1. What are the objectives of the campaign? Starting with a clear understanding of the business objectives you want to achieve may seem trivial but it often risks taking a back seat, in a context dominated by creative ideas. Doing a campaign with the primary objective of generating awareness/reputation of your brand can involve very different choices in the balance between digital and traditional channels compared to a campaign aimed at generating demand, or one that aims to retain customers, to, again, generate conversion or advocacy.
2. Who do you primarily target? Talking to different generations, to different markets or cultures, or to new or loyal customers requires completely different channels, language and modes of engagement. The idea that youth corresponds to digital channels certainly has merit, but it cannot be the only factor in choosing between traditional and digital channels.
3. What is the budget? When the amounts to be invested in a campaign are limited, opting for digital allows you to reach your audiences in a targeted way and with a very scalable investment. In addition, the possibility of measuring the progress of campaigns in real time and refining them along the way makes this road the most efficient. If digital is not the right option considering the objectives and targets of the campaign, the best advice is probably not to waste the investment trying to do a little bit of everything.
4. What channels are available? If the target audience is rather specific, campaign planners may be faced with a lack of similarly targeted marketing channels. This is particularly true for a market like Switzerland, which is already small and further fragmented into linguistic regions. In the absence of traditional channels specific to the target – e.g. specialised media (magazines, radio, TV, etc.), events or direct mail – digital helps by allowing accurate targeting. In addition, as is well known, “the medium is the message”, that is, each media has its own intrinsic characteristics that partly influence the message. Therefore, even depending on the message you want to communicate and/or the characteristics of the product, it may make sense to focus more on one type of channel.
