Wondering which marketing method is best for your business? There are two ways you can go: the traditional way or the contemporary way. The traditional way is offline marketing, the use of methods and tools like print, television, radio, seminar, and others. Meanwhile, the contemporary way is online marketing, the use of the internet and cyber technology. Online vs. offline marketing: which is better and which provides the best result? Let’s take a look at the following:

Cost

Both types of marketing involve cheap and expensive methods alike.

a. Online marketing

• Cheap: Putting up a blog, joining forums, and commenting in others’ blogs to spread the word about your site or business.

• Expensive: Paying for a domain, plus engaging in search engine optimization programs like Pay-Per-Click, link building, and others.

b. Offline marketing

• Cheap: The use and distribution of flyers and leaflets.

• Expensive: Paying ad space for newspapers and magazines, as well as air time for television and radio networks.

Coverage

There is much argument between the offline marketing and the online marketing side when it comes to audience or customer coverage. But, offline vs. online marketing—which marketing type really provides a business or site more exposure? Well, take a look at the advantages of both:

a. Online marketing

• There’s a lot of free space in the cyber world for business exposure, and millions of people browse the internet everyday. By advertising online through banners and other marketing means, as well as by putting up an online site, you reach people on a global level.

b. Offline marketing

• Marketing offline may not reach a global level as much as online marketing, but it is advantageous in such a way that it covers more number of people in a particular targeted area. Why? Well, the biggest reason is that it is accessed by a wider group of people compared to the internet, which is usually accessed more only by the younger generations.

Customer Relationship

When it comes to dealing with customers, there is a great mark of difference between online and offline marketing, as follows:

a. Online marketing

• Everything about the company or the product is presented in a website and online catalog. However, many customers are doubly cautious when it comes to doing transactions and shopping in online sites because of the many cases of fraud and identity theft that are happening in the internet. This causes people to doubt the authenticity of online businesses, even those that are legal in reality.

b. Offline marketing

• This type of marketing provides a great advantage when it comes to establishing a good relationship with customers. More people trust advertisements found in newspapers or television stations that they rely on. And when you market your site or business through such offline marketing methods as seminars and workshops, you’ll be able to show your expertise in your field among the participants. And, the word of mouth that results can be a very good asset to boost your business.

So, online vs. offline marketing—which is better? The best way is to actually combine both, picking the most effective methods from the two to get the most benefits.

Poster-making has been an integral part in the lives of people in the cultural, business, and political levels, that it consequently became a genuine art form. Shakespeare advertised his plays through the use of posters, attracting even the bourgeoisie to come see the plays that are now considered classics in literature.

Propaganda and political posters were also instrumental in the major uprisings that led to significant changes in some countries(the memorable Che Guevara poster comes to mind), and commercial posters have made an imprint in the minds of people that directly or indirectly led them to choose a particular product. Which brings us to the topic at hand: how do you make a poster that’s effective in eliciting a positive response among the buying public? We’re going to tackle some tips and strategies that should help you out.

First, you have to know who your audience is. If your customer base involves gamers, then it’s wise to put up your posters in video game shops and the arcades. That way, it is more likely that people in those vicinities will take interest with what your poster will have to say.

SHOW YOUR CREATIVITY, BUT KEEP IT SIMPLE

Posters that pull in are those that emphasize mind-blowing artwork, photos and text. Hiring a graphic designer or an artist is very important, and the photo or artwork should be something that will allure your potential customers. In the realm of gamers for instance, you could have a gun toting commando, a sword-wielding knight, or a mean looking beastie. It’s extremely important that it has something to do with what your product is all about. Lastly, text should be kept to a minimum.

Keep it simple. The common pitfall of poster making is over decoration. Keep it streamlined and easy on the eyes by using a layout or format that won’t cause stimulus overload. Think of an arresting slogan or byline that summarizes the fine points of your product. Remember, the goal of your poster is to leave a good but lasting impression.

SHOW POINTS OF CONTACT

Once you have captured the interest of your audience, chances are they’ll look for more information. Your email address, phone number or URL should be printed on the poster. If you’re going to list all three points of contact, keep them all in one place.

