How to Use Offline Tools to Maximize Online Engagement

Within the span of a few short years, businesses have found that maintaining an online presence is key to capturing the hearts and minds of today’s consumers. The Digital 2020 report found that the average Internet user spends 6 hours and 43 minutes online every day — for a total of 100 full days spent online each year. The Internet has become a gateway linking consumers and companies more closely and conveniently than ever before.

With the advancement of technology, there are tons of different strategies marketers can employ to make the most of the online sphere. A few of these strategies include SEO, content marketing, and websites, as we’ve written in a previous post on ‘How to Increase Traffic to Your Website’. Companies often make use of several digital marketing tools at once in order to maximize traffic and engagement.

However, digital marketing techniques aren’t the only way you can capture your customers’ interest. Traditional or offline marketing, the backbone of marketing for decades before the advent of the Internet, is still relevant today. In an article compiling statistics on digital marketing by Finances Online, it was reported that 36% of marketers are working to integrate online and offline activities. Offline marketing can often work to support online marketing in a number of ways. Here are just a few of them below.

Warm Calling

Perhaps one of the best ways you can make the most of offline and online marketing is through warm calling. Warm calling is done when you get into contact with a business or individual who had prior contact with your company. This prior contact usually includes visiting a website, signing up for an online newsletter, or a referral.

Investopedia says that warm calling can often be more successful than cold calling in generating new leads, especially when combined with other marketing techniques. The prior contact— whether it was the customer following your company on social media or an inquiry made through your website or email— serves to break the ice, and reinforces what was previously a transient relationship into something more positive and long-lasting.

Direct Mail Retargeting

Life in the information age means that customers are bombarded with promotions and advertisements everywhere they go. Whether they’re reading an online newspaper, browsing through social media, or clicking through blogs, it’s likely that they’ll be encountering at least two or three advertisements at a time. This can often lead to ad fatigue and lessen engagement, which in turn increases competition among companies.

One way for businesses to stand out in customers’ minds is by using direct mail retargeting. Companies can send out direct mail pieces and materials to site visitors or newsletter subscribers. A post on direct mail retargeting by Triadex Services reveals that it can yield up to 8 times the response rates of digital remarketing, providing a more effective “second touch” with your market. It also has a longer shelf life, with customers able to redeem coupons and take advantage of promotions over a longer span of time.

Networking

Another traditional marketing technique that can benefit your online engagement and traffic is networking. Networking may not be flashy like other marketing tools, but it serves as the backbone for many B2B and B2C relationships. LinkedIn released the results of a survey on networking in 2017 and found that 35% of respondents said that casual networking through their online platform has led to new opportunities, such as business deals.

Networking is something that can happen digitally and traditionally, but can be particularly impactful in an offline situation. Your prospective B2B partners or customers will be able to put a human face to your company, and are more likely to recall your services. Establishing a network offline is just as important in strengthening your presence and network online.