Google Analytics, email marketing, site optimization, landing pages, and call-to-actions buttons – these are among the most important elements of eCommerce marketing strategies employed by online businesses these days. You might be using them as well.
With so much focus on these online marketing activities to drive eCommerce sales, it’s easy to forget how powerful offline interactions with customers can still be. If your target audience spends a lot of time every day browsing the net, it doesn’t mean that online is the only way to reach them.
In fact, disregarding offline marketing could be a bad idea after all, according to eMarketer. The 2018 data gathered by this reputable online source suggests that 48 percent of U.S. internet users still prefer to research a product in-store. Of them, 42 percent purchase in-store as well.
So, with online marketing also producing amazing results, why not combine both offline and online marketing campaigns and get even better results for your business?
If this makes sense to you and you want to discover some of the veteran-but-still-effective offline tools to drive eCommerce traffic, take a look at the following list.
#1. Promote Your Business by Supporting a Good Cause
It is a known fact that people tend to work with businesses they feel a special connection with. What does that mean? This means that they like a business for something they also feel strongly about. For example, a business with a strong environmental consciousness supports local communities, sells environmentally-friendly products, and frequently organizes environment-related initiatives.
#2. Direct Mail
“Many people consider direct mail an outdated technique. While the reasons for such thinking are clear, hold on for a minute before crossing this one from your list of marketing techniques." explains Simon Grinspoon, a marketer at College Paper.
The 2016 data from the Data & Marketing Association says that the direct mail customer response rate increase year-by-year by an impressive 43 percent! At the same time, lead response rates increased by more than 50 percent, reaching an unbelievable 190 percent increase.
These findings are supported by different studies. According to it, 30 percent of customers said that a catalog recently drove them online to shop.
This data suggest one thing: direct mail is far from being dead.
So, take advantage of direct email by sending your local leads catalogs with fresh offers, chances are you’ll find direct mail campaign effective.
If you want to calculate the ROI for your campaign, you can use some free online calculators. It can require some financial indicators such as cost and size and generates expected response rate and other helpful data.
#3. Newspaper Ads
If your target audience is students, you have an excellent chance to reach them through newspapers and adverts. For example, the majority of high schools and colleges have newspapers, you can buy ad space there and promote your products/services.
#4. Workshops
This is a great tool to warm visitors up and convert them into customers.
A workshop is a seminar where visitors can get helpful knowledge and practical experience about a certain product or topic. For example, if you’re selling makeup products, you can teach your visitors how to apply face makeup by walking them through every step.
You can let potential visitors know about your upcoming workshop by posting information on your website, social media pages, and inviting those who come to your shop. If necessary, ask them to sign up by providing information like name and email address (this you’ll add to your customer base later).
#5. Business Cards
Give potential customers and partners a business card whenever you meet them (and tell your employees to do the same). This may be made easier by using a business card maker online, which can help you design professional business cards that best represent your eCommerce business.
Over to You
The explosive growth of online marketing tools makes us forget about how powerful offline marketing still is. As you can see, it is way too early to declare this one dead, so why not take advantage of the amazing benefits it has to offer. Take the opportunity to use the tools in this article and see how they can increase your eCommerce traffic.
Author: Audrey Pilcher. Audrey is a passionate blogger, marketer and currently provides online assignment help. Her areas of interests are very wide, but mostly she writes about content marketing and business relations. Her aim is to engage people to self-growth and staying motivated.
Comments