For many years offline marketing was the only source of influence and information. However, in today’s digital world online marketing occupies leadership positions.
According to the newest Pew Research Center analysis, 87% of Americans use the Internet regularly. Thus, effective, well-organized, targeted online presence of your product will boost the demand for your products/services.
Still, relying on the online marketing only is unreasonable. Every business owner should find the correct balance between social media, SEO, digital banners, ads on TV, radio or newspapers.
You shouldn’t choose between the two options. You should take advantage of them and make them work in synergy. The potential clients more likely use several channels of information. They might get coupons with links to the official website before purchasing online or in real life.
Thanks to a well thought out symbiosis of online and offline marketing you can make your business thrive.
Online marketing is marketing giant
According to BIA/Kelsey survey conducted in 2016, 77, 6% of 1,000 SMBs use online resources such as social media to promote their business. A huge part of small business owners believes that it will help them to involve more clients and they are right.
First of all, it’s possible to lead a targeted marketing according to the available data (demographics, interests, purchasing tendencies, etc.). Secondly, it’s possible to measure failures and rates of success. Finally, it’s less expensive than offline marketing such as ads on TV or radio, big and catchy banners in the downtown, etc.
Keep in mind that there are great online marketing tools that increase the productivity of online activity. In fact, the Internet has plenty of opportunities for your small business.
Online marketing hides numerous advantages. Still, mixing it up with offline strategies is crucial to your success.
Offline marketing or ‘tough guy’
The life of offline marketing became a lot more difficult with the advent of the Internet. Still, it does not give up! For instance, over 100.7 million of U.S. adults made purchases through catalogs in 2016. Americans still use catalogs but their form is gradually changing to a form of a leaflet, for instance. Also, don’t forget about TV that we watch in the evening or radio that we listen in the morning or banners that we see daily.
The main advantage of offline marketing is that it’s good where locality is important. Furthermore, the recipients tend to perceive information better when it’s written on the paper. We look through hundreds of pages on the Internet daily – information might get lost. The physical form of newspapers makes information easier to remember.
Right online vs. offline marketing balance in 4 steps
Consider this 4-steps strategy toward finding the proper balance between online and offline marketing and see the result.
1. Look at your company with fresh eyes
Sometimes the right answer is in front of us. Before moving to the next steps, look at the activity of your company again. There are companies that only operate online and they don’t need to pay much attention to offline marketing. Their representatives though, still send Christmas cards, print business cards, write creative thank-you notes, etc.
The same refers to companies that mostly operate offline. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have their own effective website or social media accounts. These companies use email marketing to get in touch with their old and new clients.
2. Research your audience
Do you know the audience you appeal to (or your potential clients)? The interests, tastes, preferences, and habits of the certain age differ from the other. Every generation needs another approach. If you know your audience, it’s easier to adjust both offline and online marketing to it.
Your goal is to increase sales conversion rate and boost the demand for your products/services. For this purpose, you should understand who the majority of your clients are.
If they are seniors, they won’t likely use Twitter and Instagram. They listen to the radio, read newspapers, and watch TV. Therefore, along with social media marketing, you should make an emphasis on the offline resources. If your company deals with music instruments production, you should think about printing ads in music cafes and browsing musicians’ groups on the Internet.
Once you find enough information about your clients, you can understand better where they spend their time and what they need. For this reason, you can appear at the right time in the right place.
3. Let offline resources refer to online
Make the cooperation of these two giants 100% effective. It would be a great idea to refer to the online resources in the offline ones and vice versa. For instance, if you print leaflets, you should include the link to the official website there or add QR-codes that direct potential clients to the mobile apps.
What is more, with the help of offline and online marketing, it’s possible to build the reputation of your business and create a brand. For this purpose, you should stick to a certain style, color, fonts, and other formatting details and include logos of your company.
4. Understand the effectiveness
The last step is to understand what is the weakest link in your strategy and what approaches are successful. It’s up to you to choose the appropriate solution. You can even hire a professional, who will deal with statistics. Still, by the end of the certain period, you should understand if your strategy is right or if it requires reconsideration. Remember – numbers don’t lie.
You should stop the confrontation of the online and offline marketing. A successful system is a system where all components work in synergy. Therefore, don’t neglect either offline or online presence – benefit from these two options and promote your small business successfully.
