We talk a lot about digital marketing because we operate our businesses in the digital age.
It’s not surprising that many businesses forget about non-digital marketing, perhaps more correctly called non-digital advertising.
However, occasionally someone will ask if there is any value in ‘old school marketing’, and that is the question we are going to look at.
Let’s start with a bold statement to rile up some younger business and marketing professionals; the truth is, that grumpy old business owner who has never used Facebook and never will might not always be completely wrong!
Under the right circumstances, non-digital marketing can be just as effective as digital marketing, if not more so.
There are good reasons why non-digital marketing is still important for businesses.
Our top three are:
1) It can help you reach a wider audience, or an otherwise inaccessible audience.
Not everyone is online, or actively engaged with online content, and non-digital marketing can help you reach these people.
For example, older people may use the internet, but they are probably less likely to engage with your social media content.
2) Non-digital marketing can be more cost-effective than digital marketing.
You have more control over your targeting which can reduce your non-digital equivalent of cost per impression.
Some non-digital marketing also has very low or even zero direct monetary cost.
3) Non-digital marketing builds trust and credibility with some customers.
People are saturated with digital content from businesses, and scams presenting themselves as businesses.
So, when people see physical evidence of your business, it makes them more likely to trust you, which is the first step in them engaging with you.
If this has made you consider exploring non-digital marketing, you are probably wondering what strategies you can try.
There is no definitive list of non-digital marketing strategies, but some tried and tested approaches to experiment with include:
● Public relations: Public relations is just generating positive media
coverage for your business or organisation through press releases,
interviews, and if possible, a reporter and photographer coming to you to report on something.
If your business or organisation is doing something exciting and it is newsworthy, turn it into news.
This is a particularly important strategy for not-for-profits and social enterprises who are doing great things in the community.
● Events and sponsorships: Sponsoring, running, or partnering with others to deliver events is a great way to get your brand in front of a large audience.
● Direct mail: If you manage your organisation’s data well, you know which customers or potential customers are interested in what products or services so you can target very effectively.
Adding to this, some people are also now far more likely to open addressed physical mail than email.
It’s not surprising that direct mail when done right can generate a high response rate.
● Letter box drops: Yes, these still work! However, they need to be planned and based on data and analysis.
This shouldn’t need to be said, but often it does, the fact you live in a neighbourhood is not a good reason to letter box drop that neighbourhood.
However, if you run a restaurant in a neighbourhood, that is a good reason to letterbox drop the neighbourhood.
Likewise, if you run a pool cleaning business and you discover a particular neighbourhood has a large number of pool owners, that is also a good reason to letterbox drop that neighbourhood.
● Outdoor advertising: Most people need to leave their homes frequently and even if they are not conscious of it, they do tend to notice the advertising around them.
Who can miss a giant billboard in front of them while they are stuck in traffic? Billboards, bus ads, and other forms of outdoor advertising can help you put your branding in front of
people repeatedly which helps build brand awareness overtime.
● Word-of-mouth marketing: Word-of-mouth marketing is still very powerful. There is an adage that goes something like this: when people are happy with your business, they’re more likely to tell their friends and family about it.
That sounds great but is probably not true.
What is true is that if people have a bad experience with your business, they will definitely tell people about it.
They may also tell people about a good experience if someone asks their opinion, or you proactively ask them to share their experience with others.
So, create a process where you proactively ask customers to tell others about their experience, or even better, ask them for referrals!
If you are now sold on the idea of trying non-digital marketing, here are some additional tips to consider:
● Be creative and original.
Think outside the box and come up with marketing ideas that are unique to your business.
Unusual and unique captures people’s attention.
● Be consistent.
Non-digital marketing tends not to be a once only option.
For it to really work you must commit to it.
Make it a regular part of your marketing plan.
● Track your results.
In this regard non-digital marketing is no different to
digital marketing.
You need to know what works so you can keep doing it and know what doesn’t work so you can stop doing it.
This means you need to track the results of your non-digital marketing so you can optimise your campaigns and get the most out of your marketing budget.
By incorporating non-digital marketing into your overall marketing plan, you can reach a wider audience, build trust and credibility, and generate more leads and sales.
If you have a question about starting a business or running your existing business, we’d love to hear from you because we’ll select a new question to answer here every two weeks. You can submit your question to james@qsb-consulting.com using the subject ‘CQToday’.
