Many of today’s marketers are young enough that they don’t really remember life before the Internet. Even marketers “of a certain age” tend to focus solely on digital channels to reach their audience, and that’s too bad.
No one can deny that online marketing is a great way to engage consumers who are always connected. But too many marketers ignore offline tactics. Offline engagement offers a distinct value, both in terms of cost and effectiveness to your overall marketing agenda.
If you’re looking for new (affordable) ways to get your message in front of your desired audience, consider the following 5 offline marketing strategies:
- Donate Products or Gift Certificates as Prizes
Throughout the year, many towns and cities have local contests, and all contests must have a prize, right? For instance, a friend of mine was recently selling raffle tickets for a charity organization she belongs to. The prize was a $100 gift certificate to a local restaurant. But it could have been a $100 gift certificate to a sporting goods store, a free gym membership for 6 months, a or a free bouquet of roses from a local florist.
When you offer a product, service or gift certificate as the prize for a local contest, you build your brand visibility while showing your support and commitment to your local community.
- Remnant Ads
Newspaper advertising is one of the best ways to reach offline audiences. First, your ad shows up in a trusted and respected publication, so your business immediately has clout. Second, different sections of the newspaper tend to “speak” to different segments of the public, so it’s a great way to target your customers. And newspaper advertising can be one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies as well.
Here’s a way to make your marketing budget go even further with newspaper ads. Approach your local paper and ask if you can buy any advertising space that they haven’t sold yet. Much like a hotel will greatly reduce prices in order to get last minute bookings, a newspaper will happily sell unbought ad space for a fraction of the price. Like any business owner, they would rather have some money than no money.
- Speaking Events
Professional events are a great way to network and build brand awareness. But when you speak at them, they become highly-effective marketing channels. You might have to attend events as an observer first to build up some clout.
First, find one or two local events that are related to your industry and attend just as an observer. Eventually when you’ve made some connections you could approach the event’s organizer with a topic you’d like to speak about. This strategy is most helpful for B2B business owners.
- Trade Association Publications
Most every industry association runs their own trade publication. Typically these publications feature new products and services and include interesting stories about entrepreneurs and new businesses in the industry.
Media Space has built a database of over 500 trade and business journals across all categories of business and levels of executives. We can help you get your message in front of just the right audience.
- Direct Mail
In our experience, direct mail is, by far, one of the most cost-effective and plain ol’ effective offline marketing strategies. Not only can you target specific geographic markets, you can often mail pieces for as little as 50 cents each. It would only take 2 or 3 people to respond to your offer to pay for your entire campaign.
Media Space offers advertising solutions for big and small budgets. Contact us today and we’ll help you drive leads and increase conversion rates.
