By Katie Mientka
Everything is digital today, right? We wake up and immediately check to see who liked or shared our Facebook post overnight. At lunch, we use our phones to search for a good Thai place nearby. We check in with Facebook to see what our friends are doing, Instagram to see what our favorite celebrities are up to, or YouTube to find out how to fix a leaky faucet.
Our digital habits have become inextricably linked to our “real” lives. The lines between the two are not only blurry – they seem indistinguishable. But does this mean that brands should concentrate solely on digital marketing?
In a word: no. Traditional marketing reaches a wide audience, has a high success rate, and offers easily accessible information. These methods still produce results. And when combined with digital techniques, they can produce optimal results. The key is developing an integrated marketing strategy.
Some ideas that you can incorporate quickly and efficiently:
- Leverage great online content offline. Excellent educational content can be used to bolster in-person interactions. For example, say that you are at an industry trade show and speaking with a lead. They have a question about the best flooring for their new home. You can chat and follow up with, “We have two great articles on flooring. I’ll email them to you, so you can look them over.”This provides value to them – and keeps you top of mind as they make their purchasing decisions. Whether at corporate events, job fairs, or sales meetings, make your content work as efficiently as possible for your brand.
- Promote digital assets with traditional collateral. Make sure to include your website address and social profile information on magazines, flyers, and other printed materials. They should also be mentioned during radio spots and TV ads. For example, if you’re running a promotion, encourage readers/listeners to check out a dedicated landing page designed for that campaign.Coke does this effectively with their “Share a Coke with” campaign. Soft drink fans can peel off the label, open the Coke.com website on their phone, scan the icon on the bottle, and then gain access to special perks, contests, and more.
- Draw customers into your physical location with SMS. We can do a lot online, but we still can’t try on clothes, eat great food, or touch a flooring sample. Digital marketing can help generate awareness, but you need people in your space. Alert your contact base to flash sales and offer special discounts or online coupons. Text messaging has an impressive 36% click through rate (compared to just 3.2% for email).
- Use digital techniques during live events. Live Streaming is an excellent example. Trade shows or industry conferences are a great time for a live stream, but it doesn’t have to be a large event. It could be a showcase of exciting new products, a behind-the-scenes look at your business, a training or educational seminar (e.g. learning about the home building process for new buyers), a how-to with an expert on your team, etc.Video is tremendously popular, and people are 10 times more likely to comment on social media posts with this type of content.You could also create an event-specific hashtag and encourage visitors/attendees of an event to take and upload pictures and video to your social media platforms. User-generated content is critical; consumers trust their online peers and put great stock in reviews, ratings, and other UGC. In turn, this helps build trust with your brand.
- Don’t waste online leads. If you have exclusive or gated content for which users must sign up, use traditional marketing techniques to nurture those leads. A simple phone call from sales can help move them along the conversion funnel.
Combining the strengths of both digital and traditional marketing techniques enables you to create a comprehensive, effective, integrated marketing strategy to reach your target audience. Developing the mix that works for your brand and connects you with the right clients can be frustrating, take our quiz to find out if your marketing is effective!
