5 Creative Offline Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

Offline marketing can do wonders if you know the art.

While digital marketing has introduced easy ways for businesses to expand their reach, one cannot simply ignore the good old ways of offline marketing. According to a research conducted by Marketing Profs, nearly 32% businesses were not sure about the best channels to market their products.

First things first- offline advertising needs your personal attention!

Offline promotion, if creatively handled packs a punch for boosting sales and giving you a loyal group of customers. Let’s take a look the five most creative offline marketing strategies that make sense to small businesses in this day and age.

Offer Freebies (some gorgeous stuff)

Let’s say a person has ordered your product which he/she receives along with an eye-catching freebie like a button or magnet. Won’t it be exciting for the end-users to see something that appeals so much and costs nothing. And, that would be icing on the cake if you can get custom made freebies labeling your name too. Offering custom brand labels and badges for offline promotions works greatly in inducing people to buying a product/service if they already have an idea of getting it. In other cases, it acts as a surprise goodie that begins a relation between a customer and business.

To make sure your freebies work, you just have to plan in advance for occasions like store anniversary, festive celebrations, etc. and place an order online to get these freebies in advance. Give these custom treats to in-store customers as well as send along with online orders through shipment. Remember getting a bookmark with a book? Pack it just like that. Believe me, this would be your best word of mouth campaign at lowest cost.

Trade Shows

You can also take advantage of platforms like trade shows to make your brand presence. Trade shows offer a unique opportunity to grab the attention of potential customers and meet customers personally. However, keep one thing in mind that if nothing stands out about your space in the trade show, then people are likely to move on to the next booth.  So utilize such space in the best way. Think of some games or hand out your merchandise to people as rewards.

Guerrilla Marketing

Consumers are bombarded with advertisements on a daily basis which mostly make the target audience ignore many posters, trailers and commercials. The consumer today is experience-hungry and only notices unconventional things. Marketing gurus will advise you to make a guerrilla marketing strategy for your brand. Why? Because unconventional things stand out and last longer in people’s mind. Guerrilla marketing ideas are light on the pocket and are better at capturing people’s attention.

Also Read: Small Businesses are Killing it Offline– 10 Growth Points to Prove it!

Reward Programs

Offering rewards is an excellent way to boost sales and building brand awareness. To allure the crowd, keep the reward in front of everyone’s eye. During the holiday season, you can also start your own referral program by offering discounts and money backs to people who bring in more customers.

Business cards (evergreen)

While looking at a business card people form an opinion of a brand. A good business card says more than just contact details. It is important to design a card creatively as it hugely contributes towards brand awareness. You can draw inspiration from Pinterest boards and other social media platforms for this. Business cards with cut-out shapes can be used to make a good first impression. If you are not able to come up with any unique design, then consider hiring a professional.

As Warren Buffet once said, “Never invest in a business which you don’t understand”. While digital marketing is becoming a mom and pop thing, you cannot rely on it if you don’t understand the factors associated with it. The above mentioned offline marketing strategies are tried and tested by many businesses so you can implement them unworriedly to grow a small business.