Thinking through the marketing campaign an entrepreneur tries to figure out the most effective methods to enhance awareness of the product and provoke desired actions from the potential customers and the regular audience. Both online and offline ways to promote business have proven their efficiency and are known to bring profit.
At the same time, both of them have their pitfalls that must be paid attention to in order to avoid unpleasant surprises like huge expenses without any return on investments. Let’s get a bit clearer picture of the strong and weak sides of online and offline marketing.
Online marketing
Promoting business online has become simply synonymical to doing business in general. Everything and everybody is online, therefore global reach is guaranteed. Let’s have a closer look at the possibilities that entrepreneurs are given when marketing online.
Metrics
With all the analytics tools developed for any marketing platform, be it a social media channel or a website it is possible to see what happens on the page ( traffic, visits, page lingering, target audience, page speed, usability, etc.). Being thoroughly measurable, online marketing gives more chances to upgrade.
Convenience
Just press the button and let the clients flow. Of course, it is not that easy and the process is far more complex. However, the idea is that it is convenient because it lets you solve marketing issues from wherever you are ( as long as there is an internet connection of course).
Also, the timing is for you to choose to have things done exactly when you need them. Like, for example, a gift card template can be easily transformed into an eye-catching 5% off gift certificate for your “the-end-of-May” newsletter. No postponing or calamities with a misspelling on 500 samples printed. Even if there is some mishap it can be fixed fast.
No geographical dependence
Sincere gratitude to the delivery services like ShipNetwork that connect packages with their owners all around the world. This means that it makes sense to market your products or services to somebody who is 10000 km from you ( as long as they are in the target audience category). Whether you sell goods, or consult people on becoming healthy and rich ( mind language barriers), you can reach your people and offer your services no matter how far they are.
Things to mind
Online promotion is a valid means of doing business. Yes, it might sometimes evoke doubts, since human beings tend to trust tangible stuff. Usually, the credentials and reviews are always there for us to judge. Also, online marketing will not be able to target those who are offline ( by choice or any other reasons).
Though with all the digitalization the number of such people may not cause a negative impact on your marketing campaign. Just work on your expertise and always be ready to upgrade.
Offline promotion
Offline marketing has its potential in terms of enhancing brand awareness and communicating some special messages to the audience. Marketing your business via offline means indeed cultivates trust and creates a long-lasting impression. Tangible things get to be memorized better. The key point is to find creative advertising methods that will leave a lasting impression on their target audience.
For instance, brands can use inflatable blimps or advertising balloons with their logo or message printed on them. These custom advertising balloons are easily noticeable and can be used in events such as trade shows and festivals. The benefits of using custom advertising balloons are that they can attract a large audience, and their message can be visible from a distance. However, offline advertising has its limits time-wise and sometimes is pretty costly.
Conclusion
When doing business an entrepreneur tries to use any means necessary to promote a brand. If the market and budget permit to do it both ways ( online and offline) in a harmonious duo, then why reject. All the cons and pros from both sides can be easily analyzed and approached the right way.
It is not sensible to just opt-in for one thing. All the marketing fronts must be covered, since profit may come from different sources of advertising applied.
