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It’s 2019, and there’s no doubt in anyone’s right mind that you should promote your startup or an SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) online – through various strategies that mostly include social media. No one can argue that it’s a logical marketing step that uses sound reasoning: you’re conducting your business online, so your brand, product, or services also need to be advertised on the internet. Now we know that you should promote your online business online and offline. And if you read more, you’d know that the livelihood of many people depends on these very online adverts.
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But in case you’re using only WWW to promote your firm, that’s where you could be making a huge mistake. That’s why we’ve decided to give you a couple of tips and walk you through some of the alternative approaches to this. Here’s why you should definitely explore other advertisement options, like good-old offline marketing strategies. Believe it or not, utilizing both online and offline marketing methods can help your online business grow immensely.
Take Advantage Of The Free Media Publicity Opportunities
Do you know how local TV or a newspaper is always in a hunt for a good story they can use? Well, this can be a great opportunity to promote your business and reach a broader audience and people who might not be using computers, smartphones, or tablets every second of their waking lives.
Call a local TV station, a radio show that you like, or a local newspaper and offer to tell a story about your particular brand or the services you offer. This is a good example of the type of collaboration that gave birth to the saying ’If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’. You’re offering an interesting story on your side, and in return, you’re getting a free media publicity opportunity that can increase your annual income. Not a bad ROI (return on investment), right?
Try Media Giveaways
In case you don’t have enough time to tell your story for the local TV, radio, or newspaper (or they’re not particularly interested in this kind of collaboration), you can always try offering free media giveaways. Every TV or radio station has a show where they actively engage their viewers and listeners, and they would be happy to have some free gifts that they can offer to them.
Donating these free products gives you a much-needed space and visibility in the offline community. As we’ve said before, not all people have access to the internet 24/7, and in case you have a product that they can use, you most certainly won’t regret taking this marketing route as well.
Locally Endorse Your Brand Or Services And Opt For Branded Merchandise
It should be clear by now that the best marketing strategy, in most cases, involves a good mixture of both online and offline advertising. That’s why it’s paramount that you endorse your brand, goods, or services locally – whenever you can.
This kind of opportunity can be used through various offline marketing methods. For instance, you can always print coupons, flyers, handouts, or use printed fence mesh and other custom branded merchandise like hats, shirts, bookmarks, pencils, mugs, mousepads, phone cases, etc. You can also advertise your business on vans and other vehicles, thus getting even more publicity around the place.
Show Your Face At Vendor Trade Shows
Having a booth at the vendor trade show can result in a huge boost for your company, marketing-wise because it’s a great place to promote your online business. This is the place where all the companies in the field gather to show their products to potential customers and buyers.
And not only this: if you have a good product, chances are that you’ll also turn a couple of ’big fish’ entrepreneur heads who attend these vendor trade shows regularly. They’re always in search of a good product, so you might want to take advantage of this – you never know where this type of co-op can potentially lead your online business. Also, people like to see the face behind the product because it gives them a kind of insurance when they know who exactly are they dealing with. It’s much easier to trust someone when you’ve seen her or him in person.
Invite Customers To A Free Lunch Or Dinner
Another great way to advertise your online business is to invite all the big names and potential customers to a free luncheon or dinner. That way you can ’serve’ them not only good food but your services or product, as well. Again, this is a win-win situation for all parties. You get to promote your business for a relatively small price, and people can enjoy free food and drinks in return. They’re not obliged to buy anything, but if they like what they see and hear, there’s no doubt that they’ll tell others about it.
This is where things can work very much in your favor. If you play your cards right and make a good presentation/ leave a good impression, people will start to talk about it – to their friends, neighbors, family members. And this creates that much sought-out buzz, that helps greatly in selling your product and further promoting your brand.
The Bottom Line
If you think that promoting your online business should be conducted solely through popular online channels and social media, we’d strongly encourage you to think again. Just because you’re running an online business doesn’t mean that your audience isn’t or can’t be individuals who don’t spend that much time surfing the web.
And even if your target audience is mostly millennials or even younger generations, you still want to use every opportunity you get to spread the word about your brand or services. You never know where a good opportunity lurks, and that’s why you need to get the most out of both online and offline marketing strategies at the same time. Always take the opportunity to promote your online business in the offline community.
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