No matter the marketing guide you decide to check out in 2018, chances are that you will encounter terms like influencer marketing, VR and AR marketing, as well as more than a few digital marketing terms. Of course, we are living in the digital world and these trends do more than bring positive ROI, but, what about the traditional marketing? Did it suddenly become obsolete once all of these new trends emerged and got empowered? Of course not. Here are top five traditional marketing techniques that will still be in use in 2018.

1. Face-to-face meetings

In the age of IMs, conference calls and emails, why would anyone ever meet in person, right? Well, when it comes to the B2B outreach, scheduling a face-to-face meeting with your potential business partners can have a massive impact on your trust-building efforts. Furthermore, taking up some of your valuable time to check in on your clients in person may make a huge difference in the way in which they perceive your commitment to them.

2. Telemarketing

Another powerful B2B tool is telemarketing. You see, the email you’ve sent to your clients might have been a template you’ve used a thousand times, or something quickly drafted by a person at an entry-level-job within your organization. On the other hand, a well-structured telemarketing call, consisting of effective questioning, efforts to get the next step commitment and even scheduling the call appropriately can make all the difference in your brand’s public image.

3. Promotional material

When doing a research about content marketing, one of the first tips that you will receive is that you need to make content that brings value to your audience. Now, this isn’t as nearly as difficult as it sounds but it is definitely something that is achievable more easily with promotional material. By giving someone a promotional hat, an umbrella or a t-shirt, you are actually giving them something practical, something that they’re actually going to use. Furthermore, by ordering large quantities of promotional material, like going with bulk t-shirt printing, you will get a surprisingly great ROI.

4. Handwritten notes

The thing about marketing is that it doesn’t end once a person closes a deal or buys something from you. Why would it? About 27 percent of people who purchase from you have a chance of coming back, while people who purchase something twice have a 45 percent of chance of returning for the third time. In other words, by finding the right tool to engage them in this post-sale segment of the buying cycle, you can easily transform them into return customers. Handwritten notes are a more efficient, more personal version of an email that can do wonders in this field.

5. Old-fashioned networking

Finally, going to industry events and just mingling with your peers is a great way to establish personal contacts which could, in time, grow into partnerships. Sometimes, even people who may appear to be your direct competitors end up being your closest allies. For instance, a large company with a workload that their infrastructure can’t support is more likely to redirect their clients than just drive them away. By nurturing great relations with their management, you are increasing the chance of that excess work being sent your way.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the fact that these five techniques are still in use and that they are as effective as ever doesn’t mean that you should use them instead of digital marketing. This kind of false presumption is what leads to 50 percent of small business not having a website even in this day and age. What this means is that you shouldn’t write them off as obsolete just yet. On the other hand, by combining them with digital marketing you can perhaps get the best of both worlds.