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Does traditional advertising work?  You bet it does!  Is it necessary?  Absolutely!

Last week I was thumbing through the Wal-Mart weekly sales flyer.  I came across an electronics product called the Roku streaming player.  It is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV.  It enables you to watch movies and TV shows from Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant Video, listen to music on Pandora, catch the latest ballgame, and more — it’s all available whenever you want it.  For a family that doesn’t have cable or dish and can only access two television stations the thought of obtaining movies instantly was super cool!  No longer did we have to run to the movie store, or stand outside picking out a movie from the RedBox, or incur late fees!  We now could order and access movies from the comfort of our home!  That’s cool!

My point is, I wouldn’t have known about Roku if Wal-Mart had not advertised it!  Advertising works!  However, the key is providing information online!  I would not have purchased the box if there was not a website with information, video, and reviews!  Therefore, if you are going to advertise using print, radio, or television make sure you have great content online!  Or, in marketing terms back your “outbound marketing” with “inbound marketing”!

What do you think?  Does traditional advertising still work?  Or should advertisers skip it and focus on inbound marketing such as websites, social media, etc.?