It seems that everyone is online now. Websites and blogs and social media dominate the headlines and appear hourly to attract, influence, sell and invite. Everyone has a website, good or bad. Many companies have an online store, good or bad. Each person that has anything of value to say has a social media account (or a dozen of them). And yet, would it be fair to say that by being online you cover all of the bases you need to cover for your marketing efforts?
Does the Internet magically include every single demographic, geographic, social and other customer group? As the past experiences of many companies and organizations would seem to indicate, this is hardly the case. There are still those to whom a printed book is of great value, and, similarly, there are those to whom a printed postcard on their desk or a letter or postcard in their mailbox are more memorable and more likely to lead to a purchasing decision than a banner, email, blog post or ad seen online.
But there is so Little you can do Offline!
Again, the sheer magnitude of the Internet’s growth in the past decade appears to have overshadowed many other means of marketing, often completely illogically. The offline world is still there and it still constitutes a major market for goods and services. Off the top, one can come up with an entire multitude of effective marketing strategies in the offline world:
1. Business cards
how do you want to be remembered at an in-person networking event? Your business card that looks, reads, and feels different is the earliest opportunity to stand out from the competition.
2. Bookmarks
since we are talking about the customer base that prefers physical objects, like books, wouldn’t it be a logical step to market using an everyday necessity – colorful and useful bookmarks? The results can be impressive.
3. Brochures and Flyers
this good old-fashioned mode of advertising is still the preferred method of gathering information about a company or product for millions of your potential customers. The design now takes much less time than before, and some companies would even offer to mail these out for you.
4. Door Hangers
you are canvassing an area but the customer is not home, or you do some work outside a client’s house and want to leave a quick note of appreciation for their business. A door hanger is the perfect medium for this.
5. Envelopes
the potential uses of envelopes are practically endless. From mail-outs to receipts to holiday cards to notices to just a convenient way to keep all service documents in the same place, the envelopes can be a powerful marketing tool at your disposal.
6. Hang Tags and Labels
just make them bright and attractive and these little splashes of information can make a world of difference for your customers.
7. Holiday Greeting Cards
no matter how the Internet may try to be everything for all people, for many of us out there an actual holiday greeting card makes a positive difference. Your customers can put it on their desk or fridge, especially if it’s not rushed or impersonal.
8. Magnets
another thing you can put on a fridge is a magnet. For years, companies have opted for magnets as a marketing tool for the simple reason that it works.
9. Letterheads, Notepads, presentation Folders and other Stationary Items:
not only does professionally branded stationary make a positive impact on your company image, it also creates a long-term marketing effort that doesn’t require any input from you after you have distributed the items in question.
10. Postcards
if you are having a special discount, or if you are announcing a new location, relying solely on your advertising will not be the best approach. By letting the potential customers in the area know about your event or sale, you are taking the extra step towards reaching out to them that many of your competitors would leave out of the equation. Positive results will follow, especially if you repeat the effort several times.
These are just some of the general categories available for offline marketing products and strategies. Certainly, you would want to work in close contact with a professional marketing agency to ensure that you choose the best media for your specific needs, as every business, product and organization are unique, and so are their customers. If someone says you are old-fashioned, just think that business success and reaching out to your client base are never out of fashion.
This article was written by Arthur Bryce, who loves postcards and does cost-effective postcard printing for a variety of businesses.