Are you currently marketing your brand through solely digital means?
You aren’t alone. Online marketing offers every business owner a cost-effective, powerful means of engaging with a wide audience.
In fact, 83% of businesses think that digital marketing campaigns are helpful in reaching their goals.
Yet if you are only focusing on online advertising, you may not be doing everything you can to engage with customers.
It’s also important to pair your online marketing efforts with offline campaigns.
In this post, we discuss offline marketing strategies you can use to supplement your digital campaigns!
What is Offline Marketing?
Offline marketing caters to users through offline media. Offline marketers do not need the internet (necessarily) to target potential customers.
However, offline marketing isn’t all paper and ink.
In addition to print publications, offline marketers make use of television and radio ads. They may also telemarket and/or use signage, such as billboards.
Offline marketing even includes basic networking, via seminars, meetings, and presentations.
Many argue that because we’re moving into a digital age, offline marketing isn’t as critical as digital marketing.
After all, how can a shiny brochure compete with a massive Instagram following?
While digital audiences are growing, however, offline marketing remains essential. This is because offline marketing attempts to reach customers when they aren’t on their phones or desktop computers.
What’s more, offline marketing can leave a more lasting impression that digital marketing. Think of billboards that appear on the sides of highways, where people are making the same commute every day.
The same goes for a compelling, visual television ad.
Print publications as basic as a flyer or a brochure can also be incredibly personal, especially if inscribed with a handwritten note. Customers are all about personal when it comes to advertising.
The best way to harness the power of offline marketing? Implement the strategies discussed in this post.
But also implement these in tandem with your digital marketing efforts. This will pack the biggest punch in your attempts to reach a wide audience!
Offline Marketing Strategies That Work
Offline marketing targets audiences through offline media. Yet it too needs a strategy for making that targeting process as effective as possible.
Here are several offline marketing strategies that can establish your brand image off-grid.
1. Share Your Voice
Establishing your brand image is all about sharing your voice–as a company leader and business owner.
It’s possible to share this voice on social media platforms and your website.
With offline marketing, however, it’s vital to actually share your bonafide voice. This can put a face to your company, personalize your product, and drum up interest in what you’re doing.
Seek out speaking engagements that can help you do precisely this. This may mean applying to speak at a local conference or workshop.
If your industry has certain “chapters” across the nation, search for speaking engagements with both local and state-wide chapters.
The internet is likely your primary tool here, at least in terms of discovering speaking opportunities.
However, don’t be afraid to tap into your existing network, especially if you are active on LinkedIn. Colleagues and former bosses may also be able to provide you with the connections you need to share your voice.
Keep in mind that you may not be paid for some of these engagements. If you are, it may be a nominal sum. Don’t let this dissuade you!
2. Attend Trade Shows
If you sell an actual product in a niche industry, get the word out by attending a trade show.
Trade shows bring together local (and sometimes national) companies and give them an opportunity to showcase their products.
In most cases, trade show admission is cost-effective. Sometimes it is competitive, so be sure to submit an application early.
What will set you up for success at a trade show? Make sure you offer visitors something they can take home with them.
This includes product samples, brochures, pamphlets, or promotional items.
For ideas about creating promotional items customers are likely to keep, read this blog.
3. Sponsor a Local Event
This may seem like a costly form of offline marketing, and it very well may be. However, when you sponsor a local event, you promote your brand image and demonstrate what you care about as a company.
For example, if you sponsor an art gala, this could demonstrate your investment in local arts efforts. Attendees may notice your sponsorship and accordingly become patrons.
Unsure of which events to sponsor?
Seek out organizations you would feel comfortable “partnering” with, especially those who align with your company’s values. Some may be willing to create an event if one isn’t already planned.
4. Donate to Raffles and Other Contests
Another excellent way to cultivate awareness of your brand is to donate your products to local raffles and contests.
Contest winners will be able to cart home a range of your products, and all they have to do is pay the price of an entrance ticket.
You may even want to start a contest yourself!
5. Target Print Publications
Identify local publications in high circulation. What do most community members read? What publication is in every coffee shop?
Seek these publications out and consider running an ad campaign in one of them (or all of them!). If budget is an issue, remember that most publications will have a variety of advertising options for clients.
If ads are not an option, consider reaching out to these publications and requesting a story. This can be particularly applicable if you are hosting a local event of some kind.
At the very least, some newspapers or magazines may be willing to publish an interview.
Final Thoughts
Offline marketing can be an effective means of backing up your digital marketing campaigns, especially because they strive to reach customers outside the bounds of the internet.
Remember that offline marketing is most successful when it is personal.
At Sweet Captcha, it’s all about living the sweet life, even when you’re designing marketing campaigns!
Does your marketing game need a little honing before you implement these offline marketing strategies? A great place to start is making sure you have the right target audience.
Visit this post about using online forums to do exactly that!
