Is Offline Marketing Dead?

Why Are So Many Marketing Consultants Saying, “Offline Marketing Is Dead,” When It’s NOT!?

A common question we get asked by offline businesses is if offline marketing is dead.

It’s NOT!

There are many marketers out there that will tell you it is just to sell their products and services to you. The reality is, the best solution for your brick and mortar business is a combination of the two … offline marketing strategies and taking advantage of products & services using the internet.

One of the most important factors when it comes to putting together your marketing strategies is knowing the demographics of your buying public!

Knowing the demographics of your clients tells you exactly where to invest your marketing dollars and how to market to them!

Without this knowledge you’re just shooting in the dark with no guarantee for success. For example, what age group is your average client?

The age group plays a big role in how you’d market to the group and how you’d talk to them in your marketing message.

If your market place is the under 30 group, the majority of these people will look you up on their smart phone first, computer second. My own children who are all adults and in this age group are constantly telling me, “The yellow pages are so yesterday”. For this age group, they are right.

The point is, know the demographics of your customers! Then when you’re being presented a marketing strategy you’ll have a much better foundation to determining if the strategy makes sense for YOUR business.

Along with this, you should be using “positioning strategies” for your business. This is where you do a detailed analysis of your ideal clients, review how you compare to your competitors and then making sure your message better addresses the needs of your market place over your competitors.

Marketing your business isn’t something you just throw together, especially if you’re competing for a clients business with other competing businesses in your market place.

To put together a solid marketing strategy for your business that has you excited about your businesses growth and leaves your competitors in the dust, it all starts with doing a detailed analysis of your business, your products, the demographics of your clients and your competitors positioning. This is foundational.

Finally, since this is an article on offline marketing, I can’t end it without addressing the century old and still important strategy and “name recognition” marketing. 

Here’s what you first need to understand. When a consumer needs something like a tune up, a new deck, dental work or whatever the first thing they ask themselves is, “Who do I know that offers the product/service I need?”

People like doing business with businesses they know and are familiar with. They may not know how they know you. All that matters is they do know of you. This is why billboards and local advertising in your community still works so well.

However, having said all of this, the need for online marketing becomes more important as the size of the city grows in population. The larger the city the larger the need for having a solid online presence.

Don’t completely ignore offline marketing. Evaluate it based upon what you sell, who your market place, the demographics of your market place and more.