chief competitor! Need more proof? How’s this: the leading online dating company spent 75% of their $90 million ad budget on television.

 

To show that radio also has a major effect on Internet traffic, we offer this in-depth study done by the experts at the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).

 

We’re not saying you should completely abandon today’s technology. We’re merely saying you should invest the majority of your advertising budget into that of the traditional variety.