USE VARYING SIZES

Large posters can easily be spotted by passersby, so it’s wise to put up large ones in open places. A size I would recommend is 18″x24″, but you can make adjustments on it according to wall space or the expanse of the area. In the case of congested or small spaces, a small one would be far more reliable. People cannot view a very big poster from just a few feet away, so small posters are the best ones to go for in this case.

DIFFERENT POSTERS

Sticking to one poster for too long will cause waning of interest. Changing the poster at least monthly can elicit spontaneous recovery and bring renewed interest to your product. A new but equally interesting byline or slogan should help as well.

In the olden days, products were sold personally. They were marketed through cajoling, persuasion, and to some extent even manipulation. This is somehow humiliating on the part of the seller, especially if he is not born as a natural salesperson. This is also annoying to the targeted customer. Such marketing strategy wastes a lot of time and effort, both on the part of the seller and the buyer. With the advent of new technologies, new products and services were developed and invented. This gives rise to the evolution of offline marketing.

Today, there are already different forms of media used in marketing:

• Newspapers, magazines, radios, and televisions are now deluged with advertisements.

• Posters, leaflets, flyers, and banners are also used as advertising tools.

• Business cards and brochures are handed personally to people or sent through snail mail.

A Little History Of Marketing

During the industrial age, mass production became very efficient. More products were produced at a lesser cost and with lesser man hours used. This gave rise to more product variants such as several variants of goods like toothpaste and shampoo, as well as more models of machines like automobiles. More luxury products were also developed such as facial wash, nail crème, hair colorant, foot moisturizer, and many others.

To market these non-basic or not-so-essential products, the psychological psyche of the individual was targeted. Specifically targeted was the self esteem of a person, which was identified by Abraham Maslow, a renowned psychologist, as one of the needs of individuals. Very popular celebrities in the field of entertainment and sports were employed as commercial models.

The ads were very costly, although very effective, because the customers liked to be identified with their favorite celebrities, though indirectly, by using the products that they were endorsing. This part in the evolution of offline marketing is responsible for making the products and services very expensive.

Today, some more sensible businessmen use other forms of marketing strategies that are more cost efficient, such as the following:

• Giving product samples, free trials of products and services, price discounts, and product giveaways.

• Hiring staff to promote products through demos in supermarkets, schools, and other places where there are a greater number of potential customers.

• Showing testimonies of satisfied product users on TV, newspapers, and magazines.

• Providing before- and after-sale services like free deliveries and installation, warranties and free spare parts replacement, and toll-free twenty-four hour call center services that accommodate customer inquiries and requests.

All these methods effectively attract buyers, and even discriminating customers. More importantly, they have specific appeal to practical individuals.

In today’s modern time, advertisements are becoming subliminal.  Articles are written by regular columnists in tabloids, newspapers, and magazines discretely, mentioning a particular brand of a product. Photos of popular celebrities wearing a particular product, in which brands are conspicuously shown, are seen in tabloids and magazines. These are effective to customers because many have the tendency to think that the product is really good, believing that the photograph and its publication is just incidental.

The creative evolution of offline marketing strategies provides a great relief to both the customer and the seller. For one, the buyer no longer needs to be directly pressured by persistent salesmen to buy a product or service, no longer wasting time and energy. And more importantly, it liberalizes the marketing process.

Most businesses now use the internet for promoting their products and services, but the volume of traffic on the web can sometimes cause your marketing schemes to be buried under the pile of all that information. The best way to recover from this downfall is to apply the tried and tested formula for advertising – offline marketing. And what better way to spearhead your campaign than coming up with a killer display ad?

Display ads are chief marketing tools to aggrandize your business. This can be used for newspapers, magazines, flyers and other types of printed document. The main purpose of your display ad is to elicit interest, so creating one is a serious business that should be handled with care and with a concrete goal in mind.

According to subsequent articles in the New York Times, display advertising is as productive as local websites when it comes to exposing products. So that only proves the medium’s promotional capabilities, and if executed real well, a company is always capable of reaching new heights as a giant in the industry it is a part of.

Here are some tips on how to make use of your display ad to its full potential:

1. If you plan on designing the ad yourself, I recommend using the Microsoft Publisher. There are a handful of websites that should help you in customizing your display ads. Google AdWords and Yahoo! My Display Ads are just two examples. Templates and design tools will be at your disposal in creating the resulting display ad. You can then use the resulting banner for your offline marketing campaign. If a Publisher format is not feasible, you can opt to choose the PDF format. The PDF is more widely used because of its general printer compatibility.

