In my previous blog, we discussed the benefits to both online and offline marketing methods. In this blog, we will discuss using both offline and online strategies that will help bring your company success. Sounds impossible, but it’s not.

Potential clients will always look you up online after meeting you via meetings, networking events, direct mail, etc. For starters, it helps them to legitimize your business. They might see your TV ad and it will prompt them to check you out online to see what you are really about.

A few facts to ponder:

• Marketers reported an average improvement of close to 50% for personalized multichannel campaigns over traditional campaigns. – InfoTrends (2007)
• 62% of online campaigns are seeing an increase in return on investment when combined with offline marketing such as direct mail. – Omnicon Media Group (2009)

When combining the two strategies, it’s proven that you will generate more leads and have a higher and faster response rate.

One successful strategy is to use offline media to direct customers to responding online. Customers love the look and feel of a nice direct mail piece, but they want a quick and easy way to respond. This is where online marketing comes into play. Use the direct mail (offline) marketing piece to direct customers online, to your company’s website, Facebook page or a special landing page. According to PODI.org (2006 data), 42% of direct mail recipients prefer to respond online and 25% of direct mail recipients will only respond online.

Some would argue, well, if they are looking for us online, then we should only be online. While I understand the thought process behind this, there are always two sides to an argument. I would agree that yes, it makes sense to be online if they are looking for you online, but how will they know to look for you if they haven’t heard of you before? And how will they hear about you if you are only online? People still watch TV, people still read the newspaper and magazines to some degree, and people still read snail mail.

As you can see, people are using both online and offline medias to get their information, and the best thing for your business to do is to hit both offline and online strategies as I’ve mentioned above. By using offline media to direct customers to online media you are making the best out of both worlds.

One of social media’s best qualities is content: creating it, sharing it and engaging with it. Quality content will inspire, inform, educate or even entertain your customers (and if you’re really lucky, it does all four!). So if you’re looking to engage with your customers to keep them coming back for more, follow the tips below to implement social media cohesion.

Establish Your Brand Voice
Brainstorm and establish your social media presence or identity before you set up a Twitter account or Facebook page.

Ask yourself the following questions to help identify your social media presence:

• Do you want it to be strictly a selling tool?
• Do you want it to build you life-long customers?
• Do you just want to have fans and followers and don’t care what comes from it?

Decide what your brand stands for and how you want to portray that on your social media platforms.

Focus on Your Topic
Frequently, people forget exactly what you say in your social media content. However, they generally remember the topics you talk about the most and your subject matter of expertise – assuming you focus on one.

This is why an effective online branding strategy should write, talk and share about topics related to your business and industry. Doing this will reinforce your weight as an expert on that topic. That’s not to say you should never post about anything else, but keep your subject matter close to your area of expertise to reinforce your image as a leader in that area.

Get to Know Your Fans
People become fans of your page for a reason. They didn’t happen to “like” your page just because they thought it looked cool. They want relevant and expert information from you. So go ahead and give them what they want! Talk about what you know. Talk about what you have been doing for the past twenty years. Show them you’re the leading voice of authority in your industry!

Update moderately
Don’t get caught in the overload zone. Once your fall into this trap, it’s hard to escape. Overloading your followers and friends with too many updates will annoy them and can cause them to unsubscribe. However, it’s important to update moderately and steadily to help keep your brand fresh and reiterate your brand personality among your customers.

Need help getting your social media back on track? We can help!

Call us (888-225-0776), Facebook Us, Email Us, Tweet us, or visit our website to get in touch with the social media experts at R&A Marketing!

Blog Post: What Version Are You In?

Blog Originally Published by Kyle Doran on October 8, 2009

Welcome to website version 6.0 for R&A Marketing. What is significant about website version 6.0?

The most recent adaptation of our website came from an epiphany while I was taking a class at the Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas. I was taking a “Web & Radio Copywriting class” and the teacher of the class asked if anyone wanted their website to be critiqued. Upon viewing our old website the teacher posed the question, “Where is your home page?” A humble answer of “This is our homepage” has resulted in what we are viewing today.

A primary principle that was taught at this class was that there are four primary types of personalities and they all read and react differently to the way in which a website is built and laid out. Those four personality types are as follows:

1. Methodical
2. Humanistic
3. Spontaneous
4. Competitive

Methodical and Humanistic personality types are most likely to read through all of the content on a website because they are seekers and slow decision makers. In other words, “show me the proof in the pudding”. Competitive and Spontaneous personality types want to know all of the information ASAP—“tell me now, show me later”.

