Forgotten Offline Marketing Tactics

Online marketing has become very popular in the business world in recent years. With the focus shifted to social media and your website, offline marketing methods are often forgotten when marketing campaigns are planned. Online marketing is of course very important in today’s internet-obsessed world, but offline interaction with your customers still has value and shouldn’t be overlooked. 

If you want to give your business a boost, think outside the box. Here are the offline marketing tips that you might have forgotten about. 

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Engage in offline guerilla marketing

Guerilla marketing is a term for unconventional marketing strategies. Online marketing channels are so narrowly structured, so offline is the best area to try out some guerilla tactics. Ignore what you know about marketing channels, and get creative. 

Offline guerilla marketing ideas could include leaving sticky notes advertising your services in places like bars and coffee shops. Write your promotions on the sidewalk in chalk. Accidentally leave your branded pens if you had to use a pen at the bank. Create branded bookmarks and then donate them to your local library. Use sticky notes to create temporary images on buildings or cars. 

Drop business cards

This marketing tactic is essential, not an option. If you run a small business, you need to have business cards and give them out. Don’t only share your cards when you first meet someone new. Leave your business cards everywhere. 

Leave a business card with your tip at a restaurant, or pin one to a public bulletin board. Visit the library and tuck your business cards into books that are related to your area of specialism. Keep an eye out for contests where businesses ask for business cards in a bowl and always drop yours in. 

Business cards are a classic piece of marketing that shouldn’t be overlooked, like pull up banners and direct mail. 

Take pictures and videos of everything

Social media marketing takes place online, which causes a lot of marketers to forget that social campaigns can be boosted by offline efforts too. A great way to do this is to take a lot of photos of daily activities at work and at company events. Post these pictures or video clips online. Video can be very helpful. For example, if someone at your company is asked to speak at an event, record their speech, and post it on YouTube. 

Photos from the offline world are a way to show the personality of your company and increase engagement with your online users. Facebook posts with photos generate a lot more clicks than posts with only texts. 

Donate gift certificates or products as prizes

If you offer your products or services as a prize for a local contest, you can boost the visibility of your business at the same time as showing your commitment to your local community. 

For example, if your business does computer repairs, you could donate a gift certificate for a free repair to a non-profit organization in your area. If you do something like this, the organization might announce your branded prizes to a room full of their sponsors. Your business could also be listed in various publications, like the organizations website, newsletter, or press release. 

This puts your business in front of a lot more eyes, and they just might think of you the next time they need the service that you offer. 

Speak at events

Professional events give you a useful way to meet lots of new people, share your ideas, and increase brand awareness. To make these events even more effective for you, try to speak at them. Look for events that are related to your industry, come up with an educational topic that you could speak about, and offer your time. Speaking at events positions you as an industry expert, and gives the chance to show off what your company does. 

If you don’t yet have the clout in your industry to speak at events, it’s still worthwhile attending them. If the event is relevant to what you do, you can make some very useful contacts, learn more from the speakers, and get some much-needed inspiration to help you grow. 

Attend workshops

Educational workshops are a good place to learn, but they’re also a place to be seen. Go to a workshop you will find useful, and take your business cards with you. Being around like-minded people is a good chance to connect and network with other professionals who may be useful to you in the future.