Effective Ways to Use Offline Marketing to Build Your List

December 30, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Internet Marketing

Tanbir Singh asked:


Many Internet Marketers really miss out on opportunity to grow their list because they only market to individuals online. They feel that the internet is the only way for them to market their online business. That is completely not true. The offline world is alive and they are responsive. The mail order business was around before the internet and they are still around today thriving. So if you were to balance your online marketing and offline marketing you will find that you will generate more exposure then just using one or the other. For more details visit to www.mailing-list-gold.com .In my marketing I use simple methods to reach people who I know are candidates for my products that may not be looking for information online yet. They may not even know they want what I have until they see a print add or a business card. After viewing my ad then they may think to themselves “that sounds interesting Let me take a look”.

Marketing offline in this way can give you a jump on your competition because they may only be marketing online. They are missing the prospect that is not yet looking online. So when they see your ad you are the only person they know and they are apt to go to you first.

Another benefit to marketing offline is that some of your current list may not open their email. And if you have a special promotion or a service to offer they may not get to know about it unless you were to use a method of contacting them offline. Many smart marketers do this. For instance one list that I belonged to would send out a voice blast to my phone to remind me of a conference call they were sponsoring and they would leave the message on my voice mail. Now if they would have only sent an email I would not have received it or paid attention to it. So by sending out offline marketing they filled their phone lines and received more listeners then if they would have just emailed their list.

There are many cost effective ways of using offline marketing to build your list. The simplest that has the largest reach is to run tiny classified ads that will point people to how they can get more information either for free or at a cost. For more information logon to www.build-own-list.com .A second way you can and should direct people to your site is to always have business cards with a strong headline directing people to your site with a benefit of why they should go there.

Lets not forget the importance of signage I’ve placed signs that say “Need extra income? Free report tells how go to www.” The response I get from that is incredible.

The last way I will mention is the real estate on the back of your car. Even if you drive a Mercedes Benz a tactfully small website address will get peoples attention especially if the site tells a little of what it is about in the address.

Using these techniques will drive many offline individuals online sometimes just out of curiosity. Once there it is up to you to convert them through your sales page and or squeeze page.

Clearly offline marketing is not dead, you can reach a huge segment of subscribers by meeting them offline. If you do not make an effort to marketing both offline and online you are throwing away tons of prospective subscribers and possibly even more money.

So be creative and don’t neglect the benefit that off line marketing has on your List Building endeavors.



Grow Your Online Business With These Offline Marketing Tips

December 23, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Advertising

Deep Arora asked:


Starting an online business is easy, but attracting ever increasing traffic is not! Dont think you are alone in this. The ongoing quest to drive traffic to your site is one that is necessary for all and sundry. The cost incurred in marketing the site with every possible online opportunity can become quite hefty. Sometimes the more traditional offline methods can provide inexpensive and ingenious way is to churn out new marketing initiatives for your online business.

Offline marketing shouldnt be seen as outdated, in fact it is sweeping through the online community. If you are looking for something innovative to add to your marketing mix, then focusing and developing an offline strategy may be the solution you are after. Firstly, know your target audience and then work out on the modes of communication that they remain in touch with, in their daily life. Once you know these modes are available to you for offline marketing, you can develop attractive advertisements and calculate the cost incurred in carrying this out. To consider a few offline marketing modes, read on!

o Radio Shows. Amidst numerous radio channels on air, theres no such thing as information being obscure. The advantage with the radio advertising format is that listeners tune in regularly, while on the go, in shops, their car, at work and so on. The broadcasters are constantly searching for fillers in their shows, hence providing you the opportunity to slot your advertising in. With radio make your ad short and crisp, memorable is the key with this advertising format. Radio is still one of the most effective and relatively inexpensive advertising formats; and there is always space between shows for the advertisers to speak on.

o Print Media. Putting out attractive and creative ads in magazines and newspapers can truly work wonders. The print media reaches out to more people than you might expect. Hence, your message, and in this case your website can be more effectively promoted. When developing print advertising, make the language very target centric, you want to really grab the attention of the target audience. In particular you should look out for publications that are related to your field and the segment of people who read them.

