Online and Offline Ads in Your Marketing Plan

Now that most marketers have, at the very least, dabbled in online ad placement, one thing has become apparent: the honeymoon is over. Temporarily viewed by some as a replacement for offline printing campaigns, online placement is now considered a complementary marketing strategy. In fact, direct mail has surged due to the revelation that direct-mail-to-website marketing is one of the most effective promotional strategies available today. This makes sense, too, since online advertising competition is fierce. You have to compete with so many vendors it's difficult for even the largest companies to make an impact. In today's economic climate, online placements and offline printing campaigns work in tandem to fuel successful marketing plans that yield a high profit margin. The following are proven ways you can incorporate online placements and offline printing campaigns in your marketing plan:

Postcard to website

Postcard to website is one of the best ways to market today. Postcards are delivered directly to your target audience with a clear call to action, so they bypass the online competition and offer a simple yet direct path for your customers to take the next step in the purchasing process. Other direct-mail pieces such as brochures, booklets and flyers serve as excellent alternatives to the postcard.

Ad to website to information kit

This is the reverse of the postcard to website method. Let's say you're selling the XWidget. You place on ad on Google's search and content network that, when clicked, leads to your website. Once on your website, prospects can fill out a form to receive additional information through the mail (an online printing company such as PsPrint can handle the information kit printing). Just like direct-mail postcards, this kit connects with your customers on a personal level and motivates response. On the web people are click happy, but printed material engages attention for long periods of time. This is a great cost-saving mechanism, because you send your mega-kit (pocket folder, brochure, flyer, business card, booklet, etc.) only to highly targeted prospects who have requested it and are likely to buy.

Direct mail to software as a service

Software as a service is becoming more and more popular, but the competition for customers has made online placement more difficult. A direct-mail brochure or flyer that espouses the virtues of a particular SaaS to a targeted audience can drive tons of web traffic and motivate many purchases. This new age of integrated marketing opens the door for innovation. By taking advantage of a variety of print and online marketing techniques, you can brand your company easier than ever before and achieve a level of visibility heretofore unavailable to small businesses. What's more, you can set up creative sales channels/funnels that help your customers choose you because they want to. Search engine optimization and pay per click rule the online world, while direct-mail marketing rules the offline world. When you pair them together, you rule your industry.