Comparative Analysis: Traditional Media versus Social Media Marketing

This report presents a comprehensive comparison between traditional media (print, broadcast) and social media marketing strategies. It examines the shift from traditional methods to the increasing adoption of social media platforms for advertising and customer engagement. The report analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of each media type, considering factors such as cost, reach, effectiveness, and interaction capabilities. It explores how businesses are adapting their marketing approaches to leverage the speed, cost-effectiveness, and two-way communication offered by social media, while also acknowledging the continued relevance of traditional media for certain demographics and purposes. The research includes a literature review, discussion of research questions, and a focus on how businesses can enhance market share and reduce marketing costs through strategic media choices. The report highlights the importance of understanding the evolving media landscape and making informed decisions to optimize marketing efforts.

Running head: TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA
Traditional Media vs. Social Media
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Author Note:

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 1
Executive Summary:
The report describes about the comparison and transformation from traditional media to
social. Media Print and traditional media is a one-way mass communication channel which
has limited the reaction of people towards the information transferred from print and
traditional media. The public choice towards the social media is a topic of analysis and
research.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 2
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Project Objective:.......................................................................................................................4
Project Scope:.............................................................................................................................5
Discussion and Literature Review:............................................................................................5
Research Questions/Hypothesis:..............................................................................................10
Primary Question:................................................................................................................10
Secondary Question:............................................................................................................10
Research Design and Methodology:........................................................................................10
Qualitative Research:...........................................................................................................10
Quantitative Research:.........................................................................................................11
Research Limitations:...............................................................................................................11
Time Schedule and Research Plan:..........................................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................12
References:...............................................................................................................................13
Appendix:.................................................................................................................................15
Quality and currency of articles and sources used in the research:......................................15
Identification of gaps:..........................................................................................................15

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 3
Introduction:
Now days, social media has become a major part of modern world that has taken over
the marketing function of every industry and management program. The prosperity of social
media as a marketing tool has acted as a challenge for the print and traditional media. Social
media has been preferred over print and traditional media as it has become a lightning fast
and cost effective medium for sharing data within the society.
With the help of social media, people are uploading their thought, reaction through
social media. With the innovation and development new technologies and features, we are
considering new measures of marketing, management, enhancing the customer base and
increasing feasibilities with the help of promotion.
The report is based on the written research proposal that is based on the literature
review and demonstrates their understanding of business research program. This report would
help to develop a basic knowledge of print and communicating as well as traditional media.
Here we would elaborately discuss the comparison between “Print and Traditional Media”
and “Modern Social Media” along with the advantages and disadvantages associated with
both types of media. The report also describes the shift from the first one to the second one in
order to improve market penetration and more cost effectiveness.
Project Objective:
The main objective of this report is to identify the goals that are needed to be achieved
with the execution of the business research project. It is a transition period when social high-
tech media are being widely used by business for promoting and marketing the products and
services. Fortunately, the promoting cost involvement in the activity of business has
exponentially reduced. The aim of this report is to analyze the shift broadly keeping the topic

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 4
of enhancing market share held by the product or service and reducing the cost of marketing
the products or services in mind.
Project Scope:
The project scope actually defines the outcomes and aspects that would be covered
under this research project. This report has been executed with a motive to discuss the shift of
print and traditional media to the modern social media for enhancing marketing of products
and services. The shift transformed the way of marketing function is carried out. The report
would discuss about the radical change of media in twenty first century. The pros and cons of
both types of media are discussed here according to the references of after the year 2012.
Discussion and Literature Review:
The Business firms and companies are using the marketing techniques or tools to
advertise and make public aware about the products or services they are offering (Odun and
Utulu 2016). An evolution has been in the advertisement sector which led to the change in the
systems used for marketing products and services. According to the public demand, the
access to the social media platforms is being handled as per need in the society. Business
sector and people could access the information stored or shared on the social media such as
twitter, Gmail, face book, Google plus, linked in, YouTube. Customers are getting dependent
upon media for gaining information related to the products or services offered by the business
firms like Amazon or Snap deal.
Use of social media has provided a support to the business sector and brought
opportunities for the growth and success (Arca, 2012). The changes in the marketing concept
have hampered the traditional outlooks. Both social media and marketing media are being
used by the business management. Every company is concentrating on social media as well

