In the age of digital, many businesses focus on developing various marketing materials online. With different channels available, including social media, email, search, display ads, and webinars, offline marketing efforts are an afterthought. However, offline marketing tactics are and remain the focus of big companies, and for understandable reasons.
If you know which strategies to use for your offline marketing campaigns, they can still leave a remarkable impression on your target audience and, consequently, capture customers. From print advertising, billboards, cold calls, trade shows, and networking events, face-to-face marketing still works in a predominantly digital world.
Below are some interesting figures that prove offline marketing efforts are still compelling:
- About seven out of ten drivers make purchasing decisions while driving, making billboard advertisements hard to miss. Three out of ten drivers are prompted to visit a store, business, or restaurant because of a billboard ad.
- There are more than 300,000 billboards in the United States.
- 39% of marketers said offline campaigns were important to their overall marketing efforts.
- Receivers open 80 – 90% of direct mail compared to 20 – 30% of ad emails that get opened.
The Benefits of Offline Marketing
Whether you’re planning to incorporate traditional marketing into your current strategy or use it to complement your digital marketing, here’s a short list of benefits offline marketing can deliver in modern campaigns.
Build brand awareness
Although digital marketing strategies effectively build brand awareness, traditional marketing like TV, radio, newspaper, billboards, and magazines continues to reach consumers in their everyday lives. People are still watching cable TV, spending time on the road, and purchasing or browsing print publications whenever they’re outside.
There are still many opportunities to get your brand name and products and services in front of your target audience through offline means. You can still reach those who are not on their mobile devices or the online platforms you’re using. Repeated brand exposure through offline marketing keeps your brand on top of their minds.
Reach customers wherever they are
Think about all the missed opportunities if you ignore your target audience who are not online. This could be the elderly, those who have retired, or consumers who simply don’t spend as much time online as your other buyer personas.
These groups of your target market are valuable, and they often have the resources and time to go out and make shopping decisions based on what they see. In many cases, the elderly are watching more TV or listening to the radio. You can optimize your budget for traditional media and target them through these mediums. Bring the complete customer experience beyond online means.
Provide different distribution methods
One of the best things about offline marketing is the wide variety of distribution methods. You can insert promotional flyers through display leaflets in local stores, letterboxes, magazines, and newspapers. If you’re in a network event or trade show, you can hand out brochures or your business cards.
A great example of offline marketing that sticks with the consumers is the leaflets restaurants give away via food deliveries. Customers typically keep them for reference for future orders. When your offline marketing sticks with your customers in a positive way, you’re on the right track to earning customer satisfaction.
Use offline media for online conversions
You may favor one over the other, but you don’t have to focus solely on using one marketing practice. Using offline media is an excellent way to complement your online marketing efforts, and ultimately, convert customers faster.
For instance, you can use leaflets or out-of-home advertising to encourage potential customers to learn more about a product or service through your website. Combine your offline and online marketing efforts to create powerful promotional campaigns.
Using multiple platforms or cross-channel marketing to tap on digital customers remains successful, especially when coupled with offline marketing efforts. Although digital spend surpasses traditional marketing, it doesn’t mean you have to shelve your offline marketing strategies altogether.
You must research and study your target market and competitors and form your marketing tactics — both offline and online — to reach more customers and generate conversions.
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