Tactics For Triggering More Conversions Through Offline and Online Marketing
As digital marketers, our aim is to build brand awareness of a business and ensure ROI by driving sales. We try to influence the target audience to buy products/services they need and in some cases, what they don’t need.
At TalenAlexander, we adopt a two-step approach to spread brand awareness and increase the client’s sales figures. For us online marketing is as important as an offline connection, so we focus on mixing it up to deliver the returns our clients desire.
There is absolutely no doubt that in the cut-throat world of marketing we need to go beyond conventional tactics and think about convergence.
Using various online marketing tactics, we reach out to prospective customers and convince them to respond to our call-to-action in order to trigger more conversions.
These tactics are based on the well-informed assumption that target audiences use the internet to search, view, and/or buy products/services. We employ a smorgasbord of tactics to ensure that our target audience feels compelled to convert into leads and potential customers.
Experimentation is the name of the game– it’s important to push the envelope to create a conversion-friendly marketing campaign. For example, if you are thinking of a content marketing strategy consisting primarily of guest posting, we can tell yoyu now this is a poor plan; diversify your content formats.
Create contests and amazing social media content to bring traffic to your site and drive conversations around your brand which will in turn become conversions.
Bonus Tip: Mix offline marketing tactics with online marketing strategy. That’s the key.
Online marketing is easy to adapt to and can be used to reach a specific target audience, as there are a plethora of analytical tools available for real-time tracking. Offline marketing tactics on the other hand include reaching out to customers via billboards, advertisements in print, banners, flyers, showroom POS displays, exhibitions, trade shows, or demonstrations— or what is traditionally referred to as, ‘legacy media.’
Although online marketing has taken center stage for many firms over the years because of the benefits it brings to the table, offline marketing can’t be sidelined completely. Offline marketing provides marketers with the opportunity to reach out to their customers in a more tangible way; one-on-one manner. As a business, you are offering them a real-world experience as opposed to a virtual one and therefore have a potential to make more of an impact on them.
Let us not forget that before online marketing came along, offline was the ‘de riguer,’ or industry standard. At TalenAlexander we believe offline and online marketing need not be mutually exclusive. You can always take an integrated approach to make your marketing efforts more effective and see tremendous growth in conversions.
In fact, there are many effective offline marketing techniques which can help your business trigger more online conversions. Online and offline marketing should be combined to drive traffic and conversions for each other.
Here are a few ways we go about bringing about a convergence in offline and online marketing,
1.Speaking events
We ask our clients to take actionable steps to grow their personal brand along with their business brand. One of the ways we suggest doing so is by taking on public speaking opportunities to introduce themselves (their brand) at industry specific events.
Attending various speaking events allows you to promote your own niche expertise while your brand by its very association with your name is promoted as well; These events can be conferences, webinars, conventions, etc., where you can directly address members of your target audience.
In essence, you are boosting your personal reputation which over time translates to your brand. An added bonus is the opportunity to connect with customers, competitors, thought leaders, and influencers on a personal level; you are setting the stage for networking by building relationships.
This offline connect can be used to drive online customer engagement, e.g. after the event, upload the video and/or audio of the seminar/conference you attended online and share the link across your social media accounts.
Don’t forget to follow it up with posts/notes of the topic you chose to present while making sure to connect with the people you met during the event to your social networks. From here, you can share your posts with them and the fact that you have met them personally means they will be more inclined to connecting with you on social media.
These people will be encouraged to repost your content throughout their social network and other channels. It will provide your page with inbound links from reputable sources and extend your name (and your business) to the proper audience.
What you are seeing here is an integration of offline and online to generate credible brand awareness.
2.Competitions on Social Media
One of the tried and tested methods that marketers can use for boosting conversions are by enticing customers with offers that naturally drive them to a business’s physical location.
For instance, our marketers suggest clients utilize social media to offer weekly product discounts on certain items OR host competitions featuring prize giveaways.
Once your target audience participates in this competition through your social network, offline conversions take over by providing your storefront location with foot traffic. We ask our clients to make sure these offers and prizes are redeemed in person as it not only encourages repeat business, but to personalize the whole experience for both your online and offline audience.
For example, you can snap photos of your prize winner and share them to your social account. Bonus Tip: Make claiming their prize an eventful experience, one in which they will be more apt to sharing through their personal social network.
Additionally, driving customers to your brick-and-mortar location can result in them becoming brand ambassadors/evangelists, if they find that the product and service offered by you is truly exclusive and of high quality.
3.OOH displays
‘Out-of-Home’ (OOH) displays such as banners, billboards, posters, etc. are a great way to capture the attention of your target audience. When you opt for these, make sure that the copy on the displays is absolutely flawless. Pay attention to the design elements as well and most importantly, do not forget to give the links to your online presence such as links to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn profiles. This will make it easy for your target audience to seek you out online and learn more about your business.
4.Tweetups
Tweetups’ or ‘Twitter Meetups’ are commonplace nowadays and are used to leverage the power of microblogging to channelize conversions. Think of it as a chance to network with your followers and build new contacts over some general chit-chat and a round of food and drinks.
Tweetups need to be planned meticulously in advance with an agenda in mind. We have learnt from organizing past Tweetups for clients that everyone who attends has something to say. You need to steer the conversation in the right direction. That’s key.
From your target audience’s point of view, they are provided a chance to network and share information about a common interest; they get to hobnob with the ‘Who’s Who’ on Twitter. Your job is to make sure that you exceed their expectations and make them feel a deeper connection with your brand and business.
Integrating online and offline marketing tactics takes a lot of planning, but with a bit of foresight and strategy, your marketing campaigns can achieve greater conversions. Have a say on this? Let us know through your comments.