Do you want to know one of the biggest marketing mistakes new business owners make? Overlooking the importance of traditional marketing. Though consumers rely heavily on the internet (and you may have a virtual business), to truly reach your fullest potential, it’s necessary to use both online and offline strategies to market your business. It is the combined physical and virtual experience that provide consumers with a full understanding of what your brand is all about.
Have you incorporated traditional marketing methods into your marketing strategy or are you solely relying on digital concepts? If you haven’t included any of the basics like corporate events, trade shows, direct mail, phone calls, print advertising, and other traditional marketing concepts, you really should get started. Before you do, here is a list of materials you’ll need for an effective marketing campaign.
Signage for Visual Branding
Deciphering your brand begins the moment your customers or other business professionals come in contact with you. Signage provides a visual that helps to imprint a message in the minds of those you’re trying to connect with. Whether it’s simply the name of your business neatly displayed on a hanging banner at a trade show or a point of sale sign at the checkout counter of your retail shop, it’s a visual from which your target audience can quickly get information and make a decision about your brand, product, or service.
Promotional Products for Lead Generation
No consumer can miss the opportunity to get something free, and that’s exactly what promotional products are – free merchandise. You can customize just about any item with your company name, logo, and color scheme including t-shirts, calendars, pens, hats, trial size products, phone cases, and whatever other creative devices and gadgets might best reflect your business. They sort of serve as walking billboards. When received by a consumer, it goes with them. Now, every time they wear or use the item they’re reminded of you. To generate even more leads, you can incorporate this with social media marketing and send free promotional products to newsletter subscribers or offer products to customers who refer another customer.
Business Cards for Simplified Communication
Communication is an important part of traditional marketing. As many of these concepts require some sort of face-to-face interaction, you’ll be coming into contact with lots of people. A great tool to make a good first impression, let interested parties know how to contact you, and provide a brief description of your company are business cards. This simple “3×5” card serves a lot of purposes, but at the core of it all, it simplifies communications. Much like your website, your business card gives customers information on who you are, what you offer, and how they can work with you. They can be handed out at functions, left at neighboring commercial properties, inserted in shopping bags or shipping packages, or handed directly to clients.
Postcards for Beating Out the Competition
You might be surprised to learn that snail mail can still be a beneficial way to market. In fact, those who capitalize on this platform actually have less competition. There are essentially two reasons for this. First, most new businesses are focused on digital marketing efforts only. The second reason is that consumers have opted for email and paperless billing options. This means, there’s less traffic through the mail. Postcards can be used to send a brief message the old-fashioned way. And the best part is, they won’t get sent to a spam folder or overlooked for an email from the competitions. You can send postcards for customer birthdays, thank you notes, promotional offers, or as an introduction to your business.
Traditional marketing is imperative to the success of your company. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve started a bath bomb business, hair salon, estore, or blog, you need to develop a strong presence with your target audience both on and offline. Incorporating the above-discussed materials and traditional marketing methods in with your digital efforts will help you reach larger audiences, connect on a more authentic level, communicate efficiently, and showcase your brand in a manner that encourages others to support.