o Mail Packages. Developing a list of people who may find your site interesting is the key to this step. Once you have the crucial element, then the next step is to design an attractive envelope for your mail package, or go for a postcard. Think of exciting offers that may intrigue the receiver to investigate your products and services further, after all these are what will get people to visit your website. Offering easy ways to reach you and learn more about your business is the key here. Let potential customers discover the benefits of going through you and not through your competitors. Create the whole package as consumer centric. This means demonstrate that you understand and know your audience, interesting them and drawing them in so they want to know more of the details on your product and how it benefits them. The cost incurred in the mail campaign may be no more than the cost of printing the materials and the stamps. For this reason the postcard style option has become increasingly popular.

o Event Promotion. Invariably, there is always one event or another taking place in the metropolitan cities at any time. Be on the look out for ways to use these events to your advantage. Be focused and select an event that will attract more of the audience you wish to target. Once you have narrowed down the event you feel is relevant, prepare a marketing strategy that correlates to the event activities. Perhaps you could get leaflets printed with details of your site, in particular, the URL or the link you want them to visit. Get articles like pens, diaries or magnets printed with your website URL on them and distribute these. Human nature is such that people cant resist these things, and they can very quickly put your brand in the mind of the target market, when the person sees the message every time they write or look for a piece of paper and so on.

You should develop a strategy for offline marketing just as you would with online marketing. The elements are more or less the same, lets face it offline marketing is where these elements originated. So take the time to utilize these opportunities and target the potential market you want to get to your online site. Making the effort will pay dividends, and placing your business so that you get more traffic is the whole point of getting your marketing strategy rolling.



Online Marketing Should Represent Your Offline Marketing

December 18, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Marketing

Lee Roper asked:


So you’re out of town visiting a new city, and you go online to search for the hottest nightclub in the city. You finally think you have found it. The website is absolutely amazing. Lots of lights, a modern spin on the site, images of people crammed onto a dance floor, and even a limo outside the front door. Your write down the address, hop in the taxi and pull up to a hole in the wall when the driver tells you “That’ll be twelve bucks.” There is one small bar, the hanging neon sign is about to give out, and you can count the number of occupants on one hand.

This is an extreme example, but the last thing you want your online marketing to do is paint inconsistent picture from your offline marketing. Consistent marketing doesn’t mean that the colour on the walls is the same as the website background, and the logo on the front door is the same that’s at the top of the web page. If you want a high-end upscale site, then reflect the same offline. If you can’t quite get your offline location to match your amazing new flashy site, then tone down the e-marketing just a bit.

The first step in creating a consistent e-marketing presence is to know your industry. You don’t want your online presence to reflect that you don’t even know your own industry. Chances are, the feel of a nursing home site, is going to differ greatly from the new trendy lofts that just went up downtown. If you business caters to families, don’t design your online present to target individuals 18-24. Keep in mind that consumers already have their own idea of what image your industry should convey. You don’t want to veer too far off of that path unless you are prepared to take a huge change with your marketing strategy.

A great way measure your online marketing accuracy is by knowing your competition. Research the web presence that your competitors have already created. How is it working out for them? You may also want to look at competitors in other parts of the country. Look at main stream competitors as well as those in your class. How does their web presence differ? While you never want to create a site that looks identical or too close to a competitor the information that you gather from numerous competitors can be combined to create a top of the line, consistent marketing presence, both online and hopefully offline.

Also remember that online marketing can also be applied to search engine marketing (SEM). You want your site to be visible through the proper searches. Spending a lot of time and money on search engine marketing is only a waste if your site isn’t coming up with searches consistent to your industry. SEM can also be researched by searching for other businesses within your industry.

Make sure that when you’re combining your online and offline presence that you do stand out from the crowd. Chances are there is a sea of businesses within your industry with both a strong online and offline presence. But also make sure that when designing your site, you do not alienate yourself for being “too far out there”.



Using an Ad Tracker is Key to the Affiliate Marketer

December 16, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Internet Marketing

Online Marketing Guru asked:


There’s a lot of money in affiliate marketing. This is true, however, only to those are seriously and zealously working on his affiliate program. Success in affiliate marketing varies in every individual affiliate and for the most part, it depends on his will and perseverance. No matter how good an affiliate program is, it will not prosper if the affiliate marketer does not pay the price of hard work. One must exert extra effort especially on the aspect of promotion. Nothing will happen if the links or banners would just lie idle in a web page, an affiliate must be able to convince the visitor to click it and proceed to the business site to buy the products. No click-throughs means no income for an affiliate marketer.

