Traditional Marketing is Still Important in our Multi-Channel World
Your business should consider using traditional offline communication channels like PR, direct mail, sales, advertising and exhibitions, even if most of your budget is being invested in digital marketing.
Traditional, off-line marketing channels can still play an important role in your marketing when used well. So, don’t restrict your promotion to your website, blog and social media. (Unless your business is entirely online).
PR raises your profile and builds credibility. Creative, well targeted direct mail can work very well and make you stand out, because there’s now less competition coming through the mail. Exhibitions and shows are your marketplace. And, sales fixes everything!
Successful communication strategies use the right blend of off-line and digital marketing. However, what’s right for your business depends on where your customers are and your marketing budget.
Start by Understanding Your Customers’ Journeys
Customer journeys are the route that your new customers take from becoming ‘aware’ of your products to taking ‘action’ to buy them. By understanding your customers’ journeys, you can ensure you focus on the right channels and improve your conversion rates.
The AIEDA model of buyer decision-making (see below) is a useful way of looking at the route customers take before buying from you.
Awareness > Interest > Evaluation > Desire > Action
Customer journeys are now more complex than ever. Purchases can involve 7 to 13 customer touch points (or contacts) with your company or product.
All businesses need to generate sales to grow so it’s helpful to be good at selling, or to have someone in your team who is.
Good marketing makes selling much easier. And, if marketing is used effectively, you should never have to make a cold call.
We’re not all born salesmen but sales processes and skills can be learnt.
It’s well known that people buy from people they like and trust, so earning trust and building rapport are essential.
Some of our quick selling tips are:
- Get pitch perfect. You need to ensure that you have a really good one minute pitch and a clear customer value proposition (or USP).
- Avoid the hard sell. Selling has changed and should be much less pushy. Ask questions and build relationships
- Manage your sales with a good database or customer relationship management (CRM) system. Ensure the sales contacts include the decision maker (as well as influencers).
- Follow up on all quality leads rigorously.
- Your sales team must be given the right marketing tools to support their selling efforts.
- If you don’t have your own sales team, it may make sense to run professional, outsourced telemarketing campaigns.
Real Marketing Specialists has managed successful telemarketing campaigns as important components of broader, integrated campaigns to follow up on leads generated by websites or direct marketing.
In the business to business market, exhibitions and trade shows are often an important component in the communications mix; a place to build relationships with customers and a ‘marketplace’ to raise awareness and meet opinion leaders.
You must follow up on any leads quickly and thoroughly:
- Nearly 80% of all show leads either aren’t followed up or are mishandled.
- 48% of attendees only need to hear from an exhibitor once after a show to buy.
