Well it has been a while since i don’t post here, now i will post about the benefits of using offline marketing strategies that we can use for our online business.
In this age of information technology, a business should take advantage of the technological benefits of sending messages at an instant to any part of the world. Timing is very critical in marketing, especially now that the world is bombarded by myriads of different products and brands to choose from. For a business to be sustainable, it should actively counter the many threats from competitors. Therefore, it would be better to explore the benefits of a combined online and offline marketing.
The traditional offline marketing, which involves the different media such as the broadcast media, the print, and other methods, still works because the mentioned marketing means are the most convenient sources of news and entertainment for the masses. However, with the advent of the internet where advertisements can be posted in numerous websites in an instant, a faster option is now available. The emergence of several social networking sites such as Yahoo Messenger, Friendster, Facebook, My Space, and others is a boon to advertising. These sites are very popular not only among youth and yuppies but also among career executives, housewives, and business operators. Therefore, ads posted on these sites have the advantage of a constant and a wide range of exposure.
Compared to the traditional networking and multi-level marketing, online advertisements can reach more potential customers than the personal selling employed by multi-level marketing. But although online marketing saves a lot of time and energy, marketing offline is still effective in terms of the following:
However, customers’ demographic profiles, preferences, and lifestyles do vary. So, employing offline or online marketing alone may fail to attract other potential customers. There are customers who prefer to physically touch, smell, and inspect the merchandise before buying it. In this case, a dealer or a sales agent would be helpful. However, there are also customers who would not want to waste time, energy, and privacy, so they rather scrutinize the products in the internet and purchase it online. This method particularly appeals to busy executives and celebrities who prefer shopping from the comfort of their homes. Therefore, it would be better to employ both online and offline marketing to cater to a wider range of customer class.
A business should still adopt the traditional ways of marketing such as promoting the products through seminars and product demonstrations to the target market segment and yet complement this with sending promotional emails, brochures, and business cards online to maximize the customers’ continued awareness of the products’ features and benefits. Inquiries and processing of orders should also be done both online and offline to accommodate the different preferences of the customers.
Since both have their own advantages and disadvantages, it would be better to integrate online and offline marketing for a more synergistic result. This way, the advantages of offline marketing will complement the shortcomings of online marketing and vice versa, thus producing an optimum outcome in terms of an increase in sales, increase in returning customers, attracting more potential buyers, and sustained product interest.
And here is 21 tips that we can use to promote our online business. Following is a list of ideas you can use to promote your online business, using offline marketing strategies
1. Brochures – Brochures are a great marketing tool because you can provide a lot of information about you and your business. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and other businesses to see of you can put out your brochures.
2. Newspaper Ads – Run classified ads in some local or not so local newspapers. Remember these points when writing your ads: You must get the reader’s attention. Once you get their attention, you must keep them interested. Turn their interest in desire for your products. Give them a call to action!
3. Radio Ads – Check with popular radio stations to see what they charge for a short ad and make the ad pop as much as possible.
4. Promotional Items – Have your url printed on caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. and give them to as many people as you can to wear. This can be very effective in getting your business known.
5. Postcards – Postcards are very cost effective and versatile. You can announce new items, offer special deals, promote a special business event or announce your website and what types of products/services you offer.
6. Offline Networking – Join your local Chamber of Commerce. Get involved in business clubs and groups and talk about your business whenever possible.
7. Car Signs – These are great products because they allow you to advertise your business wherever you go – family outings, running errands, visiting family, etc!
8. Business Cards – Design your business card wisely. They are no longer just for listing your name and address! Have your business card double as a coupon or gift certificate. Hand them out whenever the opportunity becomes available.
9. Flyers – Distributing flyers is a very affordable way to market your online business. Be sure to specify what service/product you offer and use incentives to get people to ACT NOW. You can also encourage people to pass the word if your products/services can help anyone they know. Parades and other public events are great opportunities for handing out your flyers.
10. TV Ads – TV ads are a bit more expensive but if you have the budget it would definitely be worth looking into.
11. Coupons – Print out coupons and hand them out wherever and whenever you can. Offer special deals, sales discounts, etc. This can lead to many sales and a larger customer base.
12. Freebies and Samples – People love getting things for free. Offer small items as free samples. You have seen grocery stores do this many times. Give a free sample of a good product and you will get more sales!
13. Letterheads – Have your business name and url on everything that gets mailed out of your office/home. You never know who will be reading it and if they might take an interest in your products/services/opportunity.
14. Catalogues – If possible, have catalogues made and distribute them as much as possible. Use direct mail as well, if you can. Offer x amount of dollars off their first order or a free gift with first order.
15. The Yellow Pages – Get listed in the Yellow Pages so more people can find out who you are and what you offer!
16. Billboards/Signs – We all notice billboards and signs and they can be very effective in increasing your business.
17. Job Fairs – If you offer a good business opportunity, make it known by participating in job fairs and career days.
18. Print Magazines – Purchase advertising or try submitting articles to various print magazines. Getting an article published can do a lot for your online business.
19. Greeting Cards – Send personal greeting cards or even thank you notes to all your customers as well as people who expressed an interest in what you offer. This is guaranteed to make a lasting impression!
20. Gift Certificates – Print out gift certificates and distribute them as much as possible. Put them in mailings both personal and business. Work with other businesses to distribute each other’s certificates (complementary not competing businesses).
21. Community Involvement – Getting involved in your community events and activities can be one of the most effective ways to get your business noticed. Volunteer for school activities, work for charities, attend social functions, etc.
Yeah, I guess integration of this kind of marketing will really make any business successful. Thank you so much for sharing this one.
After I come to my blogging life, I think that online selling is one great strategy. The social networking sites like twitter, facebook making online marketing easy.
.-= work at home´s last blog ..Update from google work at home affiliate network-December 11, 2009 =-.
i do not use offline types of advertising but it’s goot to know
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With my type of online business, there is hardly no use for offline forms of advertising at all. But yeah I would agree that online and offline advertising for many business is a crucial part to their marketing campaigns. And boy wouldn’t it look like, from that list alone, that offline marketing would cost you more?
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We use a lot of direct mail in our advertising, but that direct mail points them to our corporate site. I would like to create a more personal site for our potential customers and direct people there. But that is a work in progress.
For the first time I came to know about offline marketing. It is really an interesting work in a parallel order, online and offline.
Affiliate Marketing is a performance based sales technique used by companies to expand their reach into the internet at low costs. This commission based program allows affiliate marketers to place ads on their websites or other advertising efforts such as email distribution in exchange for payment of a small commission when a sale results.
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Offline or online marketing, are both important in advertising, for me they are both useful, and they give benefit to one another. Good examples are given in this blogs. Thanks for the post.
I agree with you that business should take advantage of the technological benefits of sending messages, but the the segments of the audience should be specified. One marketing program can not be good for all the sections of the society.
That direct mail points them to our corporate site. I would like to create a more personal site for our potential customers and direct people there. But that is a work in progress.
A double major with marketing and journalism isn’t a bad idea, but a better avenue is public relations/communications and journalism. Much of public relations is dealing with the media, understanding what is “news” and writing in a journalistic style.
There are are obviously many avenues for promoting your online business, but don’t lose sight of what’s available to you online. Print media is effective, but it’s costly and the ROI you can expect to get from it bleaks in comparison to a well-crafted SEO or SEM campaign. Just some food for thought.
Some great tips here. Especially #12. Customers always seem to respond to something free as they feel like the company is giving back and showing them appreciation for there continued support.