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.

(They do not have to work against each other but can work with each other to equal success)

One of the many tasks that all retailers are facing is how to utilize both online and offline marketing tactics in their overall marketing strategy, thus helping increase their sales.

There are numerous benefits to both offline and online marketing. Online marketing allows you to more accurately target your designated demographic, while offline gives you a more general demographic. Online turns your store from an 8 – 5 store into a 24-7 store. Online removes the personal customer service, while offline allows you to connect with the customer, thus building trust and more likelihood of repeat business.

While there are numerous pros and cons to both offline and online marketing, the best approach is to use them together.

So where are your customers? Online? Offline? BOTH! So how do you target them? Well, for starters, you need to put yourself in their shoes. Think of what your habits are – do you still watch the evening news? Do you still get the newspaper? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then most likely your customers are answering yes as well. Meaning that you still need to market to those traditional media sources. Many customers will see something offline. They will then research it online, and then they will buy it offline. Resources show that roughly 70% of customers will use online resources to research a product that they will buy offline.

So how does a retailer use both online and offline marketing? By integrating all their resources – for example, take a look at your ad budget. What percentage of it is used for online marketing? If the answer is less than 10%, then you are not full integrating online marketing into your overall strategy. Once you are integrated, the next step is using both offline and online strategies to bring your business success, which I will discuss further in my next blog.

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings hung limply, their toes showing wear,

Full to bursting with trinkets they hardly could bear.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

With piles of toys about to fall on their heads;

Ma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my sweatpants,

Had just hunkered down to assemble this mess.

When out on the town there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the sofa to see what was the matter.

Away to the computer I flew like a flash,

Opened my browser and cleared out my cache.

I Googled some words, like “local” and “need”

And retrieved many hits in lightening speed.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a list of families who’s need was so clear.

We pondered the issue, then loaded the trunk,

With dollies and board games, and other odd junk -

All of the treats that we had first chosen

As gifts for our friends, and for our friend’s children.

We grabbed all the packages, ribbons and bows,

And gave them to others, for surely you know

So many families cannot afford

Gifts of this scale, barely missed from our horde.

To all of our friends who are equally blessed,

With ample good fortune and bulging toy chests,

Please share your bounty so that others might

Have a “HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!”

The “Word of the Week” is written by Amy Lively of The Lively Merchant, R&A’s partner in providing these thought-provoking weekly witticisms.

If you ever want to have fun simply type into any search engine and begin the “How long should..” phrase ending in something.  You will get some  funny and disturbing results in regards to what Google, Yahoo or Bing was most searched with that phrase.  This phrase is really fun though:  ”How long should you wait to call a girl?”.

The appropriate response, from my Google search which can be found here, was to wait until the next day so you don’t sound so desperate.

How does this apply to sending email to Ms. Jones?  It is exactly the same.  Ms. Jones was kind enough to trust you with her email.  As spammers and junk mail in boxes have proven over the years an email is much more sacred and revered than even the home address or phone number.

As marketers and as a marketing company, we would never suggest doing something that puts your name out there unless there is a big enough sampling and there is at least a chance of initial results.  For instance, sending out a direct mail to 30 people would not drive home the results that one would expect for the investment.  Email is not the same.

We as marketers and retailers owe it to Ms. Jones to begin emailing her the moment she trusts her personal email with us.  Just telling her she is going to be receiving special offers, design tips and other various offerings you have at the store level is not enough.  Show and reward her for her faith in your retail operation.  She may not buy right away, but she will appreciate that you lived up to your end of the bargain.

She might only accept the call once–keep her from hanging up.

There is a portion of the book where the authors reference the power the consumer now holds in the online and brick & mortar marketplace.  A simple comment, post or review can change the direction of thinking for thousands, millions or billions of people.  ”The Power of ONE:  GAZILLION” is how this action is described by the authors of this book.

Imagine a situation, as a retailer, where you could spend just around $1,000, get incredible amounts of foot traffic into your store and get over 900 possible contacts for selling in the future without sacrificing your margins?

This concept usually sounds too good be true, even more so in today’s retail selling environment, and comes with some kind of a catch.  But it is true.  Every single word of it.

Thanks in part to a wonderful scanning program that we have developed through our industry contacts, this retailer was able to print a 6×9 postcard that was to be handed out at a local festival in town.  The retailer purchased insurance for a possible $5,000 cash prize, which we have also developed through our industry contacts, as the hook to get Ms. Jones through the door.

How this scanning process works is simple.

• Plug any scanner into a USB drive of a computer
• Have this computer be accessible to the general public and your sales staff
• Scan the card that they brought in
• To see if the customer won the prize they must enter the following:  First Name, Last Name & Email
• Press enter and see if they won

This retailer scanned over 900 of these postcards.  As a result of this scanning his email list grew from 500 customers in one day, to over 1400 customers in less than 24 hours.

Wouldn’t the P&L statement look a lot nicer to get 900 contacts without sacrificing 10% on the bottom-line to give a cash discount?

Maybe those Open Brand people are correct with the power someone holds.  But in this case it was the POWER OF AN EVENT that was GAZILLION!

For 11 months out of the year travel onto public property and you are safe. Enter month number 12. Your favorite spots to nestle up to and be safe are no longer that at all. Your world has been turned upside down.

In the furniture industry we are coming upon month number 12 in our deer season. Ms. Jones is changing and she is changing fast.

Before this New Ms. Jones competition was what put people out of business. All a retailer would do is find your niche, spend more money than you and then blow you out of the water. Why did this work? Retail controlled the cards. There was no blogosphere or RSS feeds. Ms. Jones received anything relevant to her life only because we as marketers and retailers were out there they what were relevant.

Today’s retailers are not being put out of business by competition. Most are struggling through these economic times. Ms. Jones is taking retailers out of business by talking, conversing and sharing.

Is it for the better? Nobody knows and Ms. Jones does not care. She has changed and is expecting you to satisfy the needs she has right now.

At just the tip of the iceberg she is doing it here or here or here.

Ms. Jones wants to be heard and demands a store that lives up to the brand she wants to create. If you don’t cut the grade then she moves on. The way in which we market and you gain sales is no longer a closed relationship.

Mediums, channels of communication and information gathering have changed to the point where Ms. Jones controls the brands she consumes. You are now in an open relationship with Ms. Jones.

Don’t let month 12 become your last.