Top 14 Offline Marketing Channels to Help You Drive Sales
Can’t decide between online and offline marketing channels? Maybe, you don’t have to choose one! With advanced technology and numerous tools at your disposal, it is much easier to create any marketing campaign you need!
But, there is still a doubt! Is offline marketing helpful in today’s digital period?
Like Martin Lindstrom, the great Danish author once said:
“Online marketing rarely can appeal to more than two senses – yet offline often (if utilised the right way) represents the option of multi-sensory appeals.”
And we couldn’t agree more!
Indeed, offline marketing gives customers a first-hand experience of a company’s products or services.
What would you prefer more? Seeing a large-sized cut out outside the theatre for the upcoming Black Panther movie or a social media ad swimming amongst thousand others?
However, tighten your seat belts because we are about to discuss the 14 most commonly used offline marketing tools with their benefits. Let us get right to it!
What Is Offline Marketing?
Before we get to the buzz, let us clear our basics! An offline advertising channel helps businesses connect with their audience personally. It can be networking at a social event or buying a billboard to appeal to target customers!
With the growing number of emails, online banners, social media posts, etc., people suffer from digital fatigue and want a break! Did you know that an average office worker gets nearly 90 emails daily? Also, 70% of all users who use an ad-blocker block up to 200 online ads!
Using offline marketing strategies, you can make emotional bonds with your audience and convince them to give your brand a try! Also, the leads you generate offline are far more reliable than online responses. For instance, a person you exchanged cards with at a trade fair is more likely to close a deal with you than another person who enquired about a product many months back.
How Does Offline Marketing Work?
Like every marketing campaign, your first step is to plan a layout and schedule. Consider why you want to launch a program and who is your intended audience. These details can help pave the way to a successful offline marketing campaign.
Try to segment your audience according to your objectives for every campaign. For example, you can target your existing customers and the people in the neighbourhood if you want to promote your restaurant’s new menu. Thus, you can convert new customers and drive repeat business during the same offline marketing program!
Also, plan the timing for your campaign and location. Again, your target audience must dictate these factors. In our above example, you must execute a marketing plan a few days before your menu’s launch and in the vicinity of your restaurant.
The following steps include drawing up a budget and creating artwork with a compelling copy. Settle these aspects in the first stage of your campaign, irrespective of the offline marketing channels you use. You can do everything in-house, but it is much better to employ automated direct mail services like PostGrid if you want to conduct traditional mailing.
Once you plan everything, begin to assemble the pieces:
- Shop for offline marketing ad placement, for example, newspaper, signage, or TV ads.
- Choose vendors that fit your requirements and budget.
- Get your marketing materials ready, for example, a poster, branded gifts, etc.
- To conduct a targeted campaign, provide the vendor with a segmented audience list.
- Execute the program according to the decided schedule and wait for the results.
The final stage is to track your campaign performance and draft insightful reports. If the results are excellent, you can work with the same offline marketing platforms again. Otherwise, experiment with other channels, artwork, and audiences, until you discover the ideal combination best for your business!
What Are the Benefits of Offline Marketing Channels?
One of the primary features of offline marketing is that it is very subtle. Unlike online ads that are too much in the face, this advertising form helps companies make genuine connections.
Most people do not notice that offline promotions are all around them! We see it every day, from a full-page ad in the local newspaper to a colourful poster taped outside a telephone booth.
Here are some more reasons and benefits of using offline marketing strategies:
- Increase brand awareness: When people see ads from your company around themselves, it boosts your brand visibility. Therefore, they can remember your brand better and learn about your products and services quickly using offline marketing channels. For instance, if they need a new kitchen appliance, they are more likely to contact you when they step outside and see your billboard promoting similar products.
- Reach customers when they want: Your offline marketing tools can help you reach customers in their comfort zone. Banner ads popping up when someone tries to look up something urgently can be annoying. But, opening the newspaper at a relaxing time and seeing your ad is more impactful because they see it coming and choose to read your message.
- Test new markets: You can test new regional and national markets via offline marketing programs. Most channels are affordable, so there is enough scope to try new things and expand your customer base.
- Bridging the gap between online and offline marketing strategies: Using offline marketing, you can get people to visit your website, follow you on social media, sign up for your newsletter, etc. Often, it is the first step towards a conversion. Try adding the proper links and codes to combine your advertising efforts and get higher conversion rates.
