Why Your Online Marketing Needs An Offline Boost

Here’s an understatement for you: Online marketing has revolutionized the modern business world. With all the radical change that’s happened, an old tried and true marketing method has been seemingly swept under the rug and forgotten. So what am I referring to? Offline marketing.

Despite the “conventional wisdom” so prevalent in the modern business world and media, traditional offline marketing is not dead. Far from it. Not only is it not dead, it can be a valuable asset to your small business and online strategy. It can help you tap into an uncrowded marketing channel that your competitors are most likely ignoring.

But you can’t just jump into offline marketing — you need to execute at the same effectiveness as your online strategies. So today, let’s talk about how you can effectively use offline marketing to boost your marketing and sales results in a big way.

First, if you are skeptical that offline marketing can still work, consider this: Multiple studies have shown that traditional channels are still viable. Businesses are still getting great results from print, radio, TV and billboards. Chances are you can get superb results from one or more of these channels too.

“The medium doesn’t matter. The message and the market is what matters.” Dan Kennedy

If you are giving the right group of prospective buyers (the market) the right message, do you really think they are going to disregard it just because they aren’t reading or hearing it on their favorite online channel?

Do you really believe they are going to say “That message really resonates with me. It sounds like that company could really solve this frustrating problem I’m so tired of dealing with. But I’m reading about it in a letter instead of online, so I guess I just can’t buy it.” Ludicrous right? Of course it is!

Give the right market the right message and you will see great results regardless of the media you use.

But just like you would with your online marketing efforts, you need to work from a smart, well-thought-out offline marketing strategy that compliments your online strategy. Develop your strategy first and follow it. Set clear goals to drive results that are within your budget and plan. And remember that time-tested marketing principles apply to all of your marketing media. Have relevant, real graphics and photo images, not stock photos that have absolutely nothing to do with your message. Use meaningful, compelling, eye-catching captions to accompany your photos. Keep your graphics clean and simple. You want to focus on converting readers into buyers, not on winning design awards.

In all of your marketing materials, online and offline, harness the power of persuasive, engaging, reader-centered copywriting and content. And don’t look at offline, or any other marketing channel as an “island” or “silo.” Integrate your offline with your online marketing tactics. Your website needs to be your marketing hub, so use your offline tools to drive traffic to your website. Use them to drive traffic to your social media channels.

Don’t forget to use online marketing to boost your offline results as well. For example, if you are going to market your company at a trade show, send an email telling your subscribers about it. Naturally, at the show you want to give away marketing materials that drive people to your website, social media profiles, email signup, etc. Get the picture?

Specific Offline Marketing Tools To Consider

Keep in mind that offline marketing encompasses much more than just print ads in magazines and newspapers. It includes billboards, radio, TV, live events and direct mail. Chances are you won’t have the budget or time to use all of these. And some will probably be more effective for you than others.Software company Hipchat invested in a local billboard and drove a 300% increase in business:

How? Because the offline billboard investment created a boost in online channels such as social media driving brand awareness and sales. So I know what you’re thinking. I don’t have the budget to splurge on a billboard. Don’t worry, let’s focus for a moment on one tried and true option that many other small businesses have used with great success: direct mail.

Direct mail can be an extremely valuable addition to your offline and online marketing approach. But there’s a catch. Just like a crafty billboard, your direct mail piece has to get noticed. The good news – people check their mailboxes. The bad news – they sort through mail ruthlessly looking for “junk mail” and other types of mail to throw away.

So what can you do to increase the odds that your direct mail piece will stay out of the trash can and get opened and read?

Here’s what I recommend: Totally avoid making your letter’s envelope or direct mail look like another “corporate” piece of unwanted junk mail. Make it look personal. Use a “live” stamp, not postage from a meter. If possible, craft and address it by hand or even send it via FedEx directly to your recipient.

Bottom line? Make it look like a letter from a friend or family member, not a corporate sales pitch. Personalization is the key to strong marketing in both direct mail and email.

Simple, but often overlooked–be sure to include links to your website and social media pages in your direct mail so you can maximize the return of your offline marketing efforts.

In marketing your small business, you want to focus on what works, not on what “should work” or the “flavor of the month.” Offline marketing works. Online marketing (clearly) works. Combined, they can give you a powerful synergy that can propel you to even greater levels of success. So use both. Observe your results, and make changes to help you improve your results as you go along. When you are open-minded about offline marketing, and you combine it intelligently with a solid online strategy, great products and superb service, you just might leave your competitors in the dust!

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