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 5
as marketing tools to re-growth and groom market penetrating process and profits.
Traditional media like television, radio, news tellers, newspapers, hoardings, handbills has
limited the access of information for the business as well as for the customers
(Shivarudrappa, 2014). Increased use of internet has resulted in the use of the mediums which
helps the customers in getting more engaged in the products and services provided by them.
No doubt, the internet is acting as a new global medium for the business.
Previously, social media platforms were used by the people for interacting and
communicating with each other. Every company is focusing on applying most suitable and
effective measures for reaching and attracting customers. The use of social media platforms is
growing with the change in the business environment and technology (Thesinghraja, 2014).
Actually, the print and traditional form of media can be explained as the one-way
communication process which helps in communicating with the society. This form of media
is non-technological media that is flexible in nature and is a less costly medium for
communicating with the society. This type of media is culturally rigid because in these cases
the reach of traditional media is limited. Print and rational media was the resource of
development of different civilizations and economies.The contribution of “Print and
Traditional Media” for the businesses sector is remarkable as the use of print and traditional
media has resulted in sharing of information and transfers of knowledge till the electronic
media launched (Tuten and Solomon, 2014). Different sections of the society are still far
away from the use of internet. Therefore they are still beyond the reach of technology and
social media platforms. Print and traditional media are still communicating and reaching
those sections of the society. Various companies are using print and traditional media for
promoting its products among all the masses of the society. The use of print and traditional
media is getting reduced due to the technological advancements and innovations day by day.
“Print and Traditional Media” have shaped the initial stages of marketing which has

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 6
contributed towards the success and growth of the business (Stephen & Galak, 2009). For
example, “Stormbox” a telecommunication agency has used print the published media for the
purpose of broadcasting.
Social media marketing is the techniques which are being used with a motive
to target the social networks and applications for promoting the brand name of products by
spreading awareness. With the change in the technology, a change in the media has arisen for
the marketing of the products or services of the business. With the change in the
environment, it is being used as an effective marketing tool. Social media platforms have
enhanced the speed and method of communication process between the business and
customer or potential customers. The use of social media has served as a two-way
communication process for the business and customers. Social media marketing has provided
various benefits to the business and this has attracted businesses towards social media
marketing. Companies are capable of access the global market with the help of social media
platforms. Marketing is a tough task and there is a need to use technologies for enhancing the
quality of marketing function (Cowden, 2014). For example, KFC has used social media
platforms for attracting the customers towards it.
Print and traditional media was widely used in businesses for promoting products or
services. With the change in the time, business environment and technology, there has been a
change in the media used by the businesses for the marketing of its products or services.
Impact of social media can be seen on the decreasing use of print and traditional media by the
businesses. Print and Traditional media are based on a one-to-many paradigm where a
message is created and transmitted by the businesses with the help of print, radio or
broadcast. On the other hand, social media is a two-way communication system which
promotes interaction between the business and customers. Businesses have considered word
of mouth more powerful than the brand message spread among the society by the business.

