Promoting your website offline is just as important as an online
marketing campaign. There are still lot’s of potential customers who don’t
know how to use the internet effectively. Some people get baffled just
looking at the results page that the search engines return after searching
for a product or service. Others are only casual users, and will navigate
the web only by clicking on links that are available on screen, or by
typing the address of a website directly into the address bar. In order to
reach these customers, and many others, you must implement an offline
promotional campaign. You’re URL or website address is obviously the key
here. The more exposure your URL receives the more traffic you will send
to your website. So what can you do to get your website address out into
the offline world?
Radio
This type of advertising can be very effective. The national radio
stations reach out to millions of people all over the country, but can be
quite expensive. You can start by checking the local radio stations. They
can offer good value for money advertising. Remember though, the price you
pay will depend upon the time of day and how often your advertisement is
aired.
Television
Probably one of the most expensive forms of advertising due to its massive
audience, especially on prime time T.V. Usually only the big businesses
with massive advertising budgets use television, but there is an
alternative. Advertising on local cable television channels can bring in a
lot of business. It is relatively well priced and because it’s on TV can
give the impression that your company is bigger and more successful than
it actually is.
Branded ‘Stuff’
Placing your website address on items such as pens, pencils, badges, mouse
mats, cups and t-shirts etc can be a very effective advertising tool.
These products are usually given away for free, but the returns can be
well worth the initial outlay. It’s worth targeting specific markets that
will use your product. It’s a waste of resources when you give a hundred
branded t-shirts to a naturalist colony. Try giving a pack of pens to a
local business that might use your product or services, or some mouse mats
to a local college. You never know who will see your brand.
Word of Mouth
This can work both positively and negatively. The only way to get positive
word of mouth advertising is to provide an exceptional product or service.
Don’t lie and cheat your way through as this will come back to haunt you.
Be professional, courteous and honest, and the rest will look after
itself. If a person likes what you do they will tell six others. If a
person is disappointed with what you do, they will tell twenty others.
So there you have it. Just a few ideas related to offline promotion. If
your whole marketing campaign is purely online, you could be missing out
on a massive portion of your customer base. Get your name out there in the
real world and start to reap the benefits. The effort is well worth it.
Martin Bradley is the Creative Director at Bullbreed
Design Studio. He has worked within the design industry for over 7 years
and has worked for some very prestigious clients such as; British
Aerospace, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, and Aston Martin.
http://www.bullbreed.com
