Everywhere you look, people want to talk about digital marketing. In fact, if you don’t have a digital marketing strategy in today’s business world, you’re not going to last long. But just because digital marketing is popular, don’t assume that offline marketing no longer yields value.
When used together, these strategies can produce significant returns.
“Some people will argue that traditional marketing is dead, but there are several benefits to including offline advertising in your overall marketing campaign,” sales expert Larry Myler admits. “Combining both offline and online campaigns can help boost your brand’s visibility, and help it stand out amongst competitors who may be busy flooding the digital space.”
How do you use offline marketing in a manner that’s both cost-effective and high in exposure? While your business will dictate how you should proceed, here are a few offline marketing methods that still return considerable value in today’s marketplace.
1. Yard signs
When most people think about yard signs, their minds immediately go to political signs that you see posted everywhere during campaign season. However, yard signs have a lot more utility and value beyond campaigning. They’re actually an extremely cost-effective form of offline advertising.
The great thing about yard signs is that you can print your own custom designs for just dollars and, when properly stored, they last for years. They’re also free to place, assuming you have access to property where it’s legal to advertise. This makes them a practical addition to a low-budget marketing campaign.
2. Billboards
The fact that you notice billboards when driving down an interstate or highway is a testament to the reality that other people are also being exposed to these valuable advertisements. If you’ve never considered implementing billboards into your marketing strategy, now’s a good time to think about it.
With billboard advertising, you have to be really careful with design, structure, and execution. “Considering we’re on the move when we read billboards, we don’t have a lot of time to take them in. Six seconds has been touted as the industry average for reading a billboard,” copywriter Paul Suggett explains. “So, around six words is all you should use to get the message across.”
3. Promotional giveaways
It’s the tangible nature of physical marketing that makes it so valuable. Yard signs and billboards are great, but make sure you’re also taking advantage of promotional giveaways as a way of getting something into the hands of your customers.
Promotional giveaways, no matter how simple, generally produce a healthy return on investment. They increase brand awareness and recall, while giving customers positive associations with your brand. (Who doesn’t love getting something for free?)
4. Local event sponsorships
One aspect of offline marketing businesses frequently forget about is local event sponsorships. These sponsorships are usually cost-effective and tend to offer great returns in terms of audience engagement.
Local event sponsorships can usually be found simply by checking the calendar of events in your city. Any time there’s a public event, farmer’s market, parade, sporting event, concert, or fundraiser, there’s an opportunity for you to get your name out there. Look for events where you feel like your target audience is most likely to attend.
Offline marketing is anything but dead.
If your goal is to stand out in a crowded marketplace where all your competitors are investing heavily in social media, SEO, PPC advertising, and blogging, then it’s certainly worth supplementing your existing digital strategy with traditional offline marketing methods that reach your audience at multiple touchpoints.
David G from Zillow.
June 13, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Love the new look to this blog! What a difference a little white space makes.
My favorite web2 definition is the simple title Richard McManus chose for his blog namely; “read /write web”. Web 1 was the internet everyone could read. Web 2 is the internet everyone can write.
B. R.
June 13, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Awesome point- I absolutely agree. It is very hard to explain to folks that they really need to knock the dust off of their old 1.o and let the folks add the content. That is what makes Zillows Guide so up to speed
Thanks for the notice, David.
Sock Puppet
June 13, 2007 at 8:52 pm
Much better. Looks too wide across the screen in IE7 though.
-Athol
John Lockwood
June 13, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Way more better design. Looks awesome. The brain’s cool too, but if you could stand a suggestion, just a little more bright blue highlights if possible.
Alex Mather
June 13, 2007 at 9:44 pm
i agree, but has anyone really said that Redfin is web 2.0? i’ve personally never grouped them with Trulia or Zillow outside of the context of being disruptive, well-funded companies trying to change real estate.
disruptive != web 2.0.
i’ve always felt they were simply a traditional company exploiting the fact that a lot of us geeky young’ns are willing to do a lot of the work on our own (using the Internets) to save some money.
B. R.
June 13, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Alex, thanks for stopping by, great blog btw… I promise to spend time over there tomorrow.
Yes, they TMd realestate2.o, the shell is 2.o, and new to 2.oers are looking for the direction to take their sites. They aren’t like zillow, but why not? they argue transparency, that puts them in the running.
B. R.
June 13, 2007 at 10:11 pm
read here on the touchy trademark issue:
https://realestate20.wordpress.com/2006/09/18/cease-and-desist/
B. R.
June 13, 2007 at 10:20 pm
John, kiss my brain 😛
Alex Mather
June 13, 2007 at 10:39 pm
B.R.
thanks for the kind words, i look forward to your feedback on my blog!
wow – i actually read that 2.0 blog back when it was written and for some reason I attributed the C&D to Zillow. Oops.
Trademarks are silly. Do they really think that, alone, they can create Real Estate 2.0? It reminds me of Ze Frank’s brilliant ‘waves’ episode:
https://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2007/02/020507.html
More on this on my blog tomorrow!
John Lockwood
June 13, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Now, now, let’s not have any cerebral innuendo or asexual harassment here… 🙂