Studies and statistics continue to show that offline marketing is still effective. Maybe the most telling piece of evidence is the nearly 40 percent of purchases online that occur only after a consumer has been influenced by an offline channel. Do not make the mistake of thinking this means online marketing is not essential. Using these offline marketing strategies that complement online strategies will be much more effective.

Take Time to Market at Events

You can market your business face-to-face by attending concerts, local markets, charitable events and other local happenings. This will usually require that you rent a booth, but the marketing potential provided makes it worth it. While at these events, take the opportunity to integrate social media by having people check in or holding competitions related to your social platform.

Use Offline Marketing Calls to Action

Even novice local business owners with little marketing knowledge usually know that calls to action (CTA) are essential for their online content. As it turns out, effective CTAs are also important when doing offline marketing.

Tell people exactly what you want them to do whether in your television ad or direct mailer. An effective CTA can even take consumers to your webpage or social media site for further information. You will need to provide a reason, however, for them to head over to your sites. Anything from hosting great recipes to offering discounts can accomplish this.

Make Use of Tracking URLs

You could potentially get as much benefit from an offline strategy as you do from online marketing. When people discover your company offline, though, it can prove difficult to track via traditional analytics. Overcoming this problem, though, can be simple. As whoever does your marketing about tracking URLs. You can use these unique addresses in offline marketing to actually track which methods are bringing in the customers.

Offline marketing has been around much longer than the internet, so it is doubtful that it will ever go away. Do not make the mistake of underestimating offline marketing's potential. You will consistently see the benefits of offline marketing as long as you are using the right techniques.

Resources:

• How offline marketing boosts online effect by 40%

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

The post The Offline Marketing Strategies that Complement Online Strategies appeared first on Online Crowd.

Whether you are in the software business or run a small restaurant in your local market, you have likely engaged in providing a “freebie” to get potential new clients in the door. Of course, this sometimes does not convert to a permanent customer. Instead of thinking this means freebies do not work, figure out what you did wrong. Or better yet, implement these strategies to turning trial customers into paying clients. Make free customers come back.

Initiate Contact Immediately

Research has shown that 90 percent of leads actually go cold within an hour. This means you need to initiate contact almost immediately. The easiest way of doing this is by sending an email. Whether you get it by having someone sign up for a trial run of your service or by joining your email list to get a discount on a meal, the important thing is to get it. Have an automated email sent out, so even if they quickly forget they signed up, they will have a reminder in their inbox.

Offer Additional Incentives

Offering an additional incentive might seem like a bit much, especially after providing a freebie, but in the end, this can seriously pay off. The added incentive does not need to be another freebie. A sandwich shop could offer an easy punch card loyalty program to keep people coming back. Those offering marketing as a service could discount their yearly rate if paid up front. There are tons of other incentives to provide, so just use your imagination.

Keep Communication Open

Marketing experts say 10% of a small business's monthly sales should go into free trials. This is a large chunk of budget, so you should already be prepared to keep communication lines open. Send out periodic emails or reminders, but make sure some are framed as helpful communications. People forget, so while daily emails are a bit overzealous, a few friendly reminders never hurt anyone.

Too many customers take advantage of a free offer and then simply never come back. Fortunately, you can reduce the likelihood of this by simply being proactive.

Resources:

• Should You Offer A Free Trial?
• Using email marketing to boost Ecommerce sales

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

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If you run a local business, you must have an online marketing strategy. Statistics show that 81 percent of consumers engage in online research prior to large purchases, so this should be enough to prove online marketing's importance. Offline marketing, however, must not be overlooked. Your online marketing agency can sometimes provide tips, or you could try out your own luck. Regardless of your method, offline marketing will definitely complement your online strategy.

Reaches Consumers that Online Marketing Can’t

No matter how hard you try, some people will never see your online marketing. This stems from the fact that 13 percent of U.S. citizens still do not utilize the web. People in rural areas and older generations are most affected by this. Regardless, offline marketing is the only way to reach certain potential customers.

