For many businesses, online marketing has become the top priority compared to its offline counterpart. Marketing done online can be easily measured, with sophisticated analytics detailing levels of engagement to determine a campaign’s success. Additionally, not needing physical materials in many cases makes online marketing less expensive.
Although it’s easy to see why online marketing is the priority, that doesn’t mean offline marketing is dead. In fact, there are a variety offline marketing strategies that can be particularly effective in many niches. These offline strategies are even more powerful when combined with their online counterparts.
Here are some awesome ways to combine your online and offline marketing strategies to make your overall marketing easier and more effective:
1. Increase Speaking Event Engagement
Speaking engagements provide an excellent way to combine efforts and create meaningful connections. For example, you could hold a speaking engagement in person at a conference center while also enabling a livestream of the event. The speaker can take questions from the physical audience first but also opt to field questions from those viewing online via Google Hangouts or YouTube.
The event series Tough Mudder gained recognition in part by livestreaming their events, even in harsh conditions. Their videos attracted 14.5 million views in 2016 after little to no streaming capability the years prior. They were able to attract audiences they don’t usually reach through their conventional marketing efforts, according to Ken Winnell, Tough Mudder’s VP of Technology.
Speaking engagements are frequently found to be one of the best sources of leads, so be sure to take advantage of them, online and off.
2. Repurpose Content
It’s easier and cheaper to publish content online as opposed to a physical print publication. However, purchasing relevant placements in industry journals and magazines can showcase your brand to the niche that prefers the physical medium.
If you’re publishing an online blog, as any business should, you likely already have original content you can use for print publications. Publishing content in both spheres is a great way to ensure your business has reached its potential for print and online publication reach.
Similarly, you can expand your advertising reach by catering to similar publications online and off. Although it’s harder to track the return on investment for print advertising compared to online advertising, some print publications have very niche-specific subscribers that are exactly who you’re looking for in leads. Even if their number of subscribers is small, it doesn’t matter if those subscribers are in an exclusive, sought-after niche for your business. ROI is connected to online and offline marketing strategies, with expanded reach possible by combining both.
3. Use Contact Form to Initiate Phone Call
It’s a wise idea for businesses to give the impression of being easily reachable so potential leads interested in the brand can ask any questions or discuss concerns they have. An effective method that combines both online and offline marketing methods is to have an online form where people leave their contact information and phone numbers, along with their reason for contacting you.
Once receiving their information, the business can reach out personally with a phone call. It’s not a cold call, which is often ineffective because the person has no desire to be called. Instead, it’s a warm and personable way to establish a business-customer relationship. This phone-based strategy works much better than automated email responses, which have no personality or sense of warmth whatsoever.
For an example of this, look no further than Pole Position Marketing’s own website, which has a contact form that makes it easy for visitors to reach out.
4. Boost Trade Show Success
Showing up in person at trade shows is an effective way to expand your brand and meet potential leads in person. Trade shows provide a great way for you to meet with others in the industry. Social media and blogging provide vehicles to promote your trade show events to boost attendance before and to engage with the people you meet after.
Take, for example, Pediastaff, a staffing agency that places pediatric therapists. They use their blog and social media accounts to promote events where they are exhibiting.
A bonus tip: The pamphlets and images you use for your trade show events can provide useful content for your blog and social media accounts.
5. Use CTAs to Bring Offline Audience Online…
And vice versa. Publishing an ad in a print publication with an online call-to-action, such as “Follow us on Facebook for weekly deals,” is a great way to pique the interest of offline users who otherwise would not have an interest in following your business online. The incentive of savings or deals can convince them to follow the page and keep an eye on it. Similarly, if your business publishes an offline publication, you can engage online users by offering social media followers a discount on subscribing.
6. Engage Followers With Participatory Questions
A great way to draw online followers to an offline event or function is by engaging them with participatory questions relevant to the event. For example, posting three different photos for an upcoming event’s logo will make your followers feel involved, while also bringing attention to the particular event in a subtle and fun way. Providing loyal social media followers with the opportunity to influence your next offline creation is beneficial for everyone: They get influence, and you get crowdsourced data.
Airbnb effectively utilizes participatory questions on their Facebook page. In this example, they tied in a contest where people could enter to win a night in a custom-built geodesic dome in the wilderness of Oregon, with a private jet tour alongside an astrophysicist. Airbnb began their post with, “Have you made your plans for the total solar eclipse?” The participatory question resulted in over one hundred shares and comments, bringing attention to the contest as well as Airbnb’s brand in general.
7. Become More Accessible
Syncing your offline and online marketing strategies ensures you are appealing to every consumer preference imaginable regarding information gathering and contact method. A business card represents this well. Someone with both an online and offline presence can list all their forms of contact, including a phone number, physical address, email, and website. This provides variety and gives the card’s recipient no excuse for not contacting you if they are truly interested.
More Engagement And Leads
Employing a marketing strategy that emphasizes both online and offline campaigns, while synchronizing their efforts, can result in expanded reach and higher engagement that will ultimately create more leads. Although some businesses treat their online and offline efforts as separate entities, treating them strategically on a more shared and compatible level is beneficial for all parties, providing consumers with more influence and engagement while giving businesses a more significant reach.