You can actually generate a full-time income by means of affiliate marketing and you can do it at home, and yes, even while you sleep. You must have a good web site to begin with. It must have good promotional and informative contents, pleasing design, inviting banner ads and all other important elements in an affiliate marketer’s web site. It would be great if you have exhausted other means of advertising such as newsletters, email marketing, message boards and ad listings such as Google AdWords. You just have to go online once in a while to check your site and update it and to watch over the development of your marketing program. Does this sound so easy?

It can be this easy if you have planned your affiliate program well and have taken all the steps towards success carefully and diligently. Now, there’s a tool you can use to help you go through the program with ease and confidence, the Ad Tracker. For many experienced and successful affiliate marketers, the Ad Tracker is a key to a successful affiliate marketing program.

What precisely is an ad tracker? It is a marketing tracking software or program that allows you to trace and take note of every click-through made by visitors of your site and by other customers who got your referral link. There are ad tracking service providers as well, so you will just have to pay them to do the tracking for you. With the ad tracker, you can keep an eye on the progress of your marketing campaigns even offline. This tool or program is especially helpful if you are engaged in several affiliate and pay-per-click programs and have placed ads in emails, pop-ups and pop-unders, message boards, auto responders, Ezines, forums, several web sites, surveys and various ad service providers.

Of course, you don’t want all your efforts to be put to waste so you want to make sure you are getting paid for your hard work. Likewise, you want to make sure every dollar or cent you disburse in your advertising campaigns is wisely spent. With the help of the ad tracker, you will know accurately how many and which of your links where clicked on, how many clicked on your links, how many of your emails were opened and how many of those who opened your email clicked through the business site and purchased a product, how many products were purchased, which of your banner ads or links brought the most leads and sales and many other pertinent facts and figures you need.

Sales records and all data stated are necessary in any business as this could determine if your affiliate program is still worth continuing. This would also help you determine which of your marketing strategies is most effective and which is most beneficial for each product or service you are promoting.

Every decision and plan you make must be well grounded on facts. That decision or plan of action may not be the best, but it is something not to regret about when you had valid reasons for coming up with such decision or plan. You cannot just decide to terminate your affiliate program, just because you don’t earn big in an instant.

If you are serious with affiliate marketing, again and again, keep in mind that your success lies mainly on promotion and your hard work. If you don’t seem lucky enough to convince many of your site users to buy the products, don’t be disheartened and jump into a conclusion that your affiliate program is a failure. If it works for others, it could work for you, too. Know whether your advertising techniques are effective or not, which works best for your program and which doesn’t. Get an ad tracker to help you know all these and you’d surely be on the right track towards success!



Using Offline Marketing to Improve your Online Business

December 15, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Internet Marketing

Michael Fleischner asked:


Whether you are an Internet marketer or generalist, turning prospects into buyers is a top priority. Many marketers are continually testing the success of various media and integrated campaigns. One of the most frequently asked questions is the effectiveness of “off-line marketing” as it related to driving traffic and conversions on your website of landing page.

With so many difference across products, services, industries, and price points, its hard to develop a simple yes or no answer when considering whether or not direct mail will drive online traffic for you. The key is to develop a compelling direct mail piece, choosing the right list, and creating an offer that resonates with your target market. Also, consider the following:

1. Package planning is essential for making your mail a success. Before you begin, plan your direct mail package. Will it include a letter, sell sheet, coupon, and business reply envelope? Perhaps you’ll be using a postcard. How big? How small? What creative direction will you take?

2. Effective envelope creative motivates consumers to open your piece. Your offer is no good unless it is seen by your target market. Spend a lot of time on your envelope, giving consumers a reason to open it and learn more about your offer. Create a swipe file of other direct marketing pieces you’ve personally received and opened. What was it about these offers that compelled you to take the next step?

3. Alternative formats can help you qualify for lower postage rates. Manage your budget carefully as large mail campaigns can have a high cost and negatively impact your ROI. One great avenue for lowering costs and increasing response rates is by experimenting with alternative direct mail formats. Learn more at the USPS website.

4. Value-added postcards can help mail get attention. To avoid the issues associated with unopened mail, test a postcard or two. Although much simpler than a direct mail promotion using an envelope and multiple response mechanisms, post cards can be great for driving people online at a low cost. Be sure to have a compelling reason for them to visit your website and a method for tracking results. Defining specific URLs to consumers, to help them locate a special offer, is a great way to track activity.

