Why to Combine Your Online and Offline Marketing & How To Do It

Online and offline marketing, when combined, can catapult the impact and effectiveness of both channels. In this article, we'll look at why and how to combine your online and offline marketing efforts.

To get started, let's look at the different types of online and offline marketing.

The Different Types of Online and Offline Marketing

This isn't an exhaustive list, but it gives you the idea.

Despite what some of us think, not everyone uses and loves the internet. It's easy to think that everyone relies on the web for important information such as news, trends, entertainment, and research but it's really not the case.

According to The Center for Generational Kinetics, there are five primary generations today: 

• Gen Z, iGen, or Centennials: Born 1996 and later
• Millennials or Gen Y: Born 1977 – 1995
• Generation X: Born 1965 – 1976
• Baby Boomers: Born 1946 – 1964
• Traditionalists or Silent Generation: Born 1945 and before

Four out of the five generation types have people born long before the internet was even a dream! 

Some Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, and Gen Xers are still into newspapers, TV, radio, and other offline channels.

In order to have a consistent, stable source of leads it's important for a business to have a number of different channels for generating leads. By combining your online and offline marketing efforts you can significantly enhance your returns.

Need more convincing? Here are some of the benefits...

The Benefits of Combining Online and Offline Marketing

While digital marketing offers heaps of benefits, business owners must remember the importance of offline marketing too. 

The perfect strategy is one that combines both online and offline marketing methods. There are a number of benefits for doing so...

1. Better brand awareness.

Marketing is about increasing exposure. While online marketing can help you reach a wide audience, combining it with offline marketing can help you reach the folks you aren't reaching online. 

Remember that exposure is important in sales and marketing. It helps you cast a wider net to catch people who don't even know your business exists.

2. Increase your credibility.

This is one of my favorite benefits. I'm pretty sure that gaining consumer trust is one of the biggest challenges in doing business. Infusing online and offline marketing helps marketers overcome this challenge. 

Do you have much faith in a company that doesn't even have a website? Me neither...

If a customer hears about your company offline and goes online to find a wealth of information about your company (great website, awesome online reviews, etc.), the combination of your offline and online marketing is increasing your exposure and credibility.

3. Better competitive edge.

Look around! You'll probably see your competition on Google, social media, and other online channels. 

How often do you see your competition sell on TV, radio, or direct mail? In most cases, the answer is very little...

Combining online and offline marketing can absolutely give you an edge over your competition.

Tips on How to Combine Online and Offline Marketing

After digging deeper into the benefits of combining online and offline marketing, it's time to take a look at how you can do this.

Here are some simple ways to start combining your online and offline marketing...

1. Put online calls to action (CTA's) on all your print marketing materials.

Your direct mail and print ads can encourage your offline readers to take action online.

Great calls to action are a must in both your online and offline marketing efforts.

Here are several call-to-action examples to drive offline people online: 

• Ask people to scan a QR code to purchase or schedule an appointment.
• Run an online contest from your offline campaign by encouraging people to create social posts with a specific hashtag. The best post wins the contest.
• Offer a special to people who visit a specific URL or take a specific action online regarding your business.

2. Create a “to be continued” campaign.

Start a story offline and continue the story in an online channel. If people want to get the rest of the story they have no choice but to go online. 

Where should you send people? Your website, social media pages, YouTube channel, blog, etc.

3. Build your email list with offline events.

Are you speaking or displaying at tradeshows? 

By offering something of value like a cheat sheet or checklist to attendees in exchange for their name and email you can quickly and easily build your email list.

Make sure you take advantage of automated email sequences when you do this. A sequence will allow you to easily send the contact your cheat sheet, continue to add value to them in subsequent emails and encourage them to take the next step with your business (like book an appointment or schedule a free consultation).

4. Let your social media followers weigh in on your next offline campaign.

To give both your engagement and marketing an extra kick, let your followers contribute ideas to your next print campaign, contest, or event. 

Most social media platforms offer Poll and Quiz options that can help you gather insights from your followers.

5. Get creative.

I've given you a few ideas here, but this is really only limited to your imagination. When creating a campaign ask yourself how you can drive traffic from offline to online (or vice versa) and how it will amplify the impact of your campaign.

If you can identify the benefits of doing this then you absolutely should.

There you go! Those are the benefits of combining online and offline marketing and how to do it. 

Combining both online and offline marketing techniques is one of the easiest decisions you can make for your thriving business. 

Once you make the decision to combine your online and offline marketing, make sure you track your results. This will allow you to continually test to improve your results.

Have you tried any of these tips in your own marketing? Have you tried others that worked well? I want to hear all about it in the comments below.

It would also be an honor if you think this article is worthy of being SHARED.

Header image courtesy of Pexels.

About the Author

Tim Fitzpatrick is the President of Rialto Mobile Marketing. At Rialto Mobile Marketing we help take the guesswork out of marketing for small businesses and make it simple. We're the bridge between where you are and where you want to be.