Integrated online/offline campaigns

Posted by Aaron Bloxsome on 9 December 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: online/offline campaigns, advertising, business intelligence, online marketing, email marketing, dynamic print, social media, data capture

Offering better returns for the same investment, integrated online and offline marketing campaigns are becoming increasingly popular. Whilst it is well known that advertising through more than one medium will always produce better results, there is a new trend emerging.

With current developments in online and offline technology, there are new ways social media, print and website advertising channels can be integrated together to boost customer awareness, collect important customer information and prompt a call to action across the different marketing channels.

Generating online / offline push and pull by mixing marketing methods can be done in a number of ways. Whilst any mixed media campaign can measure generated user activity and collect data, a well designed, strategically implemented campaign will build brand recognition, leading to all important word of mouth advertising that can bring immeasurable value to any business's reputation.

One such model of integrating online and offline methods is shown:
Social Media Advertising > Online Data Capture > Dynamic Print with promo code > Website activity

Social Media Advertising
With the ongoing popularity of social media, the advertising potential in this area continues to proliferate, with interest growing in social networking websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and many other sites. The great part about social media advertising is that you can target a very specific audience. In a universal flood of online information and promotion, the relevance of an internet advertisement is key to achieving results.

Advertising facilities on these websites often allow fine tuning of who will see the message, using demographic, psychographic (personality and attitude based) and firmographic (company or organisation based) filters. As payment for these advertisements is per impression or per click, you can avoid overspending on a campaign by ensuring that your ads are only viewed by certain types of people.

Factors such as geographical location, age, gender, keywords, educational establishments, workplaces and personal interests can all be controlled. Advertisement performance can be tracked in real time, showing analytical information of who is clicking on your ad. By determining your target clientele beforehand, measuring the ad progress and when necessary, making appropriate modifications, your campaign will achieve the best results.

Online Data Capture
Providing a link from a social media advertisement to an online data capture microsite will allow you to further advertise your product and gather important data from interested customers. In a connected call to action campaign, the success of an online data capture site is dependent on its significance and its approach.

The quality of the design is a very big draw card, as this is where most customers will make their first decision on whether they like the look of your offering. By validating your offer and using online forms you can pinpoint the specific needs and areas of interest of customers, collecting their personal details and information about their requirements. This will provide a valuable database of very important potential customers. With this database, the next step to dynamic print or email marketing can be made.

Dynamic Print
Dynamic print is a fairly new method of marketing that enables unlimited variations of the same document to be printed. With dynamic print you can address customers personally and acknowledge their individual requests. Personalising textual content is an excellent way to attain brand loyalty. By incorporating a good incentive with an online promotion code, this tangible reminder will encourage targeted individuals to visit your website and take advantage of your exclusive offer. Dynamic print is also a good tool to follow up purchases with.

Website Activity
Using print with a promo code to draw visitors to your website will not only improve your site's hit to sales conversion ratio, but will provide you with invaluable information about who has visited and their browsing activities. Promo codes can be used to allow access to special areas of the website and the site's overall performance, measured by browser responses, can be analysed.

By analysing user activity, you can see which parts of the website are generating the most interest and are performing the most effectively. In addition, increased website activity can greatly improve search engine rankings.

Email Marketing
Email marketing can be used in place of dynamic print or to enhance a mixed media campaign with print. Another excellent way of building brand recognition, emails can keep customers up to date about a business's latest activities with newsletters and special promotions.

Emails are a very inexpensive and unobtrusive form of advertising, allowing customers to respond to messages at their own convenience and giving them the option to unsubscribe if they wish to.

Integration of online and offline campaigns, a new way of marketing here to stay
Many businesses are already achieving great results by astutely marketing themselves in this way. Eventually most major firms will follow the marketing methods of these companies, many of whom are already reaping the benefits of personally engaging with their customers and learning from them. Integrating different methods of marketing will not only reinforce any campaign by extending its reach, but also provide a grasp on a large section of the best potential and active customers.

To get this integration to work, careful planning is fundamental. Many businesses employ tech savvy, switched on individuals to help organise and run their cross media campaigns. Knowing the ins and outs and latest trends of various marketing channels (especially social media) and how they work together is essential. A good understanding of the current market, coupled with a fresh and dynamic approach to the different methods of integrated advertising, will help almost any business achieve its goals.