5. Crate a clear call to action. Too often direct marketers create a compelling piece, even a great offer, but make it difficult for prospects to answer. Overcome this issue by providing prospects with multiple ordering methods. These various methods can include the ability to order online, call a toll free number, and fax an order form. Consider the pros and cons of various ordering methods, and when you do, keep the consumer in mind. You want your buyers to have a positive experience so they order from you again and again.

So perhaps you’re still wondering if direct mail can help you achieve your online goals. Begin with a simple goal that is easily defined and measurable. Choose a preferred direct mail technique and test it. You may find that the best way to find consumers online is to drive them with your direct marketing campaign!



Aligning Online and Offline Marketing Campaigns

December 10, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Seo

Brynn A asked:


Many industrial and B2B companies are taking steps to add or enhance online marketing. Online marketing encompasses search engine optimization, article marketing, blogging and other Internet activity. As companies branch into the digital marketing world, it is key to evaluate current marketing initiatives and ensure that they blend with any new online marketing tactics. In fact, some online and offline marketing can work together for an added boost.

To align your marketing efforts, it is important that they follow a similar path and message. Your online marketing campaign is now as important, if not more important than your offline marketing. So, the message you send online should be planned and considered as thoroughly as the campaigns you already have in effect.

To make your digital promotion correspond well to your traditional marketing, you should ask a few questions:

1. What is your message? What are you promising? Is your website offering the answer to your message, does it guarantee to fulfill your promise?

2. Do your traditional marketing pieces have your web address place prominently on them?

3. Do both your online marketing & traditional marketing efforts provide a number, email or different ways to create action and convert customers?

To understand the importance of aligning marketing campaigns, realize that a potential client will always look to gain more knowledge before purchasing. After promotion of any type is seen, a client will do further research, if the advertisement captured their attention. One of the best ways to catch consumers is to educate them during their research stage. Providing a web address within offline marketing materials like business cards, sales books and trade show booths helps to further the “conversation” from paper to computer. Providing a web address is a powerful marketing tool, as it is not overly aggressive, yet provides you with another opportunity to catch their information like name, number and email address.

So, as you begin to flow your customers from your offline marketing to your industrial online marketing landing space, create your website to be a one stop information shop about your company, the products or services you provide, what you have given to the community and what others have to say about you. You can help a potential client have a positive impression before they even pick up the telephone or submit an online inquiry.

Every so often it is important to step back and think about how you proceed as a consumer. What actions do you take? What information are you looking for? Ask those in your company those questions and brainstorm about your ideal consumer’s buying process. It will likely include offline and online marketing channels, and a migration between the two. That is why it is important to have online and offline marketing emphasize the same message, and to have the two channels complement one another. You will be pleased with how powerful your marketing can be as the leads increase.



How To Market And Make Money Online

December 5, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Sem

Chris Rohrer asked:


With any online business today online and offline marketing plays a big key to either your business succeeding and making a lot of money, or failing and you losing a lot of money. However marketing online is not all that easy as some may make it out to be. If you jump into it to fast you can quickly lose a ton of money if you market wrong. So lets take this time to go over the correct ways of how to market and make money online.

First you will want to set up some type of marketing budget that you can follow for the month. When you do this make sure that you do not to set your budget to high, because you are just starting out so you will want to take your time and test things at first. A good marketing budget to set would be a couple hundred dollars. This will allow you to test a number of things like google awords, yahoo, and maybe even a good press release.

This moves us into the next part of how to market and make money online. You must test your ads first. Not every ad you post or submit is going to work. So make sure you test your ad to first see what kind of results you get from it. At the end of your test if you like your results you have gotten then you know this ad will work, and you can then invest more money into it.

The next most important thing to do with any marketing campaign is to track your ads. You could have the best ads in the world running, but if you are not tracking to see which ads are converting into sales you could be wasting a lot of money and not even know it! So make sure that no matter what type of ad you are running that you have a way to track it, and see if it is worth keeping or not.

Finally you will want to stay educated. There are always new ways to market online and offline. So it is very important to read up and educate yourself on these new ways of marketing. You can do this by reading messages boards, or surfing the web for new ways to market. Always remember though. Test every new marketing spot you find before you go and invest a lot of money into it.



