While online marketing has become an integral part of any business’s marketing efforts, there have been long-standing arguments on which is most effective. On one hand, we have traditional methods such as booklet printing that your target audience already understands and uses, and on the other, a plethora of methods known for their cost-effectiveness and reach.

While both platforms have proven themselves to be valuable, the digital age has had a huge impact on traditional marketing. Businesses around the world have altered their marketing budgets to increase investments in many forms of online marketing. From investing in search engine optimization, email marketing, and social media marketing, to name a few, you have a number of different ways to reach your customers, regardless of the business you are operating. For example, Ballantine’s guide on car dealership digital marketing is a great resource to utilize if you are in this industry. Though niche, online marketing has the ability to drive your business forward.

However, even though online marketing has surged in popularity, traditional media has its merits and is still a force to be reckoned with. Here are:

4 Ways how traditional marketing can boost your sales when you’re online

1. Television
   

Television still remains a strong medium for entertainment and news. A large number of your audience, after returning home from a hard day’s work, prefer to de-stress in front of the television. What better way to captivate them and communicate your message than a well-placed commercial to drive sales? To understand your audience better, you may want to look into compiling viewership data using such resources as https://www.samba.tv/business/data/, this will stand you in better stead when understanding the televsion landscape and what you should do with your advertising.

Also, various television programmes cater to different audiences, making targeting possible. However, don’t forget that television is also the most expensive medium there is, so be prepared to fork out a major portion of your marketing budget to truly leverage its potential. And you’ve got 30 seconds or less to communicate your message! Some advantages of TV advertising are:

• Visual and auditory elements combined with creativity can help build your brand and promote sales
• Wide reach – plenty of people still treat the television as their source of entertainment
• Targeting based on programmes consumed

2. Advertise in magazines to reach your niche

Regardless of online marketing taking precedence in many industries thanks to the popularity of Google AdWords and social media advertising, magazines continue to play an integral role in people’s lives, and cannot be ignored. Take a walk along a newspaper stand or supermarket and you’ll see countless magazines, each catering to specific audiences, proudly on display.

Print advertising continues to play an important role in marketing as it allows for consistent branding, timely advertising and wider reach among your niche audience. An attractive advert in a magazine is sure to grab attention and even prompt action, thus increasing the potential to make sales. And don’t forget, with ever-increasing online ads, your audience just might be immune to them! Magazine advertising can help you:

• Target your audience by geographic
• As they are kept for longer than newspapers and leaflets
• More people will tend to read it (i.e. when kept at waiting rooms)

3. Say it loud and clear with billboards and Stands
   

Millions of people commute to work every day. In fact, very few of your target audience spend most of their time indoors. Identifying key routes that your target audience uses regularly, allows you to make strategic decisions on where to place billboards, signs and exhibition stands that command their attention.

Billboards cannot be ignored and also are capable of delivering your message and call to action clearly to drive conversions. Some brands like Tropicana have used billboard advertising to complement their online marketing efforts to encourage audiences to interact with their brand. Benefits of billboard advertising include:

• Cost effective given the reach
• Engaging medium when in a suitable location (e.g. outside shopping malls)

4. Brochures and leaflets
   

Handing out brochures (or leaflets) at trade fairs or areas with plenty of foot fall is a cost-effective way to reach your audience. Once received, very few people actually toss the leaflet without scanning through it. Thus, if you’ve got great branding and a super-useful call to action (e.g. limited time offer), you will be able to drive traffic to your website or stores, thus increasing sales. Another good thing with brochures is that, if attractive, your audience may pass it on to someone else or even take it home and hang on to it. Here’s why you should try brochures (or leaflets):

• You can go crazy with creativity – in fact the more creative you are, the better the impact
• Cost effective
• Include plenty of information unlike other forms of advertising (e.g. about your company, products/services, call to action and testimonials)

Conclusion

When it comes to marketing your business, it is often easy to feel overwhelmed by the plenty of options available. It is important to remember that it is better to have one or two channels work well for you rather than many average performing channels. Ask yourself, which channels best reach your specific audience, how can they be tied to digital, what are your budgets etc. to devise a plan that will leverage the power of traditional marketing best.

Stanley Tan

Stan is a marketing manager at Selby’s, an Australian printing company that specializes in flags, banners, exhibition stands and signs. Their clients include McDonald, Lexus, City of Sydney and more. His passion is to help businesses and organizations understand how offline marketing displays can boost their brand awareness and sales.