The Best Offline Marketing Strategies You Can Employ
Here is a list of the most effective offline distribution channels and how they can help you expand your outreach and increase sales:
Radio Advertisements
89% of the UK’s adult population hears the radio weekly for an average of 20.3 hours! Running radio ads on popular channels helps you connect with your customers when they have enough time and are willing to listen to your message. Hence, radio ads have a better impact and recall rate on the audience than online messages.
However, you can only provide a few details using offline marketing on the radio, so ensure to redirect your prospects to another channel for more information. You can insert your website and phone number within the ad to let interested customers contact you.
Television Advertisements
TV ads are among the most commonly-used offline marketing examples worldwide. They allow you to offer customers a visual aid about your products or services, allowing them to identify with your business!
Unlike radio ads, TV advertisements are a little expensive. Hence, you must balance the number of ads with other offline marketing platforms to make the most of your budget.
Try creating a video that best captures your company’s vision and explains what you have to offer! Thus, customers get your message clearly within a minute or so before another ad plays on their screens.
Businesses using TV advertising get a 69% hike in online conversions. Hence, it is worth making it an integral part of your offline marketing plans.
Promotional items
Promotional materials help show your customers and prospects you care for them! Also, it makes them feel special and persuades them to complete your call-to-action (CTA). Sending promotional items for your offline marketing plans helps you grab your audience’s attention almost instantly.
For example, USB drives, notepads, pen holders, mugs, etc., with your company name and logo, build brand recognition. They are also long-lasting offline marketing tools that stay in a household or office for several days.
Another example is sending out holiday or birthday cards to your prospects. Add a unique coupon code with a small discount to motivate them to purchase from you immediately!
If you want to connect with a high-ticket account, you may add a small gift, like a mini speaker, flash drive, calendar, etc. They help you create authenticity and creditworthiness. Also, people often use these offline marketing items, giving your brand more exposure.
T-shirts are another offline advertising item we recommend businesses use under our corporate gifting solutions. You can give them out at events or send them as direct mail to surprise your clients and win them over. Again, remember to brand all your tools to make your company stand out from the crowd.
Here is an example of how you can send eye-catching items to your customers:
Tomorrowland, a Belgium-based annual music dance festival, sends its tickets to registrants via postal mail. It packages these waistband tickets in an exclusively-designed treasure chest.
Such appealing and extravagant offline marketing examples get people talking about you.
In this example, every registrant who received the mailpiece turned into a brand ambassador for Tomorrowland and promoted the festival by posting pictures all over social media.
Please note how Tomorrowland succeeded in driving online traffic via an offline marketing program.
Event Marketing
Participating in events helps you fulfil many offline marketing goals simultaneously, like:
- Network with new clients.
- Establish personal relationships.
- Improve brand image and increase visibility.
- Learn about your competitors.
- Re-engage old customers and convince them to use your products or services again.
- Share details regarding the offline marketing event on your website and social media accounts to gain publicity and drive online followers.
Make an event calendar highlighting all the trade fairs in your city or nationally during the year. Ensure these exhibitions have a nationwide reach and match your industry.
You can advertise your participation using multiple online and offline marketing channels. For example, send invitation cards via direct mail and run social media ads letting people know about your activities.
Additionally, you can run your offline marketing events, like a workshop, seminars, or conferences. They help you generate more news about your company and set you apart from your competition. Try inviting every customer you know and promoting your event widely to get enough attendees.
Below is an example of one of Pepsi’s offline marketing events in the 1980s. It is one of the most unique and successful advertising programs you can benefit from knowing!
PepsiCo conducted a blind taste test nationally to prove itself better than its competitor Coca-Cola. They designed a set-up on streets, wherein passersby could stop and taste the two sodas without knowing which one’s which! Also, they had to pick which one tasted better.
Not surprisingly, customers selected Pepsi over Coca-Cola by a considerable amount. The result? Pepsi attracted thousands of new customers and had incredible publicity following this offline marketing public program!
Many famous brands, like Google, Facebook, etc., host several events to advertise their services and entice more customers!
You can start with a small offline marketing strategy, like hosting an invited participants-only conference for a panel discussion, industry talks, etc. The point is to do something that best suits your business and can help you drive conversions at your pace!
