 | | | |  | May 16, 2005 | | By: Louise Rijk - Bio - Blog |
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| | | | | Getting More Bang For Your Marketing Buck | |
Online and Offline Marketing Efforts - Part 2
 The Web plays a rather large role in the purchasing behavior of consumers worldwide. In part 1 of this article, we discussed the current Internet Marketing trends and how integrating offline and online marketing can help business owners capitalize on these behaviors and meet their business goals. In this part, you'll learn everything you need to know about effectively integrating the two mediums, balancing your budget between the two mediums, and how to create a cohesive campaign that will net you more business for less money.
Defining your goals
The goal of an integrated marketing campaign is to have all of your marketing efforts supporting each other, working together to promote your business. There are obvious ways to do this, such as including your URL or domain name on every piece of promotional material that you send out, as well as on your letterhead and business cards. Include it in your Yellow Pages ads and on printed promotional materials. Not only will this increase name recognition for your site and credibility for your business, it will also give customers an additional way to contact you or make a purchase.
Knowing where to put your money
Understanding how your offline efforts and online efforts work together will help you allocate the proper amount of money to each. Timing is also key to determining the right mix - natural search engine optimization can take months to realize a return, while Pay-Per-Click provides more immediate results. Online direct marketing primarily consists of search engine marketing (SEO and Pay-Per-Click), fixed placement advertising (banners and text links ads) and email marketing. Offline direct marketing for most medium-to-small size businesses is usually comprised of direct mail, print newspaper ads, and tradeshow attendance.
Tips for creating a high ROI integrated campaign
There are 3 things to focus on in order to ensure a successful campaign:
1. Creative
2. Timing
3. Targeting
1. Creative integration
Consistency and constancy are critical in terms of messaging and branding. Every campaign should have a central theme or USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that you want to communicate. The art of the online campaign is to take the offline message and the necessary collateral and to make sure that they are transferred effectively online.
Using the right words again and again
Extra effort must go into synchronizing the copy of the online and offline marketing campaign components in terms of using the same language, buzzwords, and action words.
Using keywords that resonate with your target audience are not only important for consistency and identifying with your customer, but they will also help your search engine results. Perform online keyword research and use the appropriate prominent keywords not only in the ad text but also in the copy of the landing pages. This way the consumer recognizes the keyword and product or service they are looking for from the actual search they performed down to the landing page.
When a consumer arrives at a Web site or landing page from a click-through on a paid search listing, through direct navigation, a print ad or direct mail piece, he/she must be presented with graphical and verbal information that completes or extends the message to the landing page. That way a search engine Pay-Per-Click campaign, email marketing campaign and Web site or landing page work together when they are executed over the same time period to enforce the message and build some brand awareness.
2. Timing
Map out an integrated online campaign in advance, e.g. over a time period of 6 to 12 months. This way you can identify and plan for seasonal changes, build-in special promotions for occasions such as Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. It will also help you determine the lead times required for the setting-up each individual marketing technique you may use. For example, a per-per-click campaign typically requires only 10 business days to set-up, while a search engine optimization campaign can take up between 4-6 months to reach its full potential. If email marketing is part of your campaign and you don't have a robust in-house opt-email list that grows significantly each month, you must consider building one from scratch.
3. Targeting
If your offline marketing campaign is local, make sure your online campaign is targeted to a local audience as well. All Pay-Per-Click networks allow you to target campaigns to a local audience within 5 to 100 miles of your physical location or zip code.
The final frontier - campaign execution
The best approach for execution of the plan is to do all the work in-house if you have the resources and the expertise or to work with one marketing firm or agency for both on and offline marketing. This avoids integrating the different processes, lead times, and approaches each operation is using. If that is not an option than you may consider assigning one agency as the lead agency and define the role of each agency in the campaign to ensure that all parties have a thorough understanding of what is expected, the different processes and the timelines for both online and offline campaigns. For example, for online an appreciation must be given to the lead-time needed to implement the tracking tags which are needed to measure the effectiveness of the campaign, and that seemingly simple changes to digital creative executions can take a deceiving amount of time.
Integration magnifies your results
Appreciating the fundamental differences between and the merits of your online and offline campaigns will greatly increase your chances of successful integration. Integrated marketing is an excellent way to tap into the opportunities technology provides, get the most out of your marketing campaigns, and maximize your marketing dollars for the highest ROI possible. Done correctly, integrating online and offline methods only increases the strength and effectiveness of each.
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