Integrate Offline and Online Marketing Strategies
By Robert Johnston
Many marketers are embroiled in a war over which is better: offline or online marketing. Okay, maybe it isn’t so much a war, but there are definitely camps for each type of marketing.
Then there is another camp – the one where everyone is happy – the integration camp. There’s no reason more marketers can’t mix online and offline marketing strategies to optimize their marketing campaign. Nothing says you can’t do both, and really you should.
Here’s why you should integrate:
• A survey of 2,300 Internet users by JupiterResearch found that 67% of respondents had searched for a company name, product or service, or slogan online from an advertisement they saw offline.
• Of those online searchers, 39% bought the product they were seeking.
The study also found that most of the offline materials didn’t make it easy for consumers to find the company’s Web site. If people are willing to search online when not given any guidance, imagine what they’ll do when given the explicit directions (i.e. the Web site address).
Ideas for integration
Many people aren’t online or don’t have a computer (hard to believe, but it’s true!). The way to reach these people is with offline strategies like postcards, brochures, and commercials. And what about the people that practically live on top of their computers? They aren’t paying attention to television (they can watch it online), they don’t receive magazines (they can read them online) and they don’t pay much attention to their postal mail (email inbox and spam to filter junk mail, anyone?).
If you only market to one of these groups, you’re missing out on a lot of potential sales. Here are some ideas on how to use online and offline strategies together:
Direct mail pieces: Keep mailing out brochures, flyers and letters to people. Make sure that you entice people to read the direct mail piece by including eye-catching headlines that tout your product’s benefits. A nice photo or two helps to catch people’s attention as well.
INTEGRATE by including your Web site address on the direct mail piece and include a call to action that says to “Visit our Web site for more details” or for whatever you want them to visit your site for.
Newsletters: Newsletters are a great way to keep people informed of what’s going on in your company, in your industry and how those changes affect consumers. Newsletter printing isn’t very expensive, so you might want to keep your monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly print newsletter.
INTEGRATE by creating an e-newsletter. E-mail the people on your mailing list your monthly or semi-weekly e-newsletter. You can include late-breaking news and updates in the e-newsletters to let your customers know what’s new with you. Or, you can ask people if they prefer a newsletter or an e-newsletter and send the same version to either your e-mail list or your mailing list. Just be sure to keep the lists separate so you aren’t sending people the same newsletter twice.
Web site: You can include photos of your products and give people the option to order through your Web site. You can also have a list of frequently asked questions and a forum for your customers to leave questions for you or to chat amongst themselves.
INTEGRATE by including a request form where consumers can request offline materials like a brochure or video. Some people like to have the materials in their hands, and older people generally aren’t as comfortable with the Internet so they like to have the material right in front of them.
These are just a few ideas of how you can integrate online and offline marketing strategies together. You can always do online ads and direct mail, or commercials and e-mail advertisements. You can mix and match these strategies to maximize their effectiveness for your business. There is no right potion – it’s up to you!
The author is affiliated with a company that offers newsletter printing (http://www.printplace.com/mkt/newsletter-printing.aspx)
About the author
The author is affiliated with a company that offers newsletter printing (http://www.printplace.com/mkt/newsletter-printing.aspx)
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