There is a gap between online and offline marketing and it is time for us to bridge the gap. Here are 5 possible ways of doing so:
1. Check-in at offline online Confusing much?
It simply means to do a check-in on your mobile at physical locations online. The “founder” of this idea is Foursquare. I remembered using it and checking in everywhere I go. When I became a “mayor” at my favourite place, I felt so happy. *You become a mayor when you check-in at the location a lot of times. Other than that, you can upload images and write reviews too. Those features are tools that encourage customers to talk about businesses online. Honestly after some time, I got sick of check-in at EVERY location, but not some. Why? You may ask. Because they offer discounts! For example, when you check-in at Gelato Messina, you get $2 off per ice cream. That is totally what will keep me checking in.
2. #hashtag
Who thought of this brilliant idea? Twitter started this #hashtag fever and it was later then adapted by other social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Vine. For your information, hashtags are topical tags that anyone can use in their digital conversations. To integrate it into offline advertisement, simply just include the specific hashtag you want people to tag when talking about your brand online. With that, every time you click on your hashtag, you can see who tagged you and what they said about you. The best examples of uses where this works are one-time events that offer really good prizes to the best photos tagged on Instagram or Twitter.
3. Teaser advertising
This is my personal favourite! Have you ever watched a short commercial on the television and at the end of it, there is a URL link to encourage you to go online to watch the longer version or the next episode of the commercial? This is a very good way of moving customers throughout different mediums with the same marketing campaign. It teases, but it works. You can “tease” them on printed materials as well, if you are not looking at television commercial.