Billboards Advertising
Billboards are massive offline advertising materials to showcase your message to a broad audience. They are not as expensive as you think and help you appeal to a lot of people altogether!
Last year, UK’s out-of-home (OOH) offline marketing produced 901 million of revenue. And billboards make for about 66% of the total OOH promotional market.
However, please remember billboards only consist of a large-sized image and a one-liner message. You can also insert your brand name and logo, but that is the extent of it. Thus, add a short pURL, so interested prospects can visit your page and enquire further!
Magazine Ads
Magazines are still in fashion, primarily in fields, like finance, healthcare, hospitality, travel, apparel, tech, etc. It is affordable, effective, and attention-grabbing, making it one of the best offline marketing ideas!
Always insert your magazine ad in a targeted and reputed magazine whose readership comprises your customer demographic. Hence, you can zero in on your intended customers and offer them in-depth details about your company.
Newspaper Ads
Like magazines, newspapers are also among the top offline marketing examples in the print media segment. They are an excellent option for businesses who want to promote themselves for a long time at low prices!
Most companies that employ newspaper ads as part of their offline marketing strategies focus on the older generation. For instance, if you sell fitness and health products to people above 50 years, newspaper ads can help you reach them directly.
But, it is hard to track the performance of newspaper advertising because these printed items promote companies in several sectors. Hence, learning and segmenting the results to see if your brand is getting enough coverage can be complicated!
Business Cards
Investing in business cards is one of the most long-running offline marketing activities companies have! You can hand them out at business events and one-to-one client meetings or attach them to other promotional items.
Use a unique layout that demonstrates your business values and out-of-the-box thinking! You can use business cards as valuable offline marketing tools, but they are also helpful for day-to-day correspondence.
Ensure all employees in your firm have a personal business card with their names and details. You never know when they would need to share their contact information with prospective clients.
Direct Mail Flyers and Postcards
Direct mail has a response rate of 9%, and nearly 96% of UK customers engage with these offline marketing items. You cannot leave out traditional mailing when you plan to launch an offline marketing campaign. It helps you get closer to your goals by pushing prospects to the bottom of the funnel in a short span!
You have several options to launch direct mail advertising campaigns, like:
Postcards
Postcards are small and cost-efficient offline media examples you can use to communicate with prospects. They create a nostalgic effect, and people love collecting them. Hence, using postcards ensures you stay in a household for a long time because most recipients stick them to their refrigerators or pin them to their boards.
Additionally, there are several postcard sizes available with thousands of custom options. Try PostGrid’s direct mail API to draft, print, and ship your postcards to develop a memorable offline marketing campaign. Our services can help you integrate direct mailing into your CRM, so you can launch a campaign any time you need!
Letters
Marketing letters are a professional way of persuading your target customers, primarily for B2B companies that focus on account-based offline marketing strategies.
Google often sends out marketing letters promoting Google Adwords to businesses. It also includes an offer coupon to get more customers on board. It uses a one-page format with three to four paragraphs. But, its content is engaging and appealing to the prospective audience.
Flyers
Using flyers for offline marketing allows you to depict more information than postcards. Hence, decide which direct mail types you want to use, depending on your messaging and marketing motives!
Flyers can have a single-fold, double-fold, etc., so you can fit in more words or images. They are colourful and interactive offline marketing tools, helping to communicate with customers and make a positive impression.
Print custom QR codes and pURLs on the front side to guide people on what to do next and accelerate responses! PostGrid’s direct mail services can help you add these trackable features to your items and monitor campaigns online.
Sponsorships
If you have an adequate budget, you can sponsor specific events as part of your offline marketing tactics. Sponsorships are ideal for talking to your existing and potential customers offline.
Sponsoring events that interest your target market helps you inform prospects about your brand and its products and services.
For example, Avis, a car rental business, sponsors many sporting events, like the Super Bowl and the Olympics. This offline marketing strategy helps this company generate leads throughout the year and increases sales!
But, enter into a legitimate contract with the event managers to include your details in all event merchandise and promotional materials.
Press Releases
You don’t need an in-house PR team if you network enough with your local journalists to get favourable press coverage for your brand. Also, using press releases as offline marketing tools is affordable because you do not need to pay for every issue.
