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.
Joe Loomer
July 6, 2011 at 6:27 am
Lead with revenue baby! Great post Erica! I would add that you need to know your personal hourly rate. If you're worth say $125 an hour, and you're spending two hours a day on Facebook playing Farmville or Idiotville or whatever – then you need to have a boss-to-employee talk with YOURSELF about where your money's going – especially if that time could have been spent engaging your SOI.
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Sig
July 6, 2011 at 7:08 am
Nothing ever changes. When I began my career in 1972 all I ever heard from hucksters was "If you buy this….. you only have to make one sale a year to pay for it and still make a profit." It didn't take me long to figure out that the only goal these hucksters had was to take the money out of my pocket and put it in theirs by exchanging whatever snake oil product or promis they could come up with. Whatever did we do with our time before computers and social networking came along? Let's see, Oh yeah. We networked, prospected, concentrated on listing and selling. The way we do business has changed a little with electronics but the hucksters are still here and still trying to get into our pockets.
David Lightburn
July 6, 2011 at 7:10 am
Very true…Sadly most of us don't know where the money goes. I spoke with an agent yesterday that was convinced that they are making $60,000 a year until they started to think about all those $100-like expenses that can quickly turn $60k to $30k if you don't know what's working.
Ben Fisher
July 6, 2011 at 10:07 am
16 leads from trulia is impressive! Thanks for giving some insight as to where your leads come from.