Imagine a life without internet?
Hard to imagine it, right? But did you know that the internet which is so prominent nowadays did not even exist a couple of years ago which made offline marketing the ideal and maybe only alternative? Offline marketing was usually done completely manually which has become much easier in recent times due to technological advancements which have led to most everyone marketing their businesses online. But is important to note that offline business marketing has not lost its charm and is still an important and workable choice of marketing. The main marketing strategy of offline marketing is to use offline media channels to create awareness of your services and products.
Here are 7 Offline Marketing Tactics that you can incorporate into Your Startup:
#1 Leverage Product Packaging Material for Marketing
Brands which produce physical products should use their product packaging to market their products as well as driving product differentiation. Designing different and catchy product packaging can help you market your products as well as leaving a lasting impression on your customer’s minds and keep them coming back.
Personalize your product packaging and products with your brand so that your customers can easily recognize your brand and products. You can also choose to include branded packaging like badges, stickers, corrugated boxes and also used recycled materials to create a personal connection with your customers and make it easier for them to recognize your brands.
#2 Combine Online and Offline Promotions
Promotions are still one of the best ways to attract customers, particularly if you’re just launching your brand. Vouchers and promotional offers in the form of special introductory discounts can be given to people to drive/attract them to your brand. Promotions usually tend to be done online nowadays but you can also run offline promotions in the real world which will also attract the right target audience to your brand and products the old-fashioned way. An example of this is to distribute your discount vouchers on college campuses.
Give away small gift hampers on special occasions which will incite any existing customers to revisit your physical or online store again.
#3 Invest in Public Relations
PR is one of the primary sources for you to build your public brand perception. You can get this done through an external PR agency or through in-house capabilities; PR is an area that all startups should not neglect. If you have budgets constraints about hiring a PR agency then you should at least make efforts to connect with media influencers and journalists through social platforms like LinkedIn.
Along with mainstream media, startups can also consider connecting with popular bloggers and persuade them to cover your service or product in their blogs.
You can also invite the press over for an official meet and greet as well.
#4 Participate in Conferences and Hackathons
Make sure to attend any meetups, hackathons and conferences as they are a great way to create and build up your brand’s reputation as well as building up your network. Such events generally tend to attract a niche audience. And hence you will have the opportunity to meet and interact with people who have similar interests as well as improving your chances of getting good quality leads which you can further develop through offline and online channels.
This can also be a good place to collect real-time feedback about your services and products.
#5 Partner with Other Businesses
Partnering with other similar businesses nowadays is another way to connect with a lot more of your target audience. Strategically partnering with other businesses is a great way to ride on your partners reach and brand loyalty for your own brand.
These kinds of partnerships are not restricted to offline areas alone and can be done online as well.
#6 Celebrate Holidays with Your Clients
Everyone loves holidays, right? Send your clients small gifts or cards on festivals and special occasions to make your presence felt and known, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on your clients to do this either. Here are some tips make the holidays memorable for your clients:
Send out “Happy Anniversary” cards with special discounts to your clients on your company’s anniversary
You can also give away complimentary coupons to your clients to use for their Christmas shopping with your company
#7 Donate Products or Services as Prizes
Most if not all non-profit organizations will welcome donations of services and products as prizes at their fundraisers. Whether the fundraiser is done through raffles, door prize drawings or silent auctions, your company’s active participation in it will give your company and its products a lot of visibility as well as generate a lot of goodwill within your community and the business world.
Abhijeet Shah
Abhijeet Shah is the head of digital marketing for Packing Supply, a leading name in the packaging supply industry. He believes that it's not only what’s on the inside that matters, but how products are packaged is just as important. Abhijeet stays updated with the latest trends and innovations in the industry and is quick to share them with his readers. He loves travelling and is often tempted to buy products that he comes across with unique packaging from all over the world, which he then adds to his ever-expanding collection of “bags and boxes”.