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The Internet has been considered as a simple and widely recognized tool which serves as a
communication channel among the people all around the globe. With the change in the
environment, people have started using social media platforms for the purpose of connecting
with public and private sectors. People are being related with different business companies all
around the globe. Internet and Social media has played a vital role in the transition of the
marketing world.
Various reasons are responsible for this shift from one form to another form of media.
There were few limitations attached with the use of print and traditional media which have
affected the choice of the businesses (Athey, Calvano and Gans, 2013). Marketing departs of
the huge companies started making use of internet banners and media advertisements for
gaining the attention of the customers. With the increasing popularity of social media
platforms, marketing departments of the companies were forced to include social media
marketing in its marketing plans. With the increase in the companies attaining growth and
success by using social media marketing, there was a shift from print and traditional media
towards social media (OSCE, 2012). New opportunities in social media include gaining a
large number of followers, providing latest updated information to the customers, promoting
the products offered by the business in an effective manner, eliminating the additional cost of
marketing, dealing with the rising competition and attracting the customers (Patrick, 2013).
Print and traditional media is an old concept which is applied by the business for
making people aware by spreading information among them. On the other hand, social media
is a new approach which is adopted by businesses for interacting with the customers with a
motive to attract them and enhance the customer base of the business (Paquette, 2013). The
comparison can be made between the print and traditional media and social media on the
basis of different aspects such as cost, time, efforts, effectiveness, accuracy, reliability,
communication process, trust, and feedbacks.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 8
The concept of networking is not present in the print and traditional media. No further
discussion can be made between the customers and business. Whereas, Social media has
provided space and scope for engaging the people in discussion with the business in a pull
way strategy. Customers hold the power to provide feedbacks to the business about the
products or services and satisfaction level derived from the consumption of products or
services (Ashley and Tuten, 2015).
Print and traditional media incur a high cost to the business which creates an impact
on the profitability of the business. Due to the limitation on the interaction between the
business and customers, the satisfaction level of the customers gets affected. Traditional
media is proved as less effective in comparison to social media (Wright, Khanfer and Khizer,
2015). Print and traditional media help in communicating with the real world. This form of
media can be touched, felt and heard by the customers. Marketers use this form of media for
interacting face to face with the customers, promoting the products and collecting feedbacks.
Print and traditional media is a closed system with opaque nature. This form of media is used
for mass marketing which is done by following top-down strategy (Agboola, 2014).
On the other hand, social media has resolved the problems faced by the business due
to the print and traditional media. The coverage area of social media is large as well as the
cost involved in this form of media is low (Sashi, 2012). It helps in building communities
which have boosted the sales of the business. Social media is an open system with
transparency (Tiago and Verissimo, 2014). It has resulted in the greater personalization of the
content of the message, visibility of the advertisement and promotes interaction. Customers
have the right to make a selection for receiving the content on the basis of their choice.
Business can easily record and collect data related to the demands, needs, and feedbacks of
the customers towards the products or services. Real time results can be generated with the
use of social media. Analysis of the demand of the customers can be done with the help of

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 9
social media. Social media is an effective approach for driving brand penetration (Batra &
Keller, 2016).
Research Questions/Hypothesis:
Primary Question:
The primary question of the business research is why people and business sectors are
adopting social media rather than print media.
Secondary Question:
One of the major secondary questions should be why social media is overtaking
traditional media according to the public demand. Another question could be about the gap
between people’s choice and traditional media’s services. The hypothesis could be the
multipurpose feasibility of social media and its greater effectiveness than social media.
Research Design and Methodology:
Qualitative Research:
In the case study we can collect reliable primary data from interview of target
population or selected groups. This section mainly focuses on textual analysis on attribute
type or categorical data coding the text and talk. After collecting the relevant data, using
software packages we can present qualitative research and assess the rigor of qualitative
research. Next, we can conceptualize theoretical work, interpret the findings. For tighter
specification of question, we would collect more data and reach to an accurate decision.
Unstructured data collection and non-statistical analysis would show maximum variation in
the sample. Therefore, we need to develop an initial understanding.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA VS. SOCIAL MEDIA 10
Quantitative Research:
Quantitative data is actually numeric, dependent on survey questionnaires, scale
development and sampling respondents. The data is collected from field work and analysed
through descriptive statistics, probability distributions and exploratory factor analysis. We
can apply sample survey methods by several following steps such as introducing the strata,
estimation and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, chi-square test and distributions, F-
distribution and ANOVA, linear regression, multiple regression and non-linear functions for
interpretation and decision making.
This method emphasizes objective measurements and the statistical or numerical
analysis of data collected through structured primary or secondary sources. The linear
regression model between different factors, correlation between two variables and the value
of multiple R-square of the factors of primary or secondary data would provide the
interpretation.
Research Limitations:
The research has few limitations such as the unavailability of primary data and direct
use of secondary data, proven or unproved factors on “Print and Traditional Media” data,
limited number of factors of the data and validation of data in a short time span.
Time Schedule and Research Plan:
The time span of the business research plan is not more than four months. That is why
we need to apply a proper research plan on theoretical basis and data analysis. The
interpretation of data analysis of print media or social media data could provide a support to
the theoretical findings. We allocate one month for theoretical findings and three months for
analytical research proposal.

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Conclusion:
Therefore, from the above discussion of the report, it can be summarised that there
has been a shift from print and traditional media to social media for enhancing the
performance of the business and way by which business is communicating with customers.
This report has provided knowledge of both forms of media along with their advantages and
disadvantages. The discussion has been made regarding both the aspects by comparing them
with each other. Print and traditional media is a one-way communication tool and on the
other hand, social media is a two-way communication tool. It has been estimated that change
in the business environment and technology will overtake the print and traditional media.
However, both forms of media are aiming at informing the customers about the products or
services but the way it is done and the impact they make on the customers differ from each
other.