How do you connect your e-commerce brand to offline marketing?

1 Why offline marketing matters

Offline marketing might seem outdated in the digital age, but it still has many benefits for e-commerce businesses. First, offline marketing can help you reach customers who are not online or who prefer traditional media. Second, offline marketing can enhance your online presence by driving traffic to your website, social media, or email list. Third, offline marketing can create a lasting impression on your customers by appealing to their senses, emotions, and memory. Offline marketing can also increase your brand recognition, trust, and reputation by showing that you are a real and reliable business.

2 How to align your offline and online branding

Before you start any offline marketing campaign, you need to make sure that your offline and online branding are consistent and coherent. This means that your logo, colors, fonts, images, tone, and message should be the same across all your marketing materials, whether they are digital or physical. This way, you can create a strong and recognizable brand identity that customers can easily associate with your e-commerce business. You can also use a slogan, tagline, or hashtag that summarizes your brand value proposition and connects your offline and online marketing.

3 How to use QR codes and NFC tags

One of the easiest ways to connect your e-commerce brand to offline marketing is to use QR codes and NFC tags. QR codes are square-shaped barcodes that customers can scan with their smartphones to access a website, app, or other online content. NFC tags are small stickers or chips that customers can tap with their smartphones to activate a wireless communication or action. You can use QR codes and NFC tags on your offline marketing materials, such as flyers, posters, business cards, packaging, or receipts, to direct customers to your online store, product page, landing page, coupon, review, or social media.

4 How to leverage word-of-mouth and referrals

Another effective way to connect your e-commerce brand to offline marketing is to leverage word-of-mouth and referrals. Word-of-mouth is when customers share their positive experiences and opinions about your brand with their friends, family, or colleagues. Referrals are when customers recommend your brand to others and receive a reward or incentive for doing so. You can encourage word-of-mouth and referrals by delivering exceptional customer service, creating a loyal customer base, offering discounts, freebies, or loyalty points, or creating a referral program that rewards both the referrer and the referee.

5 How to host or sponsor events

A third way to connect your e-commerce brand to offline marketing is to host or sponsor events. Events are opportunities to showcase your products, services, or expertise, interact with your customers face-to-face, and generate buzz and excitement around your brand. You can host or sponsor events that are relevant to your niche, industry, or target market, such as workshops, seminars, webinars, trade shows, festivals, contests, or charity drives. You can also use events to collect customer feedback, testimonials, or email addresses, or to offer exclusive deals, samples, or coupons.

6 How to measure your offline marketing results

The final step to connect your e-commerce brand to offline marketing is to measure your offline marketing results. Unlike online marketing, offline marketing can be harder to track and analyze, but it is not impossible. You can use various methods to measure your offline marketing results, such as asking customers how they heard about you, using unique URLs, phone numbers, or promo codes for each offline campaign, using online tools like Google Analytics, UTM parameters, or call tracking software, or using offline tools like surveys, coupons, or receipts. By measuring your offline marketing results, you can evaluate your return on investment, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and optimize your future strategies.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?