Online Buyers Go Through Offline Channels

Many believe that every aspect of making a purchase is not handled exclusively online. Research statistics, though, debunk this widespread myth. Of all online consumers, a full 40 percent are influenced by offline sources before making their online purchases.

These offline sources can be anything from billboards to TV ads. Whichever offline method it is, statistics do not lie when showing the benefits of offline marketing to your online strategies.

Great Exposure, Low Price

You must never sacrifice your online marketing for anything, but offline strategies are a low-cost way to complement your online methods. Guerrilla marketing techniques, for instance, continuously prove their value when done correctly. And since people can be pointed to your online sources through an offline presence, which is great due to promotional oversaturation online, you can rest assured that offline and online will always benefit each other.

The online marketing services you receive can only benefit from offline strategies. Luckily, it does not cost much to achieve that goal. Because of this, the additional effort you put in will be well worth the endeavor.

Resources:

• The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics
• How offline marketing boosts online effect by 40%
• 13% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

The post The Benefits of Complementing Online Marketing with Offline Strategies appeared first on Online Crowd.

Even as consumers have the ability to purchase items from around the globe, much of their money is still spent locally. In fact, figures show that upwards of 50 percent of all search queries have local intent. While this proves how important location-specific marketing is, the following local marketing mistakes could seriously hurt a company.

Failing to Stake Out the Competition

A business owner might think their local marketing strategy should focus solely on their company. In reality, they should also be focused on their competition. If they’re not paying attention to what is and isn’t working for their competitors, they’re putting themselves at a disadvantage. In all likelihood, their competition is keeping an eye on them in turn.

Dropping the Ball with on the Basics

Business owners have a lot on their plates, but that’s no excuse to drop the ball on the most basic local marketing issues. Some companies, for instance, still don’t have websites. In a world that’s increasingly digital, this lack of effort can destroy a business.

Budding entrepreneurs also sometimes fail to claim their company on local business listing pages. This includes everything from the big guns, like Yelp and Google, to locally-focused websites. Failing to correct inaccurate information on these pages can cause significant damage.

Failing to Do Marketing Research

Many businesses hire marketing managers to handle their local marketing, and this is a great idea. It doesn’t mean, though, that they shouldn’t do a little research of their own. Having a bit of knowledge in the area will let business owners choose the right company and let them know the realities of promoting a company. This way, they won’t fire and hire three new marketing consultants after not seeing results in a week.

In the marketing world, everything is local, but when it comes to small and medium-sized businesses, local is everything. The aforementioned local marketing mistakes are just the tip of the iceberg. With a bit of research and the right help, however, it’s possible to avoid these costly errors.

Resources:

• Data Suggest Local-Intent Queries Nearing Half of All US Search Volume

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

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Many marketers will say that television commercials are outdated. Indeed, 2017 is the year that experts predict digital marketing spending will outpace television advertisements. Of course, this doesn’t make it a waste of money. Depending on your targeted demographic, televised ads could remain profitable. If you fall into this group, here are a few tips to improve your television marketing.

1. Don’t Skimp on Price

Have you ever been watching local commercials at a comfortable volume and then, out of nowhere, you’re blasted by the high volume of a different commercial? That’s because the business erred too far on the side of frugality. If you’re going to create a TV ad, do it right. Use an actual production team, or your company might end up looking unprofessional.

2. Don’t Settle for Any Old Time Slot

Whenever a local business puts an ad on TV, they must choose which timeslot to use. Oftentimes, they go for the cheapest, but this isn’t an effective way to get the most for your money. Base your timeslot decision on your target demographic.

If you’re selling a children’s product, choose a late-afternoon timeslot so they’ll be out of school. Going after senior citizens? It can’t hurt to pick a slot during The Price is Right or other daytime shows.

3. Make the Content Appealing

Like any other form of content, your television commercials must be appealing. Unlike blogs and webinars, the commercial doesn’t have to be super informative. It just needs to get people’s attention. Studies have shown that humor, jingles and catchy taglines are memorable, but your chosen content can vary dependent on your industry. In essence, just don’t put out a commercial simply to say you did so.