2. Now that you have the proper tools, it’s time to pump up the creative juices. The general rule of thumb is for the banner not to look too congested, since it distracts the viewers from the impression that you need to instill in them. So keep it brief. The layout should be streamlined, and the words used in a font that is easily recognizable. The overall should pack a punch, be concise, and have all the relevant details including your contact details and URL.

3. Make sure that you advertise your ads in publications that are within your target market. Selling meat through a vegetarian magazine won’t get you anywhere. Know your niche, and spread awareness through channels that share that niche. I would also strongly advise you to look for places that might be highly receptive to your ad. Use the internet for research and come up with publications specific to the category you’re catering to.

Another thing that can supplement your research is finding trends in the market. For this, I would recommend mining hard data from poll statistics. Poll statistics give you the lay of the land. Once you are able to synthesize all that data, the best avenues for your target market should be revealed to you.

Contrary to what online marketers say, offline marketing is a very powerful marketing style that is still employed today even by the biggest companies. After all, this type of marketing is the foundation of marketing (including online). Besides, it wouldn’t have stayed this long if it isn’t effective, right? To get the most out of offline marketing and the different methods used in this type of marketing, you have to be well familiar with this and you have to learn the different offline marketing strategies and tips. You need the right offline marketing resources.

What are some of the resources that you can turn to for all your needed knowledge and skills in offline marketing? Take a look at the following:

Marketing Books

Sure, most of the books that you will find in the marketing section of bookstores today will most probably deal with online marketing. However, you can still find books whose discussion is focused on offline marketing. There are books that focus on marketing an offline business using offline methods, and even books that discuss ways to market online businesses using offline techniques.

Seminars and Workshops

Of course, if you want knowledge straight from the horses’ mouth, so to speak, attend events that discuss offline marketing strategies, methods, pointers, and tips. The speakers will surely be people who are experts in the field, those with first-hand experience who can tell you how difficult or how easy the process is. The good thing with workshops is that there are real persons, real speakers, who can clear all your confusions, answer all your questions, and address all your concerns. You won’t have to find your own way because there’ll be people who will help you, people who specialize in the subject.

Talk to Other Offline Marketers

To get a wider perspective on offline marketing, you should not stick to attending seminars—you should also get the advice of those who are into offline marketing themselves. There may be things that are not known to experts in the field but are used by small and big offline marketers, tailored to their specific needs. And who knows, these personal techniques may apply to you business as well.

Online Sites

Although offline marketing is the exact opposite of marketing online, you’ll be surprised to find that there are still offline marketing resources found in online sites. You can browse these sites to find ways and information regarding the subject. You can also join online forums that discuss similar topics.

Ebooks and Downloadable Files

Other than directly visiting online sites, you can find ebooks and downloadable files that can guide you in your offline marketing ventures. The good thing about these ebooks and files, aside from being written by offline marketing experts, is that many of them are free. All you need is download them and save them in your desktop, to be your reference anytime you need a guide.

Offline marketing could be challenging, what with the emerging popularity of cyber technology. But with all the various offline marketing resources available, you should have no problem learning all that you need to know how to succeed in your venture.

Becoming successful in real estate business takes careful planning and patience, and one of the tools of increasing leverage is knowing the ropes of effective offline marketing. If you fall short in delivering an extensive and comprehensive approach to marketing as a real estate investor, chances are you won’t cover much ground with your business enterprise.

We’ll tackle some offline marketing strategies that will spearhead your real estate business. Here they are:

EMPLOY “GUERILLA TACTICS”

The use of “guerilla tactics” has been used for so many years, be it for small businesses or large businesses, and is still effective even in the fast-paced Internet age. It works like no other marketing for it gives you great results for a minimum investment. Leaving brochures, stickers and flyers in public places, having your ads published in newspapers and television programs, are all great ideas to great ways to increase awareness of your real estate business and attract potential buyers and sellers.

USE THE MEDIA

Doing a number of press releases to local media suits can attract news directors and program directors and in turn result to a significant increase in prospective buyers and sellers. Constant exposure to the media enables you to establish a reputation, and should you maintain that reputation, further your schemes as a growing entity in the real estate industry. A good reputation builds trust, and that trust can cause a chain reaction that will increase your prominence in the real estate business.