Benefits of Combining Online and Offline Marketing

November 17, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Entrepreneurship

Lucien Bechard asked:


There is a lot of buzz going around the network marketing industry lately about online vs. offline marketing and which concept is better. The top leaders from each industry have been strongly stating their case as to why their concept is better. Both sides have strong and valid points that make it very tough to decide which one is better. But what if you didn’t have to choose a side? What if you could become involved with both of them?

Before we delve into this further let’s take more of a look into both industries.

Offline marketing & Direct Selling companies have been around since the beginning of time. It all started back in the day with people going door to door to pitch and sell their products. Companies such as Amway, and Mary Kay created a massive boom in the industry using the techniques of door to door selling. People in the 80’s and 90’s started learning the concepts of residual income and became really excited about the income potential this could bring to their lives. They started jumping on the bandwagon and began pitching their products and companies to everyone they came in contact with. There were a select few that made a tremendous amount of income from the direct selling craze, but most people ended up with nothing. A lot of people not only lost a lot of money, but they also had their dreams shattered along with it.

That’s when people started having a negative taste in their mouth about the direct selling industry. Terms such as “pyramid scheme” and “scam” began to surface.

The trends started to shift in the late 90’s. People started to become turned off to the concept of direct selling. They didn’t like bothering their friends and family. They weren’t interested in going to seminars and buying products they didn’t need. The direct selling industry now had a bad rap.

But here’s the key thing to remember. The concept and idea of residual income still stayed strong. Residual income wasn’t the “pyramid scheme” and it wasn’t a “scam.” Despite what people thought about the direct selling industry, no one could ever say anything negative about residual income. People still desired to have the lifestyle that residual income produced. They just didn’t like the way they had to go about achieving it.

Residual income never has and never will be a negative concept. The way people go about achieving residual income has become what’s negative. It’s a solid concept that most people still desire to have.

Now let’s flash forward to Internet boom. Ever since the Internet craze has hit the industry people have become inundated with business opportunities everywhere they go. People are being pulled in every different direction and they don’t know which way to turn.

The social media craze is causing such a stir throughout the industry. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube are taking over the Internet. If you go on any one of those sites, you will see that they are just one big “pitch fest.” Everyone is selling something, no matter if they are involved in online or offline marketing. They have a message they want to tell and they want you to hear it.

Everywhere people go on these sites they are being sold on business opportunities to “work from home,” “no meetings involved,” “no bothering friends and family,” and “no lotions or pills to sell.” 90% of the work will be done for them they are told. Terms like “pre-launch,” “get rich quick,” ‘join now,” ‘reserve your spot” have taken the industry by storm. Every time people log into their email, they get spammed by every Internet marketer on the planet telling them how great their business is.

So here’s where the crazy cycle has begins. Offline & Direct Marketers vs. Online Marketers. The tug of war has become heated.

Offline marketers believe in the old school network marketing principles of “making a list of friends and family,” “contacting them,” “showing them their opportunity,” and then “following through.” They believe in the human touch approach. They still hold motivational seminars, dream building sessions, strategy meetings, and cold call sessions like they did in the 80’s and 90’s.

They do network a little bit on the social media sites but most people don’t know what they are doing. They aren’t receiving any training from their up lines on how to brand themselves and market their business online. Also, most of the top offline companies have restrictions about their distributors using online marketing methods to promote their business. The distributors hands are tied.

Here’s where the struggle is taking place with offline companies and why they are losing most of their distributors to online companies. Most of these companies are on the verge of being wiped out because they are still stuck in the olden days of running a business. They are not with the times. Their philosophies of running a business are sound, they even have strong moral principles, but they are being buried by the Internet. Internet marketers are stealing these distributors away in droves and the people that are left are stunned when their down lines are wiped out.

Online marketers have a laser targeted focus on playing to the emotions of offline marketers. Their goal is to target all offline marketers and play off of the negative emotions they are facing with their current business. “The grass is greener on the other side” is what they portray.

With online marketing everything is automated with very little human touch. Online marketers just want people to enter their information into their “capture” page and then proceed to blast peoples email addresses with auto-responder messages hoping to play the law of averages. They know that if they can get their message to enough people, the law of averages will end up working in their favor.

“The money is in the list!” That holds true in both online marketing and offline marketing. It’s all about “the list.”

After reading this and seeing both sides of the fence, neither side seems appealing does it?

