5 Proven Offline Methods to Build Your Online Empire
Offline advertising can be your
company’s best friend, if it’s done correctly. In
fact, despite the influence of the internet in our daily lives, offline
advertising still accounts for the majority of marketing expenditures
for most businesses today.
What is the difference between offline advertising and online advertising?
Simple, offline advertising accounts
for all advertising methods that are conducted offline. From
classified advertisements to fancy direct mail campaigns, if it’s
not on the internet, it’s offline.
The benefits of offline advertising
are many. While offline advertising generally costs more per
targeted prospect than online advertising, offline advertising presents
you, as a business owner, the ability to reach a more specific target
market.
Offline advertising also enables you
to broaden your market to those that may not generally use the internet
for research or shopping.
Because everyone learns and remembers
differently, offline advertising enables you to reach your prospect
multiple times via multiple methods, thereby ingraining your company
message and benefits to them.
For example, if you ensure that the
same demographic receives your email newsletter, a postcard direct mail
piece and reads about your business in their favorite association or
trade magazine, you’ve reach them in three different ways and are
virtually guaranteed to be first in their minds when they need your
product or service.
On the contrary, if you only reach
your target demographic via email newsletters, then they may not
consider your product or service unless they are online and in
immediate need of your products or services.
Offline Advertising Defined.
Advertising, offline or online, is a
paid attempt to sell your products or services to your target
market. It is a paid attempt to urge a purchase or other course
of action.
Advertising should: Tell your prospects that you exist
Tell your prospects what you sell or provide
Tell people how to contact you
Tell people the benefits they receive from purchasing
5 Proven Offline Advertising Methods and How to Make them Work for You.
1. Direct Mail or Direct Response Advertising.
Direct response advertising is
perhaps the number one tool that many companies use to increase
awareness and purchases. Why? When it’s done
correctly, direct response works wonderfully. However, when it is
done wrong it can be a costly lesson.
What is Direct Response
Advertising? Take a look at your mailbox today and examine its
contents. You’re likely to see a significant amount of
direct response mail or what we fondly call, junk mail.
Postcards, brochures, and sales letters all designed to inform us about
a company, their products and services, and the benefit that
you’ll receive from purchasing.
Unfortunately, much of this direct
mail ends up in the garbage so you must go into the campaign
understanding that. An acceptable response rate for a direct mail
campaign is 3 to 4 percent conversion rate, meaning that if you sent
your letter to 100 people 3-4 of them would make a purchase from your
letter.
The key to great conversion rates lies in incorporating several factors. Your direct mail piece needs to have:
* Attention getting device. This is usually a well crafted headline.
* Interest. It needs to address
their interests. You’d likely be wasting your money and
time if you sent a NASCAR mailing list a postcard about your gardening
supplies company.
* Desire. If you have your
prospect’s attention and interests, now you need to create a
desire for your product or service. Highlighting the benefits
your reader will receive rather than the features you offer will go a
long way towards generating desire.
* Action. No direct mail piece
will work, or generate sales, if you neglect to have a call to
action. What do you want your reader to do? Do you want
them to call you? Do you want them to visit your website for a
free report or consultation? Do you want them to make a
purchase?
You have to tell your readers what
you want them to do or they won’t do it. This is why you
often see “ACT NOW” or “BUY NOW” “CALL
NOW” at the end of advertisements and direct mail pieces.
It’s a call to action.
2. Magazine and Newspaper Advertising
There are three types of advertisements that work exceptionally well and will generate the most Return on Investment.
They are:
* Open Letter
* Classic Direct Response
* Advertorial
Open letter advertising looks and
reads like a letter. It generally begins with “Dear
Reader,” or “Dear Pet Lover,” “Dear Working
Mom.” You address the letter to the demographic
you’re targeting.
You then proceed to write a letter, a
persuasive letter, to your prospects. Your letter will address
your reason for writing, what your products or services are about, what
you can do for your reader, and how they can act to receive the
benefits of your product or service.
You should still incorporate the
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action strategy, or AIDA. Use your
headline as the attention getting device. For example, this
headline taken from Bottom Line Personal, “What never…ever
to eat on an airplane!”
Classic Direct Response reads like a
typical sales letter. It offers a call to action as well as proof
of why your product or service works using testimonials and statistics
to back your claims. You can also use a coupon as a call to
action at the end.
Advertorials are advertisement
editorials. They are advertisements that look like articles and
they work simply because, like the other two forms of advertising
we’ve discussed, they attract attention. They look
different than the standard advertisement. Advertorials work
particularly well because readers perceive them to be true articles
even though it reads “Paid Advertisement” at the bottom or
top of the page.
The key to all three forms of
advertising are to have compelling headlines and a call to
action. Don’t’ forget to use emotions to build your
reader’s interest. You’ll also improve your
conversion rate if you include proof, guarantees, and testimonials to
give credibility to your claims.
3. Yellow Pages and Beyond. How to use Your Yellow Pages for Maximum Results.
The yellow pages are generally an
afterthought for many businesses; however you’re shorting
yourself if you forget this inexpensive advertising tool.
In addition to being seen by anyone
specifically looking for your service, adding an advertisement in the
yellow pages means that you’ll also be added to your local search
listing online. It’s a win win situation. Here are 7
tips to making your yellow pages ad stand out from your competition:
* Be different. Take a look at
the other advertisements in your category and make sure that yours
doesn’t look the same. For example, if you’re a
gardening supply company then a headline that reads “GROW
ANYTHING ANYWHERE” will stand out above the other headlines.
* Focus on benefits. Like the
above headline, your advertisement should contain benefits to your
prospects. Because you pay by the letter, if you can include your
benefit in your headline then you’re ahead of the game.
