At Overit, we love digital marketing. We love custom PPC campaigns, getting our hands on your website code, chatting with your customers on social platforms and sharing videos online of who you are and why you do what you do.
We love creating interactive infographics that bring awareness and react to user input, like this one on the cost of gambling. And, of course, we relish the opportunity to get your story told in the press. It’s great! And it all happens online. But we also understand your customers don’t stop there. So your advertising shouldn’t either.
For example…
What about billboards? And print ads? And television and radio commercials, posters and mailers, brochures and business cards? What about catchy jingles?!
Identifying the Marketing Tactics Right for You
For many businesses, traditional marketing tactics are still extremely suitable for reaching your audience and are going to be beneficial to the bottom line. We love digital marketing, but we wouldn’t advise you to ignore these traditional opportunities.
Prior to execution of any marketing campaign, extensive research and planning should take place to help you understand where your audience is and how best to reach them. You want to look at:
Online Habits: When people visit your website, how long do they stay? Where do they come from, and where do they go after? What pages are they looking at the most, and where else on the Internet are they browsing? Is your very old or very young audience even spending time online?
Purchasing Habits: Is your audience budget-conscious and one to compare costs across multiple websites and stores? Is your product a repeat necessity (diapers) or a one-time purchase (Diaper Genie)?
Problems and Opportunities: What are your audiences’ need(s)? What do they struggle with, want, like, dislike?
Reachability: Are you reaching them on their drive to work? During the daytime when they’re making important business decisions? Evenings when they browse the Internet at random or are flipping through television channels?
Understanding those factors will help you determine what marketing techniques will make the biggest impression on your target audience. You might find sticking with traditional tactics is still the best method, or that the ROI on digital tactics is the best way to spend your marketing budget. And maybe, a mix of both accomplishes your goals.
Using Traditional and Digital Marketing Techniques Together
A custom PPC campaign is a great method for a toy company to reach parents who actively do their shopping online, but a catchy commercial with the brand’s character is going to catch the attention of children putting together birthday or holiday wish lists. The cartoon makes children get excited and ask (sometimes beg), and the PPC ad reminds parents “Here is the product she’s bugging you about, and you can purchase it with just a few clicks right here.”
Now, is the copy and imagery on your billboard the same as your PPC ad?
Not always. Your waterpark’s billboard advertisement could be aimed at kids ages 5 to 10, and your PPC ad may be aimed at adults with credit cards in their wallets perfect for booking reservations.
But your brand’s personality is the same. Your story is the same. Your logo usage, complementary design, voice and attitude should be consistent across your marketing materials. Wherever people see you, whether in a sponsored Tweet or a bus stop poster, your brand must be recognizable.
KnowTheOdds – A Traditional-Digital Marketing Mix in Action
KnowTheOdds is a New York Council on Problem Gambling (client) campaign focused on raising awareness about gambling addiction and help available in New York State. Problem gambling affects men and women, from teenagers to seniors, of all backgrounds and incomes, and thus the campaign must reach a wide range of people.
So we use a mix of marketing tactics, traditional and digital.
They need to reach people who aren’t working at a computer all day and aren’t listening to the radio on the way to work because they don’t commute via car. So we created print ads for use in statewide newspapers and magazines, and posters for transit areas such as NYC subway stations. It may not make sense for other brands to advertise in transit areas. But for them, it absolutely does.
New York Council on Problem Gambling team members need to have materials to leave behind at appropriate venues where gambling is present. Materials people can spot and keep in their purse or wallet if they never need help. So palm cards were created. Yes, palm cards.
They need resources in print and online spreading awareness about the definition of gambling addiction, its signs and its consequences. That information is now available in printed editions and as e-books.
30-second spots serve perfectly as video ads online and television commercials, reaching online and offline audiences.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/a_OiQ5uQBGA[/youtube]
We make sure KnowTheOdds and the NYS HOPEline are seen, whether it’s a PPC ad or a billboard.
We reach out to members of the press throughout New York State to make sure that just as often as gambling is talked about, we’re talking about gambling addiction, too.
… And that’s only some of it!
We constantly analyze website traffic, PPC leads, keywords people are searching and what videos are getting the most reaction. Most importantly, we know we’re successful when the NYS HOPEline phone rings more than it did last year, because people are reaching out for help.
The Benefits of Mixing Traditional and Digital Marketing Tactics
Using the correct blend of marketing techniques allows you to reach your audience at the most opportune times and in the most opportune places. It allows conversions and sales to happen over the Internet, and word of mouth to spread in conversations away from our mobile phones and laptop screens. It encourages engagement, whether in-person, on the phone, through e-mail or using social platforms. It makes your brand present and accessible. Target broad segments audience through demographics such as location or age, and drill down to more detailed audiences (location+age+spending habits+search history) with digital methods.
You might not know what marketing tactics are going to reach your audience most effectively and efficiently. You need a partner to help you figure that out, and your answer might be one of many potential combinations. Regardless of your budget, your partner should be recommending specific tactics and expectations – “do everything!” is usually not a thought-out plan that has your best interests, target audiences or measurable results in mind.
What brand’s digital and traditional marketing has caught your attention? Give them a shout-out in the comments section.
