The pace in which Internet speed and access has increased combined with the rise of social media have made businesses start shifting their marketing focus towards online channels. However, traditional “offline” marketing strategies remain useful even today. They have an established presence in the minds of people, having worked for decades to great effect.

Traditional Marketing Strategies for Your Website

Here are five such offline methods that can still be leveraged for the good of your website’s visibility and profitability.

1.      Traditional Advertising (Print/Radio/TV Ads)

Despite the growing mind share of the Internet, there is still a great majority that accesses information and enjoys entertainment from traditional media, such as print, radio and television. Even Google, one of the biggest companies that built itself purely online, ran an ad on two of Canada’s major newspapers which made the news on Mashable and Yahoo.

Considering the expenses of having to run ads on print, radio or TV, you have to make sure that the product or service you want to advertise has demonstrated itself to be profitable and of a high quality. You might also want to start in a local area to keep spending at a minimum while also having a targeted ad campaign.

2.      Flyers, Brochures, and Business Cards

As an extension of print ads, you can make use of flyers, brochures, and business cards to disseminate bits of information about your business. Flyers need to be distributed in large public areas where there is plenty of human traffic, but it also pays to know which locations your target audience mostly congregates.

Brochures are complementary materials that can be packed with more information regarding your business. Business cards are a convenient way to form a connection with potential customers, clients and partners through the contact details provided, and they also build up an image of professionalism.

3.      Local Chamber of Commerce

Such organizations can help bring together heads of businesses from various industries to discuss possible collaborative efforts. Thus, they are very valuable resources for networking companies that might be lacking in certain areas. If you believe your business has a weak point that needs addressing, such as lack of printing capabilities, you can look to your local chamber of commerce to build an affiliation with a printing company that also provides refills and remanufactured ink cartridges.

If nothing else, you can also learn from the seminars where industry experts and entrepreneurs give useful talks about their successful strategies and other work-related concerns.

4.      Mobile Advertising

Offline marketing can also “travel” just like online marketing. You can have a car magnet or a sticker advertising your business placed on you and your employees’ cars, getting good mileage out of your marketing efforts through increased exposure in your neighborhood. If you can afford it, place your ads on public transportation vehicles like buses, trains, and taxis.

Mobilize your customers to be part of your marketing strategy by offering shirts, hats or any similar clothing merchandise with your company logo and URL.

5.      Direct Mail

Running a well-planned direct mail campaign has been proven to be effective. It makes an immediate impact as it gives customers the convenience of getting to know more about your business and your products while in the comfort of their own homes.

Collect physical addresses of your customers using a subscription method you can package into your products. You are capitalizing on their interest in what you’re offering. You can also spend on targeted mailing lists that fall in line with your target audience to reach potential customers.

Connecting Online and Offline Marketing

With these offline strategies in play, you then have to bridge the gap between them and your online endeavors to truly realize their joint potential. 

  • Promotion through Social Media

Social media is one of the driving forces in today’s world, spreading information at an unparalleled speed and influencing the current generation in the process. Make it work for your offline marketing strategy by promoting events through your business’ social media pages, such as fund-raising concerts, appearances at trade shows and other similar gatherings. Give your online “fans” and “followers” an incentive for showing up by providing them exclusive promos and discounts.

You also want to get people to know about your existence in social media, and you can do this by simply including the social media addresses (along with your official website) on all of your offline marketing materials.

Educate your employees on how to be social media savvy in order to help them convert leads into customers, if you’re still pursuing the old method of buying leads. They can do their research on your target audience by checking what they Share, Like, Retweet, etc., which are all valuable in getting them to make a purchase.

  • Using QR Codes

Quick Response codes are basically barcodes that smartphone users with QR code readers can scan to receive information. You can use them to drum up interest about your products, as they have this innate air of intrigue to them. They get your customers to take action and interact with your brand, especially when coupled with compelling copy.

  • Establishing a Unified Brand

It is of utmost importance to make your business’ identity uniform throughout all of your marketing campaigns. You do not want to confuse customers by presenting one logo/slogan/tone for your online marketing and a different one for your offline marketing. Consistency is the key to imprinting your brand on people’s minds.

This also means putting your website’s URL, as well as your social media accounts’ URL, on each and every promotional offline material you have as stated earlier.

Tracking Your Offline Campaign Online

There are plenty of analytics tools that can be used to measure how well websites are performing on a number of factors. You can also use them to see if your offline marketing is working by setting up unique tracking URLs and placing them in your traditional marketing materials.

Integrate these URLs with your QR codes for maximum tracking efficiency. Doing this lets you distinguish changes in your website’s traffic, conversion rates and more, whether they’re a result of your online strategy or your offline strategy instead.

Offline marketing is a great avenue to explore to bolster your business’ overall campaign. By running it in conjunction with a solid online marketing strategy, you get to cover much more ground. The result is an increase in your brand recognition which, in turn, can lead to more sales. Just be prepared to put in double the effort and expenses to keep both online and offline campaigns balanced.