* Use a border. It may cost a little extra but a border sets your ad apart, literally, from the other ads.
* Offer something for free.
Free is a powerful word that inspires action. Whether you offer a
free consultation or a free product, prospects looking for your product
or service are more likely to contact the company that is willing to
give them something just for calling.
* Be specific. If you’re
a freelance writer, then it is much better to say that you specialize
in marketing copy or specialize in crafting copy for the alternative
health industry than to simply say that you write copy.
* Don’t forget to include your
contact information—all of it. Phone, website, email
address and even your mailing address. Give them every
opportunity to contact you.
* Don’t use photos or colors, they distract and studies show that they don’t offer any return on investment.
4. Classified ads, do they really work?
Classified ads can work if you use
them to offer a small ticket item or to generate a sales lead.
The key is to place your ad in the same paper consistently for at least
three months and to make sure that they’re well written.
Here are 8 tips to write a classified ad:
* Write an entire paragraph selling your product or service then go back and ruthlessly cut all extra words.
* Use a powerful headline.
* Offer your key benefit immediately
* Don’t forget your call to action
* Use dashes-because they lead the eye-to the next word or phrase and-speed up reading.
* Use a symbol to make them stand out from the other classified ads
* Use a border
* Use power words like
“New,” “Free,” “How to,”
“Easy,” etc…to compel people to read.
5. Write articles for relevant associations and magazines.
Just like writing articles for online
publications, writing articles for print publications is a great way to
generate interest in your business, and sales. Many organizations
and associations have newsletters. Contact organizations that are
relevant to your industry, even if it is your local chamber of
commerce, and offer to write an article for their publication.
Just like there are relevant industry
organizations, there is a magazine or print newsletter designed to
address just about every interest or topic. Contact the editors
of these newsletters and magazines and offer to write an article for
the publication.
Don’t forget to make sure that your contact information and a small biography are included at the bottom of each article.
Before you contact anyone you should:
* Have a good understanding of the market the newsletter or magazine reaches
* Be knowledgeable about the topics they discuss
* Understand the writing style used in the publication
* Have at least one suggestion for an article topic
* Be ready to sell yourself and why you should be the one to write the article
Beyond “Advertising” what you can do to promote your business and make more sales.
1. Always carry business cards and be
ready and willing to hand them out when you meet a potential
client. It can be in the grocery store line, at the local scout
picnic, or even at the pool. You never know when you could meet a
potential client and saying “I’m sorry, I don’t have
my card,” just doesn’t work.
2. Be proactive about speaking
engagements! Similar to publishing an article in association
newsletters, many organizations are looking for speakers to present on
relevant topics. Any opportunity to put yourself in front of
large numbers of prospective clients or customers is a great
opportunity. Likewise, speaking engagements often lead to other
publicity tools like press releases to announce your speaking
engagement. As the word grows about you and your business, you
may even find yourself speaking with your local radio hosts or on your
local news.
3. While not advertising, Press
Releases are a good way to alert the media about anything new that
happens with your business. Take care to write a good release
that identifies a problem and then shows how your product or service
solves a problem. Answer the question, “What’s in it for
the reader?” Remember that journalists report the news so
you need to make your press release newsworthy. Answer the
questions, Who, What, Where, When, and Why.
FAQs about Advertising
How do I find out about where to advertise and promote my products and services?
Visit your local library for Standard
Rate and Data Books. You can also find a directory of
publications for details on various publications and means for
advertising. Study your prospects. What do they read,
watch, or listen to? That is where you should advertise.
How much should I spend on advertising and promotion?
The answer to that question depends
on how much you can afford. The most common tool to calculate the
financial benefits to advertising is to calculate your cost per
thousand and your return on investment. Cost per thousand or CMP
is how much does it cost you to reach 1000 people? Statistics on
a publications circulation can generally be found within the
publication. If not, give them a quick call.
Return on investment or ROI is calculated by your Profit minus your investment divided by your investment.
Who does the finished layout of my ad?
The graphic design and layout can be
one of the projects that you outsource, along with writing the ad if
you don’t like to write. Or you can do design your ad
yourself. Additionally, some publications offer design services.
What if my campaign fails?
Change your ad! Change the
headline. Change where you run the ad. Change your offer.
Ask any advertising expert what the most important aspect of any
marketing campaign is and what do you think they’ll answer?
Testing. It’s the foundation of any successful advertising
campaign. Remember though; if your ad is working
well…don’t change it! Some successful ads run for 40
years without any changes and they consistently bring in sales.
Quick Advertisement and Promotion Checklist:
> Does your advertisement attract and engage the people that are most likely to purchase you product or service?
> Is your headline compelling?
> Does your ad hold the interest of your reader? Does it appeal to their needs, hopes, dreams, and emotions?
> Do you promise benefits to your
readers? Do you explain exactly what will happen to them, how
their lives will be changed, if they purchase your product or service?
> Does your ad create desire for your product?
> Does your advertisement prove
the value of your product or service? How are you different and
better than your competition?
> Do you establish credibility?
> Do you have a call to action?
> Do you make it easy to act?
Offline advertising and promotion can
be an overwhelming concept. The best advice is to take it slow
and not jump into using all advertising tools at once. Learn one,
master it, and then incorporate another medium. For example,
begin with a yellow pages ad. Once you are confident that your
yellow pages ad meets your goals, then move on to designing a postcard
mailing or full page magazine advertisement.
If you try to advertise everywhere
all at once, without learning the ropes first, you can make many costly
and unprofitable mistakes. That being said, once you get the hang
of advertising, you can easily convert a full page advertorial into a
long copy sales letter. You can use the same material and modify
it to fit the publication and the advertising medium.
Congratulations on the growth of your business and best of luck in your offline advertising and promotion ventures!