That’s because they aren’t working together! There is no “Synergy” working against each other.

That’s why you should incorporate both online and offline marketing methods into your businesses.

First of all, human contact is still the most important element in both online and offline marketing. Human contact is the key to having long term and lasting success in the network marketing industry. People want to do business with other people, not with a computer.

Online marketers can only hide behind the Internet for so long before their businesses will crumble. If online marketers want to become true leaders and have huge businesses, they have to incorporate human touch into their business.

If online marketers want to truly become successful, they need to still fill their minds with positive information through motivational cd’s and seminars, dream building sessions, and strategic planning sessions with other mentors.

Offline marketers have been teaching these principles for years and they are even more relevant in today’s world. Today more than ever, people want to be in business with someone they can trust. People still need guidance and mentorship from other leaders. Online marketers can learn a lot from offline marketers on how they build a business. The principles offline marketers use to build a business are sound and are still the basis by which a business should be built.

Let’s talk about what offline marketers need to do to get with the times before it’s too late. There’s no denying that the Internet has changed how business is being done. The social media giants are not going away and neither is online marketing. It’s only going to get bigger. Offline marketers need to start learning how to brand themselves and their businesses on the Internet if they want to succeed in today’s world. If offline marketers don’t learn how to market their businesses and brand themselves using the major social media outlets, they are going to get eaten alive very quickly.

There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity that’s come with the social media boom, but there’s a very limited amount of time people have left to learn how to capitalize on it.

If people get the right training they need now and learn how to use the Internet to build and market their business, they will become very wealthy.

It’s important to catch and ride the Internet and Social Media wave now before it’s too late! If you incorporate human touch in the process you will be a top leader that everyone turns to.

If people learn to combine the personal human touch, strong moral principles and philosophies of offline marketing, along with the momentum of the social media giants and the power of online marketing, they will become a part of history.

To learn how to effectively combine both online and offline marketing strategies to create “The Perfect Synergy” visit


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From Print to the Net: The Top Ten Benefits of Online Marketing Verses Yellow Page Advertising

November 17, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Marketing

Assassin Marketing asked:


Advertising today has definitely evolved, just as people and businesses continue to find and discover ways of sharing information with one another. Back then, it was almost imperative for businesses to grace the pages of that thick yellow phonebook more fondly known as the Yellow Pages. The traditional yellow page advertising has been a key promotional tool for businesses to create awareness for their products and services, and sell it to the public.

The advent of the Internet, however, started to alter the way people do things; businesses responded to this by exploring new ways of communicating with and addressing the needs of the people. Today, an increasing number of transactions are already being done online and information-sharing and dissemination over the Net has never been more widespread now than it was before. More businesses are likewise actively promoting themselves online, taking advantage of the growing number of Internet users and wider reach of an online medium. Thus, there came the emergence of online marketing.

Online marketing is fast growing in popularity as an effective advertising tool, and continues to post itself as a viable alternative to the traditional yellow page advertising, especially in a fast-paced and tech-savvy environment. Any avid Internet user today would actually notice that a lot of businesses today have websites where they promote their product and service offerings, and share other types of company information. In contrast, the once very thick Yellow Pages seem to have fewer pages lately, an indication that businesses are recognizing the benefits of increasing their online presence against advertising the traditional way. A thorough comparison of the two modes of advertising reveal that online marketing indeed has a greater number of benefits versus yellow pages advertising. Let me share with you ten benefits which top my list.

First, the Internet allows businesses to share more information to potential customers. Businesses practically have limitless space in their websites which they could fill in and update with information. On the other hand, yellow page advertising has a limit in terms of space that may be utilized to post certain content. The more information is shared in the Yellow Pages, the greater is its investment requirement.

Second, marketing initiatives done online are more easily searchable as compared to those advertised in the Yellow Pages. With the right key words, businesses can easily make their websites accessible to their target market. Information searches done using the Internet is much faster than manual scanning of the Yellow Pages.

Third, online marketing is more cost effective than yellow page advertising. Setting up, designing and running a website could be done for just a small amount of investment. On the contrary, the use of offline medium is known to cost substantially, even reaching thousands of dollars, while being bound by space and time limitations.

Fourth, online marketing makes it possible for businesses to attract hundreds, even thousands, of visitors to their sites, and create two-way interactions with them. Websites can be easily programmed to collect information from site visitors and keep in touch with them. This kind of functionality is not available in the traditional yellow page advertising.

