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”.

Sharon Odom Fling asked:


There are many businesses that seem to have split in half. They have their traditional brick and mortar location, which relies on their traditional advertising and marketing strategies. Then, they have their online location, which operates based on an entirely different set of assumptions and strategies.

The fact that this has happened is understandable. The newer technology of the internet can seem radically different from traditional ways of doing business. Adopting new technology can invariably lead to some level of disconnect with other aspects of an endeavor and its routines.

Some people have gone so far as to intentionally create this division. They see their storefront as a means of doing business with one set of clients, and their website as a means of reaching another.

That approach, however, falls far short of being successful, and should be abandoned as soon as possible, whether it was intentionally implemented or was an accidental outgrowth of the way things “unfolded.” That’s because the distinction between those two groups of customers is becoming increasingly artificial.

The same person who may walk by a storefront this afternoon may very well be surfing the internet tonight. More and more people are relying on the internet to find information and places to spend their money on the products they need.

Demographically, those who use the internet do tend to be a little younger and tech savvy than those who don’t, but the overlap between “net customers” and “walk ins” is growing so rapidly the division no longer makes a great deal of sense.

As such, it is important for companies to understand that they can and should integrate their online and offline marketing strategies to work with one another in a mutually reinforcing way. There are specific tricks on both sides of the equation, of course, but in the bigger picture, marketing is marketing and one’s overall strategy should reflect that fact.

Does your business have on online presence? If so, is it successfully integrated with your other marketing strategies? Do the two elements feed off one another and work together to improve your bottom line?

If you are like many business operators, you probably answered “no” to those questions. If that is the case, it is time to consult with knowledgeable guides who understand marketing in both the traditional and online senses and who can help you devise a plan to put both aspects of your sales efforts on the same page.

Integrating online and offline marketing isn’t necessarily a complicated proposition. In fact, it can be relatively easy. It’s also effective. By combining the two elements into one seamless strategy, a business can obtain results that dwarf previous fragmented efforts.

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.

Felix Burke asked:

Traditional marketing methods are still a viable resource to engage customers, and you can use them to drive buyers to your online products as well!

Traditional marketing includes newspapers, magazines, catalogues, fliers, direct mail, business cards, radio and TV ads, and specialty products, such as pens with your logo. These communications have been successful since the printing press, and now they can enhance your online marketing. Here’s how.

Think of each of the traditional communications as your pre-sell for your online presence. Imagine that you have a vitamin product, particularly helpful for eye health. Place an ad, perhaps in a health magazine, that extols the benefits of the product and sends the buyers to your pitch page online for testimonials and to purchase. You have just used traditional marketing-the magazine–to direct buyers to an online purchase.

Here’s another great example. Imagine you are a CPA in business for yourself, and you’ve recently joined the Chamber Of Commerce. Attending one of their “Business After Hours” functions, you give out several of your business cards, and point out that more information about your services is available at your website. When a prospect visits your website, all your accreditations, education, awards, community service, family profile, and available services are front and center. Your site is easily navigable, and with each click, you are building credibility with the visitor. Although your product is your service, and that is done in person, traditional marketing-your business card–drives people to your website to pre-sell them, and predispose them to select you for a CPA.

Here’s yet one more example, to get your marketing juices flowing. Imagine you run a small local bakery which specializes in ten different kinds of pralines, shipped all over the U.S. Twelve weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, your brochures are sent to a large mailing list of former and prospective customers. Your brochure is beautifully appetizing, but it can’t hope to cover all the pertinent information for shipped orders, so customers are directed online. At your website, every kind of praline is pictured, and testimonials abound by satisfied customers from Maine to Oregon. You don’t take phone orders anymore, as every available worker is packing pralines, so all orders are done via the website. And how did your customers find you? Traditional marketing in the form of your brochure brought them to you.

Don’t abandon offline marketing in your online efforts, for you may well find that the sum of the two is mathematically even more profitable than either one alone!