For years there has been an ongoing debate about whether online think pay-per-click, online display advertising, and social media advertising or offline (think broadcast and newspaper ads, collateral, direct mail, coupon programs, etc.) is the more effective marketing strategy. The good news is that you don’t have to make a choice. If there’s any doubt about which strategy to employ, then you’re not making the most of both of these tools. Since one of the best ways to maximize your marketing strategy is by merging both online and offline efforts.
Here are a few ways to merge your online and offline marketing to get the best out of your marketing efforts:
Use online engagement results to drive offline campaigns.
Use your most popular image on social media – something you know your target audience obviously likes and use it as the main image for your next print campaign. This will create a cohesive brand experience and really connect the dots for your audience between their online and offline interactions with your brand.
Associate offline promotions with an online call to action.
There are many ways to promote offline marketing products through online methods. For instance, if you have a noteworthy ad coming out for a specific season or event, use social media leading up to the launch to boost its reach. You can create a countdown or show a preview on your website and social media channels to generate some excitement. Online calls to action can be as simple as promoting a sale by encouraging customers to visit your store. In a similar way, offline marketing can be used as a way to promote online events and promotions.
Offer free giveaways and competitions.
Use your offline marketing efforts to encourage your customer to share their email address. For instance, you can run a competition or a free giveaway that requires customers to share contact information. However, don’t forget to include a checkbox for customers to opt-out of receiving marketing emails.
Get your online customers to contribute to your offline marketing
User-generated content is not only for sharing on online platforms. Interact with your customers online and creatively encourage them to help with your next marketing campaign. You can use words and pictures created by your customers in magazines, TV commercials, or newspapers.
Use online data to support offline efforts.
One of the major boons of online marketing is that it can generate data about your customer. Analyzing customer behavior on your website and social media profiles can provide insight into customers visiting your store. Through online marketing you can get information about things like the best way to organize your store or what products to highlight.
Take Advantage of the Successes Achieved in One Channel and Use Them in another one
Each channel has their own characteristics and discovering them can take some time. However, some of these will definitely overlap and you can take advantage of these similarities to put together a strategy for a new channel.