Internet Advertising vs Traditional Advertising: How Can They Work Together?

With the increased focus around digital marketing, many marketers may believe that online advertising is the only way to go, since the majority of the population use the internet. With online campaigns, ads, email newsletters and social media having a significant impact on the marketing world, traditional advertising can often be left in the past.

‘But online advertising is the only way to go now, right?’

Wrong!  Consumers are not online ALL of the time. This is when traditional advertising and online advertising need to work together, to make up for the time spent offline and still be beneficial to your business.

Here are some examples of how this collaboration works:

Create the perfect mix of marketing across multiple channels

Whether your business converts online through a website or offline and in-store, it’s important to find a happy medium between the amount of online advertising and traditional advertising you choose to use. However, abandoning one of these all together could disadvantage your business by reaching fewer potential customers. That’s why combining the two ensures your company’s message has been spread efficiently through a wide breadth of channels, whilst also delivering your message to both online and offline audiences.

Run the same campaigns online and offline

When running your campaign, it is paramount that the online and offline experiences marry up, so potential customers are not confused with differing messages. This not only reassures your audience that they are in the right place, but also strengthens brand awareness.

An example of this would be: A customer seeing a special offer online for an in-store item. This would then trigger a visit to the shop, where they would see this offer available to them. Alternatively the customer could be browsing in-store, when they see advertisements for an online promotion, which would lead to them visiting your website.

Include CTAs in your advertising

‘Call to actions’ are another key way of encouraging potential customers to crossover between your content. The ultimate goal here is to encourage people offline to visit your website and people online to sign up/visit you offline.

You can achieve this by using the following examples:

• Invite people to share offline campaigns to their social media pages, by using a hashtag or tagging your brand in their post.
• Use offline mediums such as TV, radio, billboards, etc. to encourage people to visit your website.
• Use a website to promote a monthly magazine subscription that’s delivered through the post.

Increase brand recognition

It is important that potential customers can identify your brand through your advertising, both online and offline. Referring back to the linking of online and offline campaigns, a potential customer can see your brand online and again while they are out and about. This raises awareness of your brand and can lead a potential customer to investigate further.  

Build strong relationships with your consumers

Tying both forms of advertising together is an effective way of building long-lasting relationships with your consumers. Once you have established your brand, you want your consumers to come back again and again.

A few examples of how to achieve this are:

• Hand out in-store coupons for customers to use online (e.g. “use voucher code ‘SAVE20’ at the checkout to receive 20% off your next online order”.
• Use QR codes that link to exclusive content or offers on your website.
• Send customers a personal incentive or feedback form through email after they have visited your store or business

Online and offline marketing are of equal importance, and using them hand in hand in your campaign is key for a successful marketing strategy. Marketers doing this will be able to maximize their potential and achieve the best results for their campaign. If you would like help with any online aspects of your marketing campaigns, get in touch with SilverDisc.