Integrating Online and Offline Marketing Efforts for Your Small Business

Whether your business is new or old, online or offline, marketing is essential. But online businesses can benefit from traditional "offline" marketing, just as brick-and-mortar stores can use the Internet to promote themselves. And using both mediums together can result in even better returns on your

The goal is to have all your marketing efforts supporting each other, working together to promote your business. There are obvious ways to do this, such as including your URL or domain name on every piece of promotional material that you send out, as well as on your letterhead and business cards. Include it in your Yellow Pages ads and on printed promotional materials. Not only will this increase name recognition for your site, it will also give customers an additional way to contact you or make a purchase.

Of course, you need to make sure that your Web site looks professional. If visitors come to your site and can't find what they need, they are liable to leave and never return. All of your information should be up-to-date, easy to find, and reflect what you are doing with your offline marketing efforts. Should You Hire a Professional to Design Your Web Site?

Consistency and constancy are the keys to successful integration. You will need to make sure that both your online and offline efforts compliment one another and that one does not fall behind the other. For example, if you send out promotional postcards for a certain amount of savings, and your Web site does not display the same promotion, you will be creating an instant batch of unhappy customers.

You will also need to roll out online and offline campaigns simultaneously. You can achieve this by planning on a specific date for your campaign launch and making sure that everything is ready on both fronts by this date. One easy way to integrate your marketing efforts is by "teasing" your customers about the promotion in printed pieces that direct them to your Web site for more information.

Offering special coupons in your offline marketing that promise special Web-only deals is a great way to get more people interested in your Web site and improve your sales at the same time.

Integrated marketing is a way that you can get the most out of all of your advertising campaigns, whether you plan on a large television spot to drive customers to your site, or even if you only plan on sending out a small mailing. By using online and offline techniques together, you can increase the effectiveness of both methods.