Marketing Offline
Marketing offline is a great way to compliment your online
campaigns. It helps target people who otherwise might not spot
your online presence. Plus it helps you target people who have
Internet access and email when you include your URL or web site
address in all of your ads. To help you make the most of your
offline marketing, here are a few tips from the pros:
1. INSERTS - Ask for media kits from print publications that
target your industry readers. Find out their rates for inserts.
And have their advertising department help you create a
marketing insert for your products and services that targets
Internet users and includes your URL and email address. Do
include a phone number (toll-free, if possible) for those who
have technical difficulties or prefer to call.
2. TEACH - Hold affordable (or free) offline classes at a local
community center or other educational facility. Share your
knowledge in your area of expertise with attendees. And make
sure to distribute handouts with complete contact information,
including your website and email address. Be pro-active and
post-active by announcing your classes in a press release to the
local media; radio, television, print publications. And follow
up by inviting students to enter feedback and referrals in your
website form after the class if over. Capture their contact
information, enter it into your database, and follow up
regularly - sending them your ezine and product / service
announcements, both via email and regular postal mail.
3. ORGANIZATIONS - Target your offline marketing to groups of
people who will actually be interested in your product or
service; i.e. local associations and organizations. Check your
Yellow Pages for groups near you and find out when their
meetings are. Call ahead to make sure guests are welcome. Then
go and network at an easy pace, not fast. Slowly work your way
into the group and make sure it would be a good fit for you;
you'll want to give at first, then you'll receive later on
(maybe after your first year, even).
Gradually distribute your business cards - with your website and
email address on them. Volunteer to teach about your area of
expertise if the chance arises, of course distributing your
marketing materials with our website and email address on them,
too.
Use caution, before rushing to join during or after the first
meeting. Take your time to make sure the group would be a good
fit for you and your business operations. Sometimes group
operations are lacking or suffer due to board member turnover,
the economy, new industry laws, etc. So you might benefit from
waiting to join for several months down the road, or trying a
different group all together.
So reach out and advertise offline to compliment your online
strategy. And remember to include your website and email address
on all of your marketing tools.