Social Media marketing is a great way to build your business. The results are clear for all to see and it is something that is here to stay. There are generations who have come into marketing knowing nothing but online marketing. However, there was a time when offline marketing was the only means of getting more consumers and clients to patronize you. Does this mean that offline marketing is now effectively dead? The answer to this is a resounding no.

Benefits of Offline Marketing & Tips

Those is the service industry still appreciate the value of one-on-one meeting because that is usually how deals are struck since their clients would want to see the person that would be providing the said service. This piece is not comparing the two or arguing that offline line marketing is better than online/social media marketing. It is important that you find a way of complementing the two to maximize your opportunities.

Importance of Offline Marketing

Higher Authenticity Value

Offline marketing is about engaging with people without any electronic bridge. It is about meeting people and interacting with them physically. One of the downsides of social media marketing is the sense that people feel whatever they read or see of someone online is somehow engineered to present a specific image. The internet is still lagging behind when it comes to creating a sense of authenticity.

This is not the case with one-on-one offline networking and marketing. The feeling of it being more authentic is based on the concept that the person selling the product or service is willing to come out in the open as it were and show their face. They are willing to sit with the potential client and have the client assess them on their own terms rather than “hide” behind a tweet.

Faster Feedback

The offline marketer gets a chance to get a close up and a feedback from the client. In fact, this close up can help them to adjust the service package on the spot, adapting it to what they sense the client will love. Getting feedback online takes longer and it falls into the formal process of trying to find out what went wrong after the fact. Offline marketing helps you to respond to a client to save that deal at the pointing of having that conversation.

Convenient Means of Communication

While online/social media marketing gives you more time to think about what you want to say with the slight headache of crunching what you have to say, offline marketing keeps you on your toes because you may have to respond to things as they develop within the conversation being held. The upside to this is that you do not have to waste mental energy into crunching what you have to say and this in a way compensates for the lack of time to prepare a response.

We must say here that offline marketing is ideal for those who love meeting and interacting with people and if you are in the service industry, this must be something you develop. You can develop your ability to connect and engage people without the barrier or wall of a Smartphone or Tablet. It is also far easier to hold a conversation when you do offline marketing as opposed to online/social media marketing where the conversations may not even be direct.

A Faster Way of Establishing Relationships and Building Loyalty

People tend to feel more at ease talking to people they can see while holding the conversation. This may be attributed to the consciousness that communication is more than the words spoken or heard. The body language, the face, how the eyes lights up are all part of communication. People tend to subconsciously read all these little things and quickly add them up to form an opinion. The conclusion they draw from this can be quickly done this is why offline marketing is so dynamic.

Two Tips to Making a Success of Offline Marketing

Changing Sides

You are the seller representing your business interest, surprise your potential client by switching to the side of the client. You do not need to sell out on your company or business, simple way of changing sides is by getting into a conversation with your client and giving real tips that will solve a known problem or add one value or the other to their business. You already know about their business since you are selling a product or service to them. Give them valuable tips that could deal with an issue and you have “switched sides”. The tip may even appear to put your company on the losing side but you are making a strategic play that will make a friend of the client. He or she will patronize you.

The Common Ground Approach

Know the common grounds that you have with the potential client beforehand and present one or two of them to the client. A common ground could be related to cost or duration of the service. It could be related to the desire for profit. Finding a common ground gives the potential client a sense of affinity with you and sets up a give and take situation that will always result in you making sales since that is something that is mutually recognized by both parties. A common ground is something that both parties mutually recognizes or does not need a hard sell for the other party to accept.

Offline marketing is a is still as relevant today as it was before the age of the internet. The overriding theme is that they can complement each other and this is what every marketer should pursue.