Marketing 101: Complementing Both Your Offline and Online Marketing Strategies
In today’s world of business, we can utilize both online and offline marketing. Both types of marketing are still highly effective when used properly. Online marketing includes things like blogs, social media content, web pages, and paid advertisements. Alternatively, offline marketing includes things like business cards, flyers, and brochures.
A mistake many businesses make is to create different online and offline strategies that have no cohesion. Whilst the strategies don’t have to be the same, they should complement each other. This helps create a unified and complementary overall marketing strategy. We discuss four steps you can take to do this below.
Ensure both offline and online marketing use the same color schemes
One of the simplest things you can do is to use a consistent color scheme and style for your offline and online marketing! Ideally, your business should have a set schema that you use. This should be rolled out in every aspect of your business - your website, social media profiles, and content, blogs, business cards, and even your office stationary!
Continually using different colors, styles, and logos in your marketing is confusing. If you use a single color scheme - the company color scheme, your offline and online marketing will complement each other. It will also help improve brand recognition.
Use the same language for both types of strategy
Offline and online marketing will not complement each other if you use entirely different types of language. We don’t mean actual languages - like creating a flyer in Spanish, and web content in English. We mean the style, tense, and delivery.
For example, you create a website blog that uses slang terms and has a laid-back, formal style. However, you also create a brochure that has incredibly formal language with technical jargon. This contrasting style of language could be confusing and it doesn’t promote cohesion between your marketing content. Any written content whether offline or online should use the same tone and style.
Reference your online material in your offline content
A simple and effective method is to cross-reference your offline and online content. Cross-referencing your material can help boost its effectiveness. For example, let’s say you have created a cool business card using a free resource like www.businesscards.co.
Instead of just listing your business name, your name, and your main contact number, the business card could also include links to your online content! This could include your social media accounts and a link to your website. Cross-referencing can be a potent tool to encourage interactions.
Ensure accuracy in product and/or service descriptions
Oftentimes marketing strategies promote specific products and/or services. They may therefore include product descriptions or descriptions of special offers. The content of these descriptions must match!
Let’s say you create a social media post promoting an offer in your online store - people can get 20% off when they spend $50 or more. However, you also create a flyer to promote this offer. It states that people can get 25% off when they spend $40 or more! This creates confusion, looks unprofessional, but can also land your business in a deal of trouble for false advertisement. Offline and online marketing must complement each other via their accuracy.
When dealing with marketing, don’t treat offline and online marketing as two different entities. Tie them together and ensure that they are cohesive. By using the above tips you can make this happen! In the long run, your strategies will improve as a result. This should also help boost your brand reputation as customers will know what to expect from your business.