GET YOUR SPIEL ON

Public speaking is a powerful tool in getting your message across, and when done right, produces better effect on your audience. While it’s true that everyone is not born a public speaker, you can take the necessary steps on how to improve the skills required. I highly recommend joining the Toastmasters Club, a non-profit organization of professionals that aim to improve communication, public speaking and leadership skills.

This also gives you an opportunity to make yourself known to other real estate investors and sellers, and in turn establish a network that will give you more exposure. BECOME A SPEAKER FOR REAL ESTATE Now that you’ve polished up your public speaking skills, perhaps it’s about time you put it into good use. Becoming a speaker in real estate seminars, symposiums, or any event related to real estate is a great way to market yourself, albeit indirectly.

You can showcase your real estate knowledge by talking about topics such as “How to Short Sell a Time Share Property” or “Things You Need to Know before Buying an Owner Financed Home”, and just about anything that aims at succeeding in the field. If you’re speech is shrewd enough, pulling in potential business partners should be easy.

CREATE A SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING PLAN

Do a lot of research on the market and gather data information that will help you detect potential danger signs and possible business opportunities. Having a list of short term goals in relevance to the long term goals can ensure that your business is always on the right track, and can easily recover from minor and major setbacks.

Whenever you think of offline marketing, the usual things that come into your mind are newspaper ads, flyers, yellow pages, posters, TV ads, word-of-mouth, etcetera, etcetera. But if you have done all of these and still fall short of your expectations, perhaps some improvisation is in need. So now we’re going to provide supplementary ideas on how you can take your offline marketing to the next level. The best thing about this? You can even come up with your own ideas after you’ve read this article. A montage of ideas can open up associations in your mind and spark even more ideas. But for now, we can start with the following:

DO SOME CHARITY WORK

When people or organizations help out, people notice. What you can do is sponsor a charity event, and since the news media are always on the lookout for them, you are bound to earn recognition for your company as a result.

RAISE SOME CONTROVERSY

You know what they say – bad publicity is still publicity. But we’re not going to go that low. Just incite something that will turn heads, or something bizarre that can leave an impression to potential customers.

BE SNEAKY

Visit local libraries and bookstores and pretend you’re just browsing around. Go to the book section that’s related to your niche. If you have a real estate business, you can slip in a business card or a book mark bearing your URL and byline in the pages of real estate books, or other books related to the field.

PUT STICKERS IN RESTROOMS

Okay, this might sound a bit silly, but I promise you that it always works. People will always pay heed to the call of nature, making the bathroom as one of the most frequented places. This is your opportunity. Put stickers inside the bathroom stalls, or the wall supporting the urinals. A man doing his thing has no choice but to stare at a sticker posted on the wall right in front of him.

DO SOME TELEMARKETING

You’ll probably screamed at or hung up on countless times, but what’s the harm in doing some hardcore telemarketing? Pick up your telephone directory, get some leads, and start dialing away. Don’t forget to roll out your best spiel, of course.

SPONSOR A LOCAL TEAM

Sponsor a local sports team, preferably one for kids if you don’t have enough financial resources. You can have your brand printed on their team uniforms. Since a real active kid can be real proud of his team uniform, he’ll probably show it around and brag about it.

USE INCENTIVES

You can offer customers a discount on their next purchase in exchange for referrals. Customers refer a product to their colleagues and friends without meaning to if they are satisfied by a product. It’s a form of “bribing”.

BE THE ADVERTISEMENT

Create T-shirts or caps that have your brand name and slogan on them, or maybe you can stick a large sticker bearing your ad on your car. Hey, if you’re going to do a lot of moving around haggling people to purchase your products and services, you might as well use yourself as your own advertisement!

Today, online marketing strategies have been the top priority of companies in terms of promoting their names and their products to a much wider audience. Not only is it more practical but it is also more efficient than traditional marketing. However, recently, companies have been re-thinking their ways and putting their attention once again to offline marketing.

Even online establishments such as eBay and Amazon.com have also opted to utilize offline marketing strategies to further enhance their popularity to the greater society. EBay has learned to promote its site in television commercials, and Amazon.com with its radio plugs. As more and more business establishments are revisiting offline marketing, it then suddenly becomes what we may call a renaissance.

