The internet has allowed businesses to connect with customers in ways that were never possible before. However, it is not the only impactful way to reach out to potential customers. There are many forms of traditional marketing that are still effective. Here are just 4 offline marketing strategies that still work.
Event marketing
Event marketing can be a great way of reaching out to certain customers. When securing large sales, it can often be worth hosting a sales conference – this can be an opportunity to present your product to a crowd of potential buyers, answering any questions they may have and potentially demonstrating your product. Trade fairs can also be an effective form of event marketing – such events are great for gaining exposure and generating leads.
Events can allow you to appeal to all the senses. They offer a physical experience that can help to make your brand more memorable. They can be expensive to organize however – it’s worth hiring a professional event planning company to help.
Print marketing
Print marketing includes the likes of flyers, posters, business cards and brochures. While many businesses have switched to emails due to the reduced costs and reduced time involved when sending them, there are still times when print can be a more successful option. In fact, print media tends to have a much higher success rate than emails when it comes to generating leads.
There are direct mail printing and marketing services out there that can produce and mail print media for you – this can save you time and money. Like any form of marketing, print media is most effective when strategically targeted at the right places. For instance, rather than handing out flyers to random people on the street, consider posting them to targeted homes and leaving them in specific places where your key consumer is likely to be found.
Radio advertisement
Many people still listen to the radio. By investing in radio advertisements, you could reach out to many potential customers.
A radio advert needs to be memorable (a lot of people listen to radio in the car and aren’t able to make notes) so you may want to pay a company to come up with a catchy jingle. Many local radio stations accept adverts of all forms. You may pay more for having your advert aired during a certain time of the day.
Networking
Networking is a way of building connections. Some of these connections could be potential customers while others may be fellow business owners that are able to help promote your business. There are lots of ways to network offline including attending conferences, attending seminars and joining local business groups. You may even be able to build useful connections simply from attending social functions like weddings and parties (you never know where you’re going to find a potential customer).
The key to successful networking is not being afraid to approach people. Having business cards on you can also be useful if you need to exchange contact details.
Anyone can start a business, but the real question one should ask is should you start a business? Creating a business is not like any other form of profession. Normal working hours will no longer apply to you and your hard work will not be acknowledged by a boss, because you answer to yourself. So that also means, no one is there to hold your hand, tell you when to speed up, or instill any kind of discipline in you. However, this new life will come a test of character. Many people pass cognitive tests such as planning and networking but very few pass the tests of mental strength, confidence and self-criticism.
The test of integrity
Many entrepreneurs lie on their resume or about an aspect of their business. Most investors, B2B partners and even employees expect that. It’s not uncommon for a young hard-charging entrepreneur to boast about how many contacts they have in the industry or how far along a product is in terms of completion. However, some people will not be willing to work with you if you display this sort of behavior. Integrity is simply priceless and so many entrepreneurs don’t understand what the value of having it would do for their success. Remember that your words will carry more weight when they have been consistently true. ‘Just trust me’ doesn’t convince people as much as ‘my track record is impeccable’. When you meet with investors, just be honest. Don’t think you’re going to scare them away by showing them the issues you have. Someone who is truthful is seen as a long-term partner.
Persistency before consistency
The biggest challenge you’re going to face is the repeated nature of being knocked back. When you feel as if things are going right, all of a sudden something will push you back to square one. It’s part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. By the very nature of that title, you are making waves, breaking barriers and trying to innovate beyond your competitors. So before you achieve consistent results, you will need to stay persistent. Get used to overcoming odds as an entrepreneur as getting feedback and seeing results from consumers will be something you need to chase after. A mass texting campaign may garner little to no results in the first couple of tries. Eventually, you will learn to get the timing and techniques right and slowly increase your customer engagement skills. During the process of persistency, you will be learning a lot.
Become action-oriented
If you stop to wait for things to happen, you will be waiting for a long time. In the meantime, you will watch your rivals overtake you. Part of being an entrepreneur is chomping-at-the-bit. You need to be action-oriented. This means you need to make educated but quick decisions. Being adaptable is thwarted by being too slow. Learn to trust your gut which should be making assumptions based on experience. Read books on leadership as you progress as a business owner.
If you want to be successful you must get used to being honest every step of the way. You must learn to make good decisions in a timely fashion. And most of all, be persistent as it will lead to you becoming consistent in many areas.
As an Entrepreneur, it can sometimes be difficult to keep every element of it running in an organized fashion and also keep your sanity. As much as running your own business can be hugely rewarding, it also requires a lot of work, and a lot of arms to keep the ship headed in the right direction! So, here are a few tips and tricks and help you keep the ship leveled as you steer your company towards stability and then growth!
An Organised Office is an Organised Mind!
Your workspace is hugely important when it comes to working efficiently. A messy office will promote a messy mind, and a messy mind cannot run a business efficiently! Organize the office. Make it work for you. Create a workflow that really helps you work efficiently, as everyone has a different method of how they work. So, with this in mind, go into your office next time, and really explore how even just a small change, will impact how you work within it.
