Today, advertisers are making use of tangible print collateral, as well as digital platforms. This is done by fusing both online and offline marketing cohesively. So, how do you integrate your online and offline marketing materials?
Welcome to cross channel marketing…
Cross Channel Marketing
Ask yourself what action you want your audience to take after viewing your advertisement? And how do they know what they are supposed to do?
Always identify your Call to Action (CTA). By creating compelling content for your print advertisement such as billboards, brochures, and flyers, you leave the audience wanting to know more. This is why the CTA is the most important element of all marketing materials – including cross channel marketing.
Call to Action
Your CTA needs to be more than just asking your target market to go to the home page of your website. You need to direct them to a specific page such as a product page, contact us page, blog or specific social media platform. A powerful tool for connecting your print advertisement CTA to your online presence is through a QR code.
QR Codes
QR Codes allow mobile users to access your digital platforms and online information. This kind of cross channel marketing ensures that your print campaign is interactive and engaging, while at the same time, generating online leads.
Hashtag It
Another way to merge your print and digital marketing is by directing your audience online through the use of hashtags. Create a hashtag that relates specifically to your offline campaign, and call your audience to action the hashtag on their social platforms. This allows you to track how many people have been interacting with your campaign and your business online.
Promote Offline Events with Online Content
Have a trade show coming up? Got those flyers, banners, and brochures ready for the big day? Worried about spreading word of the event to your clients? Take advantage of your online platforms, such as social media and email, to promote your offline event.
It is completely acceptable to use your blog for this too! Make sure to create engaging content that informs and entertains your audience – you don’t want it to look like spam. You want your audience to keep reading, and subsequently attend your event!
Two Examples of Successful Integrated Marketing Campaigns
Mrs Fields
A Mrs. Fields store placed this cake in their store front window. Customers were enticed to like the Facebook page because of the endearing cake.
So, how do you take this a step further with print marketing? Include a QR code, printed on a pamphlet, and hand it out while the customer waits in line. They can then scan the QR Code and immediately use a specified hashtag, or like a specific social platform. Getting your customers tweeting online by providing an offline incentive guarantees business buzz!
Day-Timer
This is a company that provides printed organisational and time management tools including: appointment books and planners. Most of the product offerings are printed, but this has not stopped the company from reaching their audience via online platforms.
In 2012, Day Timer released planners that came with a bright yellow banner, inviting customers to attend a specialised online workshop. This kind of out-of-the-box thinking helped establish them as the industry leader in time management and organisational skills.
The bright sticker attached to the product directed an offline audience online. This is the ideal example for creating an offline CTA that directs the audience to your online platforms.
Leading Branding, Graphic Design, and Printing Company South Africa
The key to creating a successful cross-marketing campaign lies in strategy, and working with a professional company that understands this new-age marketing process. Jetline offers design, printing, and digital solutions to ensure that your brand gains maximum reach.
Contact us today for your design, print, digital marketing, and brand management solutions! We offer it all!
