Online vs Offline Marketing
Every successful business owner understands that marketing is an important part of their business. After all, marketing brings in new customers, profits, and long-term benefits for the business. Consider these questions, however:
- What’s the difference between online and offline marketing?
- Is one better than the other?
- Which is the better option for you?
We’ll be answering the first of those questions in this article. The rest is up to you!
Online Marketing
Online marketing involves promoting your business, product, or service on the internet via your website, online ads, or social media.
Pros:
Tracking Engagement
Online marketing offers tons of tools to measure how well your customers are engaging with your brand. With social media channels, for instance, you can physically see what your audience thinks of your brand and marketing. If you’re seeing lots of likes and shares of your content, then you’re doing something right! Consider setting up a Google Analytics account for more detailed feedback, or ask your friendly local web developer to help out with custom tools.
Return on Investment
It’s easy to track your return on investment (ROI). You can track clicks and sales when using ads online, so you can easily see which ads are the most profitable for you. This will help you to make smart decisions regarding future marketing strategies and campaigns.
Precision Targeting
You can target specific demographics. With online marketing, it’s possible to drive specific types of people to your offers — people who are more likely to buy your products.
Cons:
Digital Advertisements Can Feel Invasive
It’s amazing how precisely digital advertisers can target their ads, but promoting products that you recently searched for, or even seemingly reading your mind, can feel like an invasion of privacy and potentially turn customers away from your business.
The Ads are Easy to Ignore.
Unlike a billboard, an online ad can easily be missed or ignored. It’s easy to scroll past an ad and click to the next page without even taking notice, especially in the days of ad-blocking software.
Online Marketing is Constantly Evolving.
Whether it’s switching to the latest social media platform or updates to the search engine algorithm, there’s always something new to learn. Online marketing makes it easy to quickly pivot to a more effective strategy at the drop of a hat, but you may find yourself being left behind if you don’t keep up with important trends.
Offline Marketing
Offline marketing is typically anything that does not involve the internet, such as word of mouth, magazine or billboard ads, television commercials or even pamphlets and flyers.
Pros:
High Impact
It can be impactful and easy to understand. Billboard or TV commercial are classics, and even people who aren’t tech-savvy will instantly recognize your promotion for what it is, instead of dismissing it as spam.
Permanence
Printed marketing materials are often more permanent. Unlike online ads which come with a time limit or set number of clicks, a magazine ad will remain until the paper it’s printed on is recycled or thrown away.
Memorable
For better or worse, offline ads tend to be more memorable. An Instagram ad might be easily forgotten, if the user even registers what it’s offering. Compare that to Superbowl ads, for instance, which have become a cultural staple many people look forward to in their own right.
Cons:
Difficult to Measure
There are ways to measure the success of a campaign, but they are not as in-depth or accurate as those available for online marketing. How many people clicked on an online ad or visited your website this month? Easy. How many people picked up a pamphlet or looked at a billboard? Much trickier to establish.
Potentially Expensive
Typically, offline marketing can be expensive. Even a small run in your local newspaper or a single 30-second spot on TV can set you back a considerable amount. Compare that to digital marketing, where cost-per-click can range from a few cents to a few dollars.
Lack of Feedback
After running an offline marketing campaign, the only people whose feedback you’re likely to get are successful customers or wildly unhappy ones. When many companies struggle to get online customers to submit a simple star rating or review, the likelihood of feedback from someone who doesn’t have a strong interest or personal stake in your newspaper ad is pretty slim.
Other Considerations
Traditionally, offline marketing is seen as better for older generations who might be less comfortable with technology and online purchases, while online marketing is a better option for a younger generation who increasingly interacts with the world through technology. These are only generalities, however, and will likely be less true with every passing year.
Thankfully, you don’t actually have to choose.
If you have a good understanding of what your marketing goals are, what your budget is, and what success looks like for your individual company or service, you can combine both strategies to make the most out of your budget and audience. This guide is a starting point, but the rest is up to you. Good luck!
CodeDesign is a web design and development service based in McMinnville, Oregon. We plan, build, launch and market small business websites that help our clients get more customers! Visit us today at https://codedesign.co and see what we can do for you.
