Offline marketing might may seem a tad dated for those of us whose marketing careers started long after the internet. But is it about to make a comeback? We look at the case for taking it offline…
Offline marketing is any form of marketing technique that is not based on the internet (i.e people don’t have to be online to see it!). Promotional pieces such as posters, flyers, television adverts and even networking events can all be considered offline marketing.
But with the dawn of social media, with phenomenal volumes of shoppers heading to search engines and with High Street footfall dwindling, you’d be forgiven for thinking that companies are putting all their budgets into digital.
Is offline marketing coming back?
Although the majority of a company’s marketing tends to be online now due to the volume of potential new customers that might be reached and the way consumer shop, there really is a case for offline marketing in many businesses.
In the current marketplace it’s getting harder to be seen and there’s so much competition for your customers’ attention. Winning and keeping customers comes down to over delivering on their expectations a lot of the time.
It also comes down, sometimes, to simply getting their attention in a way they might not have expected. Offline, more traditional marketing, can help to add that personal touch, can help you stand out from competitors who are putting everything into digital and help you get attention.
When used in conjunction with internet marketing, offline marketing can help your business grow. Finding a middle ground between these two strategies is important. You don’t want to put too much time into one part and not benefit from the other.
What are some basic offline marketing ideas and tools?
As with all types of marketing, you must plan a budget before starting to implement any of these strategies. Some forms of offline marketing are cheaper than others. For example, a radio advert is usually cheaper to produce than a television advert.
So here are a few facts and figures that might inspire you.
Radio Advertising Has REACH
If radio advertising is something you are considering, listeners in the UK spend an average of 20.3 hours per week listening to the radio.
So, depending on your demographic, you may find your customers are amongst those people glued to the radio regularly.
Radio advertising, particularly when you can hone in on specific geographic areas, can be very cost effective.
There’s Still Value in TV Advertising (Yes, Really)
TV advertising still has the power of persuasion. In the UK, 42% of people said that they find advertising they trusted when compared to social media at just 5%.
Your Messages in the Traffic
Most of us spend at least some time as a driver or passenger in a car or on public transport each week.
If you are thinking of utilising a billboard, why not consider switching to advertising on the side of a bus or taxi? Both of these options will help people to remember your brand and be reminded of it as they keep seeing your advert around town or on the back of taxis as they’re sitting in traffic.
Flyers and Physical Paper Ads
We hear no end of how targeted you can make your online advertising because of cookies! But you can target your audience with an offline campaign too. And while it’s all too easy to scroll past an online ad, don’t you think you’re less likely to miss a physical paper flyer on your car windscreen, hung beside a place you walk past each day or even put through your door?
If you are a business that could benefit from having flyers up consider the area in which you are hanging them. If your business would relate better to young professionals, then placing them in busy office areas of cities might work.
If you’re trying to reach an older demographic, than flyers in areas where the population tends to be made up of retirees would work.
If you want to reach families, then putting your message up in areas around family attractions, schools or other places frequented by families makes sense.
Stand Out
Online audiences are constantly bombarded with adverts and promotions so an offline presence can help to cut through that chatter.
We’re so accustomed to having our online experiences interrupted by ads that we’re probably just getting better and better at ignoring them.
By going against the grain and taking it offline again, you may just give yourself the competitive edge and become more memorable to your audience.