Fifth, customer loyalty is more easily gained via online marketing. The Yellow Pages are simply all about ads, nothing more and nothing less. Meanwhile, websites may contain newsletters, updates and other attention-grabbing information links that encourage repeat customer contact.

Sixth, establishing credibility and gaining the customers’ trust are easier achieved through online marketing than yellow page advertising. Aside from ad placements, company websites can contain a whole range of information that can give customers better knowledge about a company and its products and services. The more customers know about a company, the greater is their tendency to trust it and see it as being reliable.

Seventh, online marketing offers greater convenience and flexibility in terms of updating information, at practically no additional cost. Businesses have total control of the content of their websites and they can modify it at any time they wish. Yellow page advertising does not have this kind of flexibility. In addition, any update done on traditional advertising usually requires additional investment.

Eighth, the effectiveness of marketing initiatives could be measured faster when the online medium is used. Site visits or hits as well as inquiries related to an online advertising placement, for instance, can be readily tracked as compared to calls received in response to a yellow page advertisement.

Ninth, marketing online allows companies to better demonstrate their competitive advantages and support their unique selling propositions. A website highlights the merits of a particular company, while the Yellow Page merely categorizes a company, together with its competition.

Lastly, online marketing has far greater reach than yellow page advertising. Web presence exposes businesses to the whole world, allowing it to tap not only local but international prospects as well. This opens promising opportunities for business growth and expansion later on.

There is no doubt about the power and capabilities of the Internet as an effective marketing tool. No wonder more and more businesses are shifting their budget allocations to enhance their web presence. With the right planning and use of resources, companies can make the most out of online marketing, the next big thing in the field of marketing and advertising.



Web Marketing Vs Offline Marketing

November 3, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Ecommerce

William King asked:


One of the most critical aspects of running a business is marketing. It encompasses every customer related task from creating awareness to customer satisfaction and retention. One may go as far as to say that a business cannot survive or even start up without it. In the current scenario, marketing has become a complex and sophisticated function, especially now that an increasing number of businesses choose to start up online. Now, along with the traditional offline marketing tools, there are a number of web marketing tools and methods available. These web marketing methods must be mastered for any level of success in online business.

The differences that separate web marketing from offline marketing are as below:

• Snail mail vs. email – Email marketing is low cost, efficient, instant and effective means of generating customers. Snail mail is slow, generally more expensive and is losing some of its efficacy with the influx of TV and Internet.

• Limited radius of impact vs. unlimited – The target audience is global in the case of web marketing with the Internet shrinking the world. The radius of offline marketing is limited by physical, political and time barriers.

• Web customers are looking for a product or service similar to yours – The beauty of being an online business is that people log on to look for a service or product that you can offer. Whereas, offline businesses have to rely more on push marketing than the pull effect.

• Long, complex process of making a sale vs. instant conversion – A few clicks of a mouse and the product is sold, in the case of web marketing. Offline marketing process is time and manpower heavy, from generating leads to making a sale.

• Fixed office hours vs. 24 hour store – An online business can sell its products 24 hours a day while an offline business will open and shut at particular hours.

• Advertising in print, TV and radio is expensive – While you can easily offer content, audio and video clips on the Internet for a very low cost.

• Pay for time spots vs. unlimited time and space – Ads in offline marketing mediums are for a limited time only and you pay for time slots and space. In an online marketing scenario, you would keep your ads up for a longer time and pay much less.

• Cost per incremental customer – This cost is very low for web marketing based concerns, whereas this cost is appreciable in case of offline marketing efforts.

• Targeted approach vs. blanket approach – The above reason leads offline marketing businesses to target and select carefully, eliminating a lot of potential customers, who may buy in the future if not the present. However, low incremental costs result in online businesses covering a broad spectrum of the market.

• Segmentation – Preferences are much easier to track for an online business and this means that segmentation is simpler. The web marketing effort has the information it needs to customize its pitch at once.

• Customer contact – Access to customer information is automatic in the case of online businesses and the web marketing process is simplified and made efficient. Databases and mailing lists are created in an instant. On the contrary, offline marketing efforts for the same require time, employees and money.

There are many benefits to both web marketing and offline marketing, and it is best to use a judicious mix of the two.



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