5 Ways to Integrate your Offline and Online Marketing Strategies
By Ronn Torossian
Your digital channels can boost your traditional PR efforts and vice versa. Here are some tactics to cross-promote your messages.
Online marketing might be the more popular and efficient marketing tool today, however the strategies that PR pros employ for offline marketing can still be beneficial and relevant.
If there’s any doubt about which strategy to employ, then you’re not making the most of both of these tools. It shouldn’t be a choice, since one of the best ways to maximize your marketing strategy is by merging both online and offline efforts.
Different strategies cater to different portions of your audience or customer base. By integrating online and offline marketing, you will be able to reach various audiences, as well as build a trusted and cohesive brand.
Here are five ways to merge your online and offline marketing to get the best out of your marketing efforts:
1. Associate offline promotions with an online call to action.
There are many ways to promote offline marketing products through online methods. For instance, if you have a noteworthy TV ad coming out for a specific season or event, use social media leading up to the launch to boost its reach. You can create a countdown or show a preview on your website and social media channels to generate some excitement.
Online calls to action can be as simple as promoting a sale by encouraging customers to visit your store. In a similar way, offline marketing can be used as a way to promote online events and promotions.
2. Use online data to support offline efforts.
One of the major boons of online marketing is that is can generate data about your customer.
Analyzing customer behavior on your website and social media profiles can provide insight into customers visiting your store. Through online marketing you can get information about things like the best way to organize your store or what products to highlight.
3. Offer free giveaways and competitions.
Use your offline marketing efforts to encourage your customer to share their email address. For instance, you can run a competition or free giveaway that requires customers to share contact information. However, don’t forget to include a check box for customers to opt out of receiving marketing emails.
4. Start using UTM codes.
A UTM code is a great tool to monitor your campaigns as it allows Google Analytics to tell you where your searches came from and what campaign directed them to your URL. Using a UTM code for your online campaign efforts can provide information about demographics for specific offline campaigns.
5. Get your online customers to contribute to your offline marketing
User-generated content is not only for sharing on online platforms. Interact with your customers online and creatively encourage them to help with your next marketing campaign. You can use words and pictures created by your customers in magazines, TV commercials or newspapers.
Ronn Torossian is CEO of NYC based PR firm 5WPR.
source: https://www.prdaily.com/5-ways-to-integrate-your-offline-and-online-marketing-strategies/
