Image via Wikipedia
One of the most difficult things for online marketers to learn is how to go offline and use traditional marketing in conjunction with their inbound marketing success. In making the most of offline marketing, the online marketer needs to learn three things:
- Offline marketing provides another avenue for you to get your message to your clients/customers. When you develop these offline marketing skills your clients/customers will be excited about the information that you provide them from this platform as well as your online contact.
- Offline marketing is about personal contact with your clients/customers. As an online marketer, we are used to emails and downloads. We are used to doing business without any “real” contact. Personal contact can come in the form of a phone call, a personally constructed card or note, or an invitation for coffee, lunch, or and event. This kind of contact creates a level of loyalty that cannot be created with an email or by watching a video.
- Offline marketing shows that you care about more than just “the sale.” When you use your offline follow-up skills to engage your clients/customers on a personal level, they will recognize that you really care about them. With this knowledge of your concern for them, they will become more willing to listen to you, take your advice, and/or purchase your product or service.
Even though so much of what is being taught in the area of marketing these days speaks to the things we do online, you cannot afford as an online, inbound marketer to forget the power of blending your online and offline marketing strategies.
What do you think? What kinds of offline skills have you developed? How have you blended your on and offline marketing strategies?