Television ads might not be as popular as they once were, but just like direct mailers and newspaper ads, they aren’t quite dead yet. If your demographic can be reached effectively using TV commercials, following these tips is a great start on the path to success.

Resources:

• 10 Statistics Illustrating the Inevitable Decline of TV Advertising

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

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If you’ve never created a webinar for promotional purposes, you’re part of only 40 percent of marketers who haven’t done so. Whoever is handling your digital marketing can certainly promote these online events, but your expertise and professionalism are what will make them successful. With that in mind, here are a few webinar mistakes you must avoid if you hope to create perfect content.

1. Ignoring the Clock

It’s okay to have a long webinar. In fact, your subject matter may make it necessary. If this is the case, though, you need to ensure that you advertise that fact. When promoting your upcoming webinar, have a specific start and end time. Additionally, leave a period for asking questions. Stick to this schedule at all costs. Your clients and potential customers have too much going on to feel like their time isn’t valued.

2. Not Having People Register

There are plenty of ways you could do a webinar. With Facebook Live, for instance, you could do your entire presentation and immediately have it saved to your business page for those who missed it. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do much to snag leads who might not be immediately ready to buy. By hosting your webinar on another site and requiring registration to view it, you’ll have all the contact information you’ll need to follow up with prospective clients.

3. Picking the Wrong Presenter

When you’re conducting a webinar, you’re not just selling your product – you’re selling yourself. Regardless of how informed you are in your area of expertise, it simply won’t come across if you’re a bad “public” speaker. If you’re terrible at presentations, find a co-owner or informed employee who isn’t.

Webinar mistakes can make your hard work and investment futile. In most industries, conducting periodic webinars is profitable. Instead of wasting money through trial and error, though, focus on avoiding these mistakes in the first place and make your webinar successful.

Resources:

• 12 Webinar Stats You Need to Know

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

The post 3 Webinar Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Marketing appeared first on Online Crowd.

In some industries, trade show attendance is just a fact of life. In others, attending a periodic event can still do great things to promote the local business. Regardless of which situation a budding entrepreneur is in, there are certain trade show mistakes that must be avoided at all cost. Considering the time commitment and cost of a booth, these mistakes can seriously cut into profits.

1. Being Too Frugal

Going to a trade show is all about making money, but as they say, it’s sometimes necessary to spend money to make it. Professional looking displays, nice carpeting, and additional plants may all cost more, but they’re certainly worth it. Four out of five trade show attendees show up with buying authority, so it’s absolutely essential to “wow” everyone in attendance – even if it costs a little more.

2. Failure to Promote

Trade shows are themselves a certain type of promotion, but business owners should also promote their attendance at the show. Hop on social media, send out emails and let prospective clients know about the upcoming event. This will ensure customers and those who are still on the fence show up to see what a company is all about.

3. Viewing Everyone as a Competitor

Being at the same trade show as another company means they share something in common with you. It doesn’t, however, mean that they’re competitors. While a medevac vehicle provider might be at a disaster management trade show, they’re certainly not in competition with the survivalist company across the aisle. Business owners should build connections with those who aren’t their direct competitors. These relationships can pay off in the long run.

Regardless of their industry, there’s a trade show out there for every business owner. The biggest hurdle is finding these events and avoiding costly mistakes. And if an entrepreneur can avoid just the aforementioned, they’re already ahead of the game.

Resources:

• 16 Powerful Stats on the Value of Trade Shows

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

The post 3 Trade Show Mistakes Local Business Owners Must Avoid appeared first on Online Crowd.

Many local business owners feel that trade shows are the best opportunity to get out and showcase their expertise. This is likely why around 40 percent of business-to-business marketing budgets go directly to trade show exhibitions.

As it turns out, though, speaking engagements can also build you up as an expert in your field and generate leads. For those who have never done this before, here are a few ways to find speaking engagements to market yourself and your business.

Act as a Consultant

Promoting yourself as a consultant to a company is one of the few ways to snag a paid speaking engagement. You won’t get huge crowds, but you will begin building a reputation as an industry thought leader. Find a business that encounters problems you could help solve, and once you’ve done this, take the owner out to lunch to talk about an agreement.

