Many businesses are stuck deciding whether to use digital or traditional marketing. Although traditional has ruled in previous decades, digital is becoming more and more popular. In fact, 2017 will be the first year where digital spending will outweigh traditional spending, and it’s no coincidence. Digital marketing has surpassed traditional marketing because it’s the smarter and more effective option. Here are the four biggest reasons why digital marketing is the best route for any company.

1. Traditional Marketing Lacks Targeting

Traditional marketing, like print or radio advertisements, can’t be aimed toward a specific audience like digital marketing can. These ways of advertising are like guessing games, being thrown into the public with the hope that someone will be interested. Digital marketing, on the other hand, can be meticulously tailored to a certain demographic, which both increases its effectiveness and allows for a more individualized message.

2. Digital Marketing Delivers Data

Old-fashioned advertising can’t offer any specific information about audiences viewing your advertisements. A company could run a print ad, for example, but they have no way of knowing how many people paid attention or what kind of people they were. In digital marketing, companies can target from the beginning. Modern analytics allow for companies to observe their campaigns in real time. Not only that, but they can follow through potential transactions, which allows retargeting to the ones who become costumers.

3. Traditional Media Influence is Diminishing

With the surging popularity of digital consumption, people are reading newspapers and listening to the radio less and less. Even television has seen a recent drop in consumption. According to the Pew Research Center, 38 percent of Americans currently get news from digital media platforms, surpassing radio and print at 25 and 20 percent, respectively. The most successful marketing campaigns are those that reach the most eyeballs. These days, current trends indicate that those eyeballs are online, and those trends only continue to increase.

4. Digital Dollars Go Farther

Traditional advertising can be costly. Companies can pay thousands of dollars for a commercial, for example, just for the opportunity of a positive result. Additionally, commercial costs can fluctuate based on the length and the airtime, so many commercials will get placed in unfavorable time slots if companies aren’t willing to pay big money. With digital marketing, the buy is more affordable. It can reach hundreds of thousands of people using online strategies, with the cost as low as mere cents per each result.

In today’s day and age, the world is constantly becoming more online, and digital marketing is the clear path for success. Not only is it more cost-efficient, but its metrics and analytical capabilities allow for constant improvement and tweaking, as opposed to its more traditional, static, counterpart. If you want your company message to be heard, and you want to fully optimize your marketing success, then digital marketing is far and away your smartest and best option.