You must prepare a newsworthy brand story and share your benefits engagingly. However, there is another thing you can do if you don’t want to rely on reporters from publishing houses entirely. You may print and mail press releases to your target audience with other offline marketing examples—via direct mail.
It lets you narrow the readers for this offline marketing tool and draft whatever you want your audience to know. Such press releases are similar to company newsletters that talk about the latest industry news, your recent accomplishments, your product information, etc.
Loyalty Programs
Creating a loyalty program for your long-term, loyal customers can help you get unlimited referrals. Some businesses develop an online loyalty program like Starbucks, wherein customers pay using an app and collect Stars which they can redeem for free food and drinks.
However, you can use several offline marketing ideas for loyalty programs, like affiliate marketing. Ask your customers to refer to other people in exchange for redeemable points, gifts, etc.
Advertise the incentives of your offline marketing program for customers using several channels to inform more people about it. The more customers join you, the more leads you can generate in your pipeline year-round.
Vehicle Wraps
Companies have been using vehicle advertising for a long time! But it is hard to get people’s attention on busy streets these days. Yet, it doesn’t mean it is not an excellent offline marketing strategy to drive conversions!
Design artwork with bright colours and enticing headlines that make people stop and look at your ad. Also, select large vehicles like buses to get maximum customers to notice them at least once during your offline marketing program. You should consider the bus’s route before you stick your ads on it to avoid missing out on profitable opportunities.
For example, if your retail store is in West London, you don’t want to run offline marketing campaigns in the South. Thus, ensure to enquire about these factors beforehand to get maximum results!
In-Transit Advertising
The average time people travel to their workplace and back is 59 minutes daily. If you add this figure to know how much time they spend in transit monthly, you would agree that in-transit advertising is among the finest offline advertising examples!
You can put up attention-grabbing posters on different train stations and near subways. Some companies also book spaces inside the trains to advertise to commuters.
Editor’s Note: Always track your performance using offline marketing analytics to improve upcoming campaigns. Most businesses use the dual mode of response and tracking mechanisms.
For example, you can use custom QR codes to help people respond. Imagine you send offline marketing postcards to everyone who abandons their shopping carts on your website. In such cases, a QR code can redirect them to their accounts so they can quickly complete the transaction.
Also, throw in a small discount with this offline marketing tool with a deadline to get people to take action immediately.
Another advantage is you may track every custom QR code to its respondents to measure your campaign results.
How Can PostGrid’s Direct Mail Solutions Improve Your Offline Marketing Campaigns?
PostGrid’s direct mail API allows you to avail yourself of all the offline marketing benefits discussed in this blog. Also, you can plan and execute a campaign within no time using PostGrid, making it an apt choice for you!
Here is a case study of one of our top-tier clients in London:
Our client is in the financial services industry and wanted to promote its services to at least 5,000 fresh prospects via offline marketing plans. We were thrilled to know they already had some ideas, like:
- Sending out letters listing their benefits and features
- Shipping informative report-type mailers, etc.
We suggested they conduct A/B testing to try out different offline marketing campaigns and see what works best. One week in, we had already launched an extensive mailing campaign for three batches, consisting of marketing postcards, letters, and newsletters.
We only sent each direct mail type to 200 recipients to test the mailers, and the results were impressive! Hence, we launched the bulk mailing campaign for the remaining 5,400 prospects and again got positive results.
The trick was compiling a segmented mailing list for the offline marketing program. Also, our templates helped the client design appealing and response-worthy mailers to represent their brand.
The result? Over 1,500 responses and nearly 800 conversions! Now, the client conducts a bulk mail campaign every three months to increase publicity and re-engage customers.
Conclusion
It is not hard to conduct an offline marketing plan, despite its reputation of being daunting and expensive. Instead, it is one of the best approaches to advertising yourselves to your target audience.
However, it is crucial to clip your online and offline media examples to survive the competition and get the best of both worlds. Also, it helps you spread out your budget evenly and gain maximum revenue!
PostGrid’s direct mail automation solutions can help you along the way by assisting you in conducting successful traditional mailing campaigns. We provide numerous features, like address verification, mailing list compilation, print customisation, finishing options, and per-piece tracking. You name it!
Sign up to know how PostGrid helps you launch effective offline marketing campaigns at low rates and guaranteed results!
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