The debate between traditional and modern is an age-old one. We see it in architecture, fashion trends, and restaurant styles. Opposing sides either lean on the comfortably familiar or are energized and lured by the new, daring techniques. 

In marketing too, the debate between the traditional and modern rages now more than ever. At its core, at this particular point on the ever-moving needle, traditional marketing often means TV/radio commercials, billboards, printed flyers, and direct mail. 

Modern marketing relies upon digital display ads, social media, pay-per-click models, e-blasts, web content, and audio/video ads within streaming services. In trying to reach both young and old audiences, businesses and organizations (especially those without a trusted agency adviser) may struggle to navigate these choices.

We often hear clients ask us, as they debate between “out with the old” and “in with the new,” which option should be the victor? Our answer is complicated — neither one always wins.

Is that answer too wishy-washy for you? Then here’s a better question to ask instead: What will stand out? When you make clutter-busting your primary goal, you realize that “traditional” and “modern” are just the names on the two toolboxes in your hands.

Successful advertisers (and agencies) are the ones who first ask the question, “How can we make our message and/or delivery unique?” then pick from their two open toolboxes accordingly. 

To choose distinct over extinct, here are a few ways to approach a clutter-cutting strategy:

– Take a closer look at what each side of the traditional/modern bridge has especially going for it, and put your money there. For instance, the organizational pride communicated through a thick paper stock or the thoughtful charm of a handwritten note often can’t be beat. Nor can the ease of engagement of the smartly animated digital ad for shoes I Googled yesterday. 

– Look for opportunities to take a piece of the modern and cross it over into the traditional, and vice versa. Like the TurboTax Super Bowl ad that got my attention because it used that all-too-familiar “Skip ad >“ graphic I was accustomed to seeing only in the YouTube universe, or the local hospital billboards to which we added animation and colored lights to make them extra engaging.

– Don’t be afraid to get a little quirky. We recently slapped some stamps on beach balls, Sharpied a quick message on them about how fun it would be to work with us, and then sent them to our top prospects in the mail last summer. Yes, they really did roll right into our prospects’ offices. Dare you to ignore that while you delete your first 20 promotional e-blasts before breakfast.

– For those who can’t bear to move that far offline, maybe clutter cutting looks like simply paying attention to a trend your customer cares and posts about, then customizing a LinkedIn message with some more reading material on that very topic. Turns out acts of thoughtfulness are sadly distinct, too.

You could probably help me flesh out this list more, just by thinking of the last marketing piece that made you think, “Well, there’s something different.” When you see those examples, print them and throw them in a folder with a sticky note like my 50-something business partner does, screen shot and save them to Google Drive like my 20-something digital-strategist colleague does. Whatever the medium you choose, help them stand out and inspire.               

Jamie Jacobs is a partner at Riger Marketing Communications in Binghamton. Contact her at jjacobs@riger.com 

For most of us, what we learn first sticks with us for a long time —often throughout our lives. That includes nursery rhymes, along with what we consider right and wrong. The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.

It happens to salespeople, too. Because our early training is indelible, it stays with us to guide us. But new demands and expectations call for strategic changes to keep up, stay relevant, and close more sales. Here are five of them.

Change your thinking about what you know

Salespeople are known for being sure — sometimes overly sure — of themselves. Although it takes self-confidence to keep going, it also has a risky downside. It can lead to believing we know more than we do. And nothing kills sales faster than arrogance.

A website designer’s creativity gave him an initial edge with a prospective client. Despite his obvious talent, he lost the job. His presentation was his downfall. It was obvious he had not taken the time to understand the organization or its services. He was so focused on what he was selling, he didn’t have a clue as to what his prospect wanted to buy. In other words, he didn’t know what he didn’t know. 

Unless salespeople consciously challenge their thinking, they hand sales to the competition. We all benefit by asking ourselves these questions: What am I missing? What don’t I know? Are my assumptions correct?

Change the way you prepare presentations

Do you think you’re at a place where you can “wing it” or all you need to do to get ready for a presentation is to make a few notes, a quick outline, or go over it in your mind? If so, you’re deluding yourself and short-changing your employer and your customers. You may be good, but you’re not that good.

Like it or not, here’s the truth: If we don’t write it down, we only think we know it. This is what happened to the arguably brilliant “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance when he went for job interviews at a prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm while at Yale Law School.

“The last interviewer asked me a question I was unprepared to answer: ‘Why did I want to work at a law firm?’ It was a softball, but I’d gotten so used to talking about my budding interest in antitrust litigation … that I was laughably unprepared. I should have said something about learning from the best or working on high-stakes litigation. I should have said anything other than what came out of my mouth: ‘I don’t really know, but the pay isn’t bad! Ha ha.’ The interviewer looked at me like I had three eyes, and the conversation never recovered.”

It happens to us all when we’re under pressure. We lose control and “default” to whatever comes to mind. Before we know it, we’re talking gibberish. And, like J. D. Vance, we can believe why we did it. It happens when we don’t prepare; when we don’t write it down.

Change the way you present

While presentations may have several objectives, they all have one overriding goal: engaging the participants. Unless that happens, a presentation may be interesting and informative, but it’s not a home run. Something is missing. 

For a presentation to be a winner, it must be interactive and participatory. It takes courage to invite the participants to interrupt you by raising their hand to ask a question. But it also sends the message that the participants shape the presentation. This may sound dangerous, but it’s well worth the risk.

Change your persuasion strategy

There are still salespeople who say, “If I can just get in front of prospects, that’s all I need to close them.” If you want to give it a name, call it “the power of persuasion.” They build their case in a way that leads prospects to the logical conclusion that their only reasonable response is saying yes.

Such a sales strategy is still popular; however, more and more of today’s consumers and business buyers don’t buy it. They push back, feeling they’re being “set up,” “manipulated,” or “pushed.” 

Today, push is out; pull is in. To influence buying behavior today takes a sales environment in which customers can decide if they want to do business with you. It’s one that gives them the opportunity to find out if they can trust you, if your message makes sense, and if you are reliable and responsive. 

Change how you relate to customers 

Even though companies continue preaching a customer-loyalty message, they may be deceiving themselves. For example, Accenture’s research indicates that 99 percent of retailers claim their loyalty programs perform at or above expectations, even though 71 percent of shoppers argue that such programs do not result in loyalty.

The trend is toward “tentative” or quid-pro-quo loyalty. “As long as you give me what I want, I’ll be loyal. If that changes, so will I.” This is the message. “These days, more and more consumers see their relationships with companies as an open marriage,” say authors Itamar Simonson and Emanuel Rosen in their book, “Absolute Value.” 

Clearly performance-based relationships are taking over. What counts today are consistently good customer experience, convenience, an easy payment process, new and innovative products, customer service (phone, in-person or online, according to a Blackhawk Network study).

Even if they are an Amazon Prime customer paying $99 a year, customers don’t think twice about buying it for less elsewhere, particularly if they receive free delivery. Clearly, performance-based relationships trump everything, including loyalty.

They say change is inevitable. If it’s true, then there’s no better place to start than with ourselves.                       

John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategist-consultant and business writer. He is the creator of “Magnet Marketing,” and publishes a free monthly eBulletin, “No Nonsense Marketing & Sales Ideas.” Contact him at jgraham@grahamcomm.com or johnrgraham.com