In today’s world, where information is available at our fingertips, reaching potential customers is easier than ever before. However, this leads to a problem: How do I engage with my target audience when they’re not physically near me?

You may be wondering the same thing, especially since many companies consider physical locations to be somewhat obsolete in today’s digital world. After all, you can have office space in nearly every major city, and you can operate a business from anywhere.

So how do you reach your ideal customers when you’re miles away from them? You use online and offline marketing to connect with your audience and gain their trust. Luckily, with a little planning and research, you can incorporate both into your strategy and succeed in connecting with your audience wherever they are.

Online Marketing

While most business owners are quite happy to rely solely on their websites to capture leads, putting a foot in the offline marketing world doesn’t guarantee success.

Why? Because people have busy lives, and they don’t always have the time to visit your website or fill out a form to buy your product. Instead, they might want something now, and they’ll happily go online to get it.

What’s more, not all entrepreneurs run websites. In fact, a lot of them don’t even know how to use the things, let alone build a brand around them. If you’re looking to expand your business, consider learning SEO or marketing online, which could prove to be quite useful.

Offline Marketing

Let’s take a quick trip back in time to the 1960s, when television was in its infancy and most people didn’t have access to the internet. Back then, if you wanted to reach the masses, you literally had to go door to door and canvass for votes.

That’s right – in the good ol’ days, people did their homework, and they voted with their feet. Specifically, they would go to the local bookstore and look for the best seller that caught their eye. Once they made the purchase, they would go home and read the book, getting the most out of it.

Then, they would go back to the store and vote with their wallets. For the author, this was the ultimate compliment – people were still interested in what they had to say even after they had read the book. In fact, a few days after the election, they might go out and buy a hat or a pencil holder with the politician’s name on it.

Fast-forward to today, and we’re in a world where the lines are blurred between online and offline marketing. People expect to find information anywhere, so if you want to attract potential customers, you’re going to have to put in the extra effort to develop strategies to reach them both online and offline.

Blended Marketing

What is blended marketing? Simply put, it’s the use of multiple marketing channels, including online and offline, to drive sales and attract the right audience.

For example, say you’re an e-commerce store selling ladies’ wear. You have a website, social media accounts, and you’re also participating in online forums such as Slack chat rooms or LinkedIn groups.

Then, you’ll notice a 48-year-old woman named Jennifer who is active on all of these platforms. One day, while chatting with a friend in a Slack group, she mentions how she really needs a pair of sunglasses and that she’s frustrated because she keeps spending $200 on sunglasses she doesn’t like.

Your friend suggests that she check out your website, noting that you offer top-notch customer service and you have a great selection of sunglasses, many of which are on sale. So she does, and before you know it, she’s making a purchase – a pair of sunglasses that you think cost $100 but were actually sold at a discounted price of $50. This is how sales funneling online and offline works.

Obviously, this isn’t a one-way street; you must respond to these customers on social media once they’ve contacted you. You may even choose to follow up with a phone call to get more information. But in the end, you want to find a way to connect with your audience and make them feel like you’re a trusted source for information about your product.

In today’s world, where information is available at our fingertips, reaching potential customers is easier than ever before. However, this leads to a problem: How do I engage with my target audience when they’re not physically near me? You use online and offline marketing to connect with your audience and gain their trust. Luckily, with a little planning and research, you can incorporate both into your strategy and succeed in connecting with your audience wherever they are.