Have a Dedicated Webpage

Local business owners who want to market themselves and their company through speaking engagements must have a dedicated section of their website. This page could contain testimonials, areas of expertise and even videos of prior speaking engagements. Regardless of your overall goal in offering these onsite presentations, utilizing your website to look more professional is essential.

Utilize Conference Directories

While they may not be chock full of conferences within five miles of your business, online conference directories are still a powerful tool. You can peruse sites like Confevent or All Conferences to find nearby events that are related to your industry. You can then reach out to the individuals running the events to inquire about speaking.

Plenty of local business owners never even consider speaking engagements, but this is just a lost opportunity to build brand awareness and show off your expertise. Even if you aren’t a great public speaker, sending a similarly-knowledgeable manager or partner can accomplish the same thing for your company.

Resources:

• 16 Powerful Stats on the Value of Trade Shows

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

The post How to Snag Speaking Engagements for Marketing appeared first on Online Crowd.

If you don’t already have a focused content strategy for your local business, you are officially in the minority. In fact, companies spend over 25 percent of their promotional budgets on content marketing on average. This makes it obvious how important content marketing is to your business, but is your strategy everything it could be? These three quick tips will help it get there.

1. Utilize Images Whenever Possible

Whether on social media or in email newsletters, images increase engagement. This is a truth that’s been proven time and again. When you aren’t posting blogs or articles, toss up an industry-related image that’s informative or humorous. And when choosing a featured image for your blog links, make sure the image is about 1200×628 so the preview isn’t shrunk down.

2. Utilize Content in Email Newsletters

One surefire way to bring traffic to your websites while also making your email newsletters worth reading is to share your content right in the email. For blogs, you could have small snippets to get people interested in clicking a link to read the full post. Videos, on the other hand, can be posted in their entirety right in the newsletter.

3. Include Evergreen Content

Content about industry news or trends is certainly important, but you should also make an effort to create evergreen content. Evergreen refers to any content – from infographics to articles – that remains relevant regardless of when it’s read. Ask your blog manager to include evergreen pieces when working on your content strategy.

There are innumerable ways to improve your content marketing strategy, but not all of them have to “reinvent the wheel.” Even minor tweaks can lead to big results, so take the time to discuss these possibilities with whoever handles your digital marketing.

Resources:

• The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

The post 3 Quick Ways Businesses Can Improve Content Marketing appeared first on Online Crowd.

We live in a digital world, and any budding entrepreneur who ignores this fact is bound for failure. This doesn’t mean, however, that offline marketing is a lost cause. In fact, some research shows that this type of marketing can boost your online campaigns by as much as 40 percent. With that in mind, you should always have these offline marketing tips in the back of your head.

Realize that Print Isn’t Dead

Sure, there are far more emails sent than letters each day. Like… far more. This doesn’t mean that printed mediums are dead. Whether it’s business cards, direct mail or even newspaper ads, printed material is still an effective way to market offline. Keep in mind, though, that not all of these strategies will work for every demographic or in every locale. Find what works and go with it, but always have a business card on hand.

Get Exposure in the Community

A newspaper ad might get you noticed by a few people, but sponsoring the local little league team will garner the attention of hundreds – if not more. You should take active measures to involve your business in the community. This could be anything from donating to charity to holding a back-to-school drive. While this may not seem like marketing, the fact is that people love philanthropic companies. Getting involved in your community will certainly attract new clients.

Visit Trade Shows

When it comes to local businesses, the owners either swear by trade shows or ignore them entirely. The fact is that these industry events can really get your product or service out there, and you can even make sales while onsite. Your specific offering might not perform well at a trade show, and if this is the case, you’ll know they’re either not right for you or your pitch needs tweaking. Either way, trade shows are an offline marketing technique worth taking a shot at.

Regardless of how prominent the digital world becomes, offline marketing is likely here to stay. Fortunately, these techniques can supplement what your online marketing pros are doing. In the end, the two combine for a great promotional strategy.

Resources:

• How offline marketing boosts online effect by 40%

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we're limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you're interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we'll let you know when it re-opens.

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