Yesterday we challenged the idea that traditional advertising costs more and is less effective, noting how online advertising is becoming more competitive and doesn’t simply translate into profit.

Both the old and new methods of advertising are often done badly and end up as junk mail. It takes something extra for advertisers to get people’s attention beyond the basics of a compelling offer, a good call-to-action, or well targeted lists. So which is better? In fact, marketers may need to understand how to utilize both.

In fact there is an interesting interview with Mark Thomson, media director at Royal Mail, where he shares information about using both traditional and new advertising methods to get a high ROI. The major points from the article are quoted here:

- A digital campaign saw a 62% increase in return on investment when combined with direct mail.
- 63% of people surveyed refer to a catalogue as part of their buying decision even if they make the final purchase in-store or online.
- 45% look at a print catalogue before making an online purchase.

Here is another good example. A study found that direct mail and email had roughly equal influence (28% and 27% respectively) on a person’s decision to donate. Again that’s why yesterday’s post was interesting, simply getting rid of the old method of advertising is not the answer.