This is another tip that will really help you in the long term. If you have a lot of social media campaigns or a bug campaign, plan it in advance, schedule posts and take advantage of platforms such as Hootsuite and others to plan your campaigns. Posting at the time of release all the time is one, a headache and a lot of work for you to do. Also, second, it can look very unprofessional with many different posts posted randomly at random times when you are free. Scheduling them means you can be in a business meeting, but your social media post can go up at peak times for your audience without you needed to lift a finger. Use technology to your advantage, it is there for the taking, so if it can make your life easier, then why not use it!
Manage Your Expenses on the Go!
One huge part of the business is managing your expenses. Why is it a huge part of the business? Firstly calculating profit, being able to remove expenses from revenue and seeing what’s leftover. Also for taxes, knowing how much taxes you will need to pay, or how much tax the taxman will need to adjust based on the expenses you have provided. You can’t expect to know all the most common IRS notices but when you are constantly on the move trying to get a business up and running or keeping it going, it’s far better to have a system in place. This is one of the biggest lessons we can all learn as far as keeping organized is concerned, but this is where we should make the most of technology. There are many different apps and platforms that can help you manage and save paper receipts. So check them out!
Keep your IT in check
In the digital world that we live in today, having a good IT Management or IT part of the business is crucial. So keep your IT updated and running enough to sustain your business.
Go Paperless!
Something that helps you and the planet it going paperless! Most business functions if not all functions have digital alternatives that you can use that will enable you to become a paperless company.
So, hopefully, some if not all of these tips will help you run your business a little more efficiently and relieves some weight off your shoulders as a business owner!
If you want to ascend to the upper echelons of the business world, then you need to be prepared to work hard, long hours, deal with the ups and downs, constantly be looking for new and improved methods of doing things, etc. With so much work and sometimes not much reward, it may, at times, seem a little pointless. Therefore, it is natural that you will suffer from a lack of motivation from time to time. However, what will mark you apart is how you deal with this and overcome it. Here are some ways on how to keep your motivation up in business:
When you first started out on this venture, you must have had a reason for starting out more than just making money. A lot of entrepreneurs have a vision, some sort of driving force behind them, which inspired them to start up. This could be how you can help people, what you can do to help the world, how you can raise awareness about certain issues using the business as leverage. It may help if you wrote a mission statement to re-energize yourself. Remembering why you started out on this venture will help you stay motivated to achieve your goals.
Inspirational activities
If you create a list of places, people, videos, podcasts, or blogs, for example, where you can garner inspiration, it will help you stay motivated. If you are feeling down and are finding it hard to stay on your top game, plug into these sources, and they will be able to drag you out of your lull. It may even be a good idea to invest in seeing a motivational speaker such as Scott Burrows. Not only will this act as inspiration for you continue on your journey, but you will meet many other like-minded people who are all feeling the same way you are. You may be able to connect with these people and continue inspiring each other well after the event has finished.
Network and build connections
You may be able to start this at a motivational talk, but networking with other entrepreneurs and employing the right kind of people to help you stay on track will give you a huge boost. It will give you the opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other and share experiences. This kind of companionship is a great way to stay motivated and allow you to know that you are not the only entrepreneur feeling the way you are. Why not create a networking event?
Find time for you
Remember, it is not all about the work. Ensure that you find a few hours each week to do something you enjoy that has nothing to do with the business. Try to stay fit and healthy too. The simple fact of rhe matter is, if you are trying to deal with a big problem, then when you step away from the situation, suddenly in the middle of your run, for example, the answer will become alarmingly clear. So ensure you have space away from work as this will help you stay motivated.
Are you running a social media campaign as part of the marketing for your business? If so, then you do need to think about how to get the most out of this option. There are a few possibilities to consider here. If you take this advice you’ll find that your potential grows dramatically.
One of the best options when building a social media campaign is to work to ensure that it is as diverse as possible. You can start by thinking about running your campaign across different networks and changing the content so that it matches or provides the best results. However, the content that you offer should also be different. You should be providing blogs, quick updates, links, videos, images, and infographics. It’s important that any content that you do add matches the level of quality that your customers expect. So, if you are adding a video to your feed, make sure that it was created using a professional video production company.
Follow the 80:20 Rule
A lot of business owners will make a mistake and believe that social media should be used for pure promotion. However, this is not the case and the reality is that if you do this you will be limiting the power or potential of your campaign. Instead, you need to ensure that you follow the 80:20 rule here. This is simple to understand. 20% of the content you produce should be pure promotion. The rest should provide value to your customers and followers. By doing this, you can ensure that your social media is a valuable resource. You can also set yourself up as an expert that customers can trust. This is always going to provide great benefits to you. Some business marketers would even suggest that it’s more 90:10.
Use Your Followers
Another great way to use social media is to ensure that you are able to get the most out of your followers. It’s possible to use the followers you have and guarantee that they are going to be able to push up your campaign. You can do this by taking complete advantage of user-generated content. When followers create content that could be beneficial to your campaign, remember to retweet or share the content. This could be as simple as a positive review from your customer. Remember, other clients, are more likely to trust their word then direct marketing from your business. If you are struggling to get user-generated content, you can set up promotions and challenges to encourage them to engage. You can also engage with them directly by opening up conversations. This is a great way to get to know the followers and customers of your business.
We hope you love these ideas and look forward to incorporating them into your own social networking marketing campaign. Remember, social media is a powerful tool for any business. You just need to make sure that you are using it the right way to gain the best results.
Recent Comments