Now I know my site is aimed at online businesses or at least those businesses that require a website … they all do!! but today I want to talk about the offline business marketing opportunities you may be missing out on.
Running a business these days is all about having the right pieces in place to make the company a success. The thing is, this is something that often involves thinking outside the box. There are a lot of things that play a role in the way the business progresses, but so many people get so caught up in the digital world they forget that offline business marketing even exists and that is not always a good thing.
The fact of the matter is that your business is going to need to have a combination of online and offline strategies in order to help it thrive. We all give a lot of thought to the online business marketing strategies, but so many of us overlook the offline options. These are some of the excellent ways you can make sure you improve your business offline today and help to make your business a more successful brand in the future.
Offline Business Marketing
Is it possible to market without social media in 2018? Well, the answer is, yes. There are plenty of offline marketing techniques that play a big role in helping businesses improve. Things like vehicle signage, billboards, and business cards play a major part in the process of improving offline marketing. So, you need to make sure you follow the ideas on here and ensure that you combine them with your online business marketing strategies.
Transport Is Vital
Transport is often crucial when you run a business because you need to get around, and you may also need to transport equipment and supplies for jobs and projects. However, even if you do not actually need transport for your business there is no harm in driving a vehicle around that advertises your business.
As I drive around in my day to day activities I see so many vehicles advertising their business including phone numbers and website addresses. I often wonder how many people in a given day see this traveling advertising. I guess some days it could be thousands and even if it is only hundreds this is still very effective and cheap advertising.
This is why you have to make sure you check out the Vauxhall combo van and other similar vehicles that would be ideal for your business needs and for advertising your business. No matter how digital your business might be, you will be giving your business a boost by using some form of transport for marketing yourself. Don’t forget or ignore this fabulously cheap form of business marketing.
Office Space
Any successful business is going to have a successful and thriving office environment even if that is your front room.spare room or garage. This is integral to the way the company works, and you need to make certain you have the best office you possibly can as this will help you to take the company forward. If you have a team you work with then the office is the place where the team can come together and work their magic. It is so important, and you need to look at what you can do to create the best office environment possible.
So what does this have to do with offline business marketing? Well it is the address that is important here. People like to know who they are dealing with in business and knowing where they are from helps to build trust. Using a business address on marketing materials, such as business cards, brochures and leaflets is vital to your offline business marketing.
Do not underestimate the value of these things to your business and getting you and your brand out there. Leaflets can end up anywhere so make sure they tell your story. What you do, how you can help and how to contact you. Just a phone number and email address will unfortunately give a subconscious suspicion to your reader.
Okay I understand that if you work from home you may not want to advertise where you live but you can still say Leicestershire, England, which is exactly what I do. I have a friend who works out of her shed…. it’s a posh shed but she has given it a name so business marketing materials have that on it rather than the number of her house!
One last thing, never leave home without at least a business card or two on you. You never know who you may meet who would find your business useful.
Technology
If you are on this website then I am sure that technology is vital to your business. I am a big fan of technology today, though it wasn’t always this way. Just read My About Me Page to discover why!
It is important to make sure you enjoy as much technology as you can in your business, as it is paramount to success in today’s business world. If you don’t yet have a website then you definitely need one like yesterday no matter what type of business or in what sector you are in.
Now, being able to access the digital landscape means stocking up on offline tech hardware. For instance, your business is going to need computers, routers, and printers. If you already have a team of employees, you might even decide that business smartphones are essential for the employees as a whole because of the difference they can make to productivity.
This aside how does technology fit into offline business marketing? Well it doesn’t really but I want to talk to you about email Marketing. This in itself is an online activity but collecting other people’s email addresses can be a very successful way of marketing your business and having pop ups or freebies on your website is not the only way to collect them.
There are many personal ways of collecting email addresses. Requesting to add them at networking events ( see next section ) can be a very personal way of adding people to your email list. Promoting your business at expos is also great for getting your brand and business out there. There are expos going on all over the world every weekend and there will be one, two or even three that will have your target market attending.
Having a giveaway in return for a business card is an ideal way of collecting contact information. If they have given it freely then you are at liberty to call them or to email them. Even if you don’t think expos are your thing then you can offer Give Aways at your business premises in return for email addresses. Just don’t forget to return to your online marketing and use your email list effectively to promote your business and offers.
Networking Events
Even if you have a totally online business, there is no harm in attending local networking business events. Every area in every country has some form of these. It is a chance to get out there and speak to people who may find your services or products useful. I always try to attend at least two a month. It gets me out of the house and in front of people at the very least. Working online as a solopreneur can be very lonely sometimes and that is not great for your confidence.
Sometimes it only results in my getting feedback on my business, which is always useful. Sometimes I make connections with people I can work with but it always gets me more website visitors, even if they are only being nosey.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are a fair few ideas that will help you to improve your company and its offline business marketing, that don’t involve the digital world. That is not to say the digital world is not massively important in business, because it absolutely is. If you do not yet have a website then the time to start building one is now. But it is clear that offline can be just as crucial to your business. So many people overlook the offline business ideas these days, and this can be a problem for them long term.
I do hope this post has been useful or at least given you some food for thought as to how you can incorporate offline business marketing to your overall business marketing strategy. If you have please give it a share on your favourite social media platform.
As ever if you have any questions or just want to share your thoughts or ideas please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
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