Our website was helpful to the methodical and humanistic personality types because we had a lot of information and it was all right there on our “home” page. However, we were not reaching the competitive or spontaneous personality types because we could not satisfy their need for fast decision making.

What are your customer’s personality types? Does your Ms. Jones sometimes like to walk through the entire store, inspecting every tag and asking “what have other people said about this sectional?” Or, maybe Ms. Jones asks to have it right now and demand the rundown of features and services the moment she walks in the door?

As a retail owner you make sure your sales people understand these different types of customers and that they sell based on their observations of who this Ms. Jones might be. Your website, home page in particular, is no different. Don’t be afraid to change the status quo to reach all personality types.

Your website is a sales person who cannot change on the fly. Equip your website with the tools to help land you sales. Ms. Jones will appreciate it and your wallet will too.

Just as fast as the page was uploaded, the criticisms about the design of the crosstour and the price tag avalanched.  Time, money and energy that were invested into this car design were quickly becoming time, money and energy to salvage their reputation.

In a Columbus Dispatch article the execs of Honda USA talk candidly and openly about how this debut went wrong.  Dan Gearino, the journalist of this story, summarizes “The two campaigns (Ford’s Fiesta subcompact debut) show some of the opportunities and pitfalls for big companies when they make the public part of the marketing” (Gearino, D1).

The news here is not that a new product seemingly failed upon debut.  The news is what this journalist is hitting upon what the business world views the consumer as–a roadblock to making sales.

All though Honda and other fortune 500 companies may have not realized it, the consumer has always been a part of marketing efforts.

In a pre-digital world, this failed design would have affected an inner circle of buyers who would tell their family, friends and co workers “do not buy this car.”  Due to the top down communication print and electronic media bring, Honda would never have believed there would be an outcry.  They controlled the message.

In today’s world–the consumer has the platform to tell anyone they want.   Facebook pages, twitter posts, personal blogs and consumer sites all allow for a conversation between brand and consumer to occur.

How are you opening up to Ms. Jones?  Are you allowing for user reviews on your website or just letting the consumer review you somewhere else?  Do you talk openly about the under belly of your industry which sometimes affects what you can get done on an everyday basis?

The ballgame has changed.  It is now a two way.  Changing the look of your ad is not going to change your reputation—talking openly about it is.

For information, education and products related to “opening up to Ms. Jones” be sure to attend the 2010 R&A Roundtable at Deer Creek Lodge & Conference Center.  This two day educational event will talk about all things related to the web and how to market to today’s consumer.  Click here to sign up for more details.

“Could you possibly give me a better deal than ABC Furniture down the street?”

“This price seems a little bit too high for me”

“You mean you charge for delivery?”

“Is that the best deal you can give me?  You know I have shopped here before!”

The quotes can go on and on and on.  The stories go on and on and on.  In fact it was referenced in the November 3rd word of the week that sometimes Ms. Jones is flat wrong.

What if you could beat that Ms. Jones to the punch?  What if you could let her know that you are giving her your best deal without having to go through the questions?

Enter stage right the wonderful world of promotional advertising on shipments.

A printing company in New York has teamed up with several online only merchants to do targeted, shipment marketing to a specific zip code.  What this company does it find an advertising partner, plaster their ad onto the shipment box from an Amazon or E-bay and put an enticing offer into the ad.

For example, a retailer in Columbus, OH could team up with Amazon to place promotional advertising on any shipment from Amazon to Columbus.  What this company is truly stressing is adding extra offers.  Giving the extra “IT” to the customer so they will be inclined to purchase from the retailer or business.

Let’s take this one step further.   How about adding to your direct mail this weekend, a special email that offers an extra incentive to Ms. Jones?  This would answer the age old question “Can you give me a better deal” and it might push that tweener who is in the mood to buy not sure to buy to come into the store.  Then she will purchase from you not ABC Furniture down the street.

This is not an overnight process and it might not be a one day success.  However, this will help satisfy the ladies of the world who have already said YES to you to come back and buy from you again.  Plus, it may just bring out new believers in your brand that you are trying to give Ms. Jones the best bang for her buck (plus helping your wallet as well).

To view the entire press release about shipment advertising click here.