Offline or Online Marketing:
Which Is Best For Your Business?
For modern business owners, marketing options are plentiful, and robust. The angle from which you approach a marketing campaign can have drastic effects on you as a company, and how you are perceived. Whenever you discuss marketing with someone, the subject of offline versus online is sure to rear its head. They’re two very different approaches, but do they yield different results? The answer isn’t always so cut and dry, so let’s explore the two options on the table.
Online Marketing
It’s only really in the past ten years that online marketing has become a dominant tool, so it’s very much in the early stages. As a result, it’s widely misunderstood, and widely misused.
Benefits Over Offline Marketing?
- Can target more people, more quickly. Over 3 billion internet users, to be exact.
- Can target people on foreign soil instantly.
- More media forms available: text, image, GIF, video, virtual tour.
- Easier to gather consumer data and create focused ad campaigns.
- Faster marketing collaboration for remote teams.
- Easier to target younger people.
Mistakes To Avoid
- Spamming social media posts: Will turn people away.
- Not maintaining your SEO work: It’s not an overnight fix.
- Spamming keywords in all copy.
- Not using different media forms frequently.
Online marketing is much cheaper now than it has ever been. It’s pretty easy to design a site, run SEO campaigns, or have another company do the work for you. It’s a big industry, and one that is still growing. Because it’s new, it’s prone to a lot of naysayers and people doubting its effectiveness. However, these people are making a few fatal errors. Most big companies outsource, using teams like SEO North Sydney, to see those professional results. It’s quite hard to get them internally. Also, many businesses think a basic Facebook account is enough, but online marketing is about using that broad reach to your advantage.
Offline Marketing
Offline marketing has been around since marketing was born, and that makes it a potent tool on any businesses’ belt.
Benefits Over Online Marketing?
- Easier to target non-web users (like seniors).
- More personal, and arguably more direct.
- Can tailor marketing more to a local audience.
Mistakes To Avoid
- Spreading yourself too thin. Billboards, TV ad space are expensive.
- Trying to target too many people. Not all ages are interested in your business.
- No people. Having people in your billboard/TV ads makes you look friendly, instead of a faceless corporation.
Offline marketing is much more expensive than online marketing, but it can still yield very good results. This is better for the business that’s some cash to spare, and can afford to build intricate campaigns. Public demonstrations and gamification are also good ways to draw attention to your brand. Be careful not to target everyone though, and focus on what makes your business tick.
Overall
It’s hard to deny the appeal of both, and using each method correctly is your best course of action. Online marketing is cheaper, but offline marketing allows you to target non-web users. By using both methods in an effective fashion, you’ll see the best results. This one’s a draw.
