These days, when we think about making a purchase, the first thing we often do is simply go online and start researching that product or service. In many instances, we can evaluate a product, and make a purchase right then and there. Other times we are often more interested in evaluating both a product and a company and making a purchase in person. This is often the case when it comes to the mortgage industry. Many individuals looking to purchase a home will start doing their own research online before deciding to talk to a mortgage professional. However, where they go for information online can often be triggered by something they see offline. Signs, advertisements, and various other offline marketing channels will often be what sends someone online to research a company and their services.
With so much information available at our fingertips online, it is more important than ever to ensure that your online marketing efforts align with your traditional offline marketing goals and strategies. Your online and offline strategies should not be viewed as separate entities. When online and offline marketing work together, they are more effective at driving sales, building your brand, and maximizing the return on your investments and efforts. Let’s look at why merging online and offline marketing is so important as well as go over some tips on how to effectively do so.
Consistency
One of the most important reasons to align your online and offline marketing efforts is simply consistency. Traditional print and offline marketing are often heavily focused on branding whereas websites often focus on information and lead generation. If someone sees a sign or advertisement of yours offline, and they decide to go online to research your business or services, there should be no question that they are in the right place. Your business should be easily recognizable no matter where a customer may be. Major inconsistencies may cause a potential client to second guess if they are in the right place, causing them to look elsewhere for the same information or services. A consistent and unified look across all channels, including your website, all social media platforms, and all offline campaigns, will help establish trust and brand recognition with potential clients. Inconsistencies only create doubt and confusion so be sure to always ensure your branding is identical in both spaces. If your business focus evolves or the market causes you to change your approach, make sure this is reflected on all channels.
Directing Traffic and Measuring Results
Websites have powerful analytics tools to provide us with endless amounts of data on where clients come from, how they are behaving on websites, and which marketing efforts or advertisements are working, and which are not. However, it can often be difficult to track or measure the effectiveness of offline marketing channels by themselves unless you simply ask your clients how they heard about you.
When you merge your online and offline marketing efforts, these powerful tools can now be used to measure the success of offline campaigns as well.
Landing Pages and Custom URLs
An effective and popular way to track offline marketing efforts is to make use of landing pages and custom URLs. When you create an offline campaign, such as a direct mail advertisement, you can direct potential clients to a unique landing page and URL associated with that specific direct mail campaign. The landing page can include additional information about the product or service you are promoting and include a lead capture for visitors who are interested. This approach will let you see just how effective each offline campaign is. Some clients may still contact you in person or through a phone call, but you will have a much better gauge of which campaigns are working and which are not.
It is very important to use only one landing page or URL for each offline campaign. If you begin to use landing pages or URLs for multiple campaigns, you will not be able to accurately measure the success of each campaign.
Coupon and Promotional Codes
Another great way to track offline marketing through your website is to use promotional codes or coupon codes. Rather than designing multiple landing pages for very similar campaigns, you can use promotional codes to track which campaigns are driving traffic to your site. For example, you can use a promotional code to enter visitors into a raffle, if they complete a free mortgage assessment with you.
When clients enter a promotional code into a lead capture tool, you can then sort and view leads by which promotional code was entered. This is another highly effective way to track offline efforts through your website.
Utilize Your Website as an Informational Tool
Traditional offline advertisements can come in a variety of different formats. From smaller post cards, to large packets of information, to short radio advertisements, and more. Sometimes we can’t always fit as much detail as we want into the offline medium we choose, and we can often go overboard to the point of overwhelming someone.
Take advantage of your website as a source of information that allows customers to view information and explore your services at their own pace. You can keep offline campaigns shorter and use creative calls to action to drive people to your website for more detail on what you are offering. Once there, you can use your website to provide various examples and visual aids of how your products and services can help them. For example, interest rates are on the rise. You can provide examples of how this will impact new homebuyers, or those looking to refinance, and how you can help them. You can use tools such as the Real Estate Marketplace to provide visual aids that people can relate to. This approach allows clients to explore at their own pace while realizing the value that you are offering.
Offline marking and online marketing need to work as one cohesive unit to be effective in today’s world. Always ensure your offline and online marketing efforts are aligned to ensure consistent branding and advertising, a unified look and feel, and to allow you to more effectively track efforts across all mediums. If you are struggling to align your offline and online marketing, the team of experts at 220 Marketing can offer the guidance that you need. Reach out today to find out how we can help!