Know Your Audience

For a business establishment to successfully pull out its offline marketing strategies, you first need to remember this simple rule: know your audience. As long as you understand this concept and you are guided with it every step of the way, your offline marketing plans will surely be successful at execution. Knowing your audience basically means that you need to be in their shoes: what do they want and need, how to get their attention, and at what financial levels they are mostly likely at. You can visit your inventory and perhaps your web site traffic in order to get these data. Analyze very carefully your consumer list so that you can get a hold of who your audiences are.

Strategize Your Marketing Plans

When you have finally understood who your audiences are, you can already begin strategizing your plans. For example, if you are going to making a print advertisement, plan thoroughly the details of the advertisement. Make sure that every detail is significant and can pinpoint to your company, such as the color schemes to be used, the fonts to be used, also the pictures and overall layout of the print advertisement. Make sure that your print ad is attention grabbing as well as easy to understand. Consumers do not want to waste their time over a print ad that is too difficult to read or perhaps too abstract to understand. Think of yourself as a consumer and see if your print ad works for you.

Improving Your Print Ad

Before executing your print ad, you can first do a pre-testing evaluation. This step involves getting a percentage of your audience and giving them the print ad that you have made. Have them evaluate the print ad and ask for their comments, suggestions and even violent reactions towards your ad. Ask them if the print ad grabbed their attention right then and there or if it successfully gave out the message that you intend to publish. Take note of their evaluation as it will be your guide in improving your print ad. With their comments, you can revise your print ad and make it better. Since these people are your audience, they should know the preferences of the majority.

After finalizing your design and strategy, you can now execute your offline advertisement. You need to wisely put your print ads in places where a lot of people go and where your print ads can be easily noticed. Since you have taken into account the evaluation of your peers, you are then reassured that these print ads will work well with the greater populace.

As you go on with your other offline marketing strategies, these are the simple steps you need to know in order to make them work.

While most people nowadays prefer the internet over the newspaper to get their daily news, marketing your business using newspaper ads is still far from being obsolete. In fact, the gigantic amount of traffic on the internet sometimes makes it harder for a business advertisement to get noticed. Online marketing plays an essential part in promoting your business, but if you want to get the best of both worlds, don’t ever ignore the merits of newspaper advertising. There are still some people out there who would choose the newspaper over the internet when they want to be informed. A newspaper is still your best company on a Sunday morning with a coffee in hand.

PICK THE RIGHT PUBLICATIONS. There are still thousands of newspapers out there that you can choose from. The trick is to choose the ones that publish at a high volume and don’t charge a high fee in exchange for publishing your ad. You can browse the internet and pore over the list of publications and make your choice according to the potential ROI (return of investment) in relation to the rates, volume of circulation and special offers being rolled out by each newspaper publication.

Special offers are not hard to find these days considering the heavy loss the newspaper industry has suffered in the market, so you would do well to take advantage. You can also contact the local newspaper if you want to start small. After all, your local community is the best starting point if you are on a tight budget. Keep in mind that it takes 2-5 days for an ad to be published at the point of transaction, so always remember to plan ahead. Sunday is the day when readership is at its peak, so it’s always wise to have your ad published in the Sunday papers.

KEEP ADS SHORT AND INTERESTING. The preferred way to attract costumers is to come up with a byline that sparks interest. Be concise, but keep the words that can pull the reader in. A catchy but meaningful slogan leaves an impression on the mind of readers. So be creative! If that’s not your suit, you can always brainstorm with friends that have a lot of experience in advertising. It’s also important not to give out all information.

Remember, these ads are only meant to evoke interest and incite costumers to look for more information. So make sure to leave your website address and 800 number. Your 800 number can provide the lead the means to leave their contact information. A transaction is more likely to proceed if both parties have open lines of communication.

PERSISTENCE IS THE KEY. Now don’t expect immediate results in the early stages of your newspaper ad publishing. It’s a process that pays dividends through long exposure, so keep rolling out those ads and keep tabs on which ones lead to success and the ones that lead to failure. Have a keen eye for detail and look for trends that can give you a consensus of what works best. Weed out the ones that fail, and add newspapers that are more or less identical to the ones that produce good results.

If you keep in mind this three pronged formula for your newspaper advertising, I can guarantee that your business is on the right path to success.