How to Promote an Online Business in the Offline World

While a lot of people believe the only way to promote an online business is to do so by digital means, there’s no real reason why that should be the case. The term online business means that your business structure exists only in the online world, not that you are, for some reason, forbidden to promote it in a physical way. With that in mind and without further ado, here are several tips on how to promote an online business in the offline world.

1. Guerilla marketing

Paying someone to paint an amazing mural with your company’s logo on it can do wonders for your social media presence. Sure, guerilla marketing isn’t exactly cheap, especially if you’re going to hire a real artist to do so, still, the benefits of such a move are quite numerous. Imagine a scenario where people walking by this mural start noticing its brilliance. Members of the Gen Z might even decide to take images of it, post it on the Instagram and tag your brand. This, alongside a couple of hashtags, might be enough to drive a massive audience towards your Instagram profile and, from there, towards your website and e-store.

Nevertheless, there’s something even more important than the reach itself. The fact that you’ve done so via an unorthodox method shows creativity, competitiveness and outside-of-the-box thinking. This too means that your company might become much more attractive in the eyes of your audience.

2. Attend industry events

Another way to showcase your products is to do so in person and host a stand at a local industry-related event. Networking can help you establish a traditional business-world bond that will be transferable into the virtual environment. Nevertheless, if you’re to do so, you have to do it right, so spend time and money creating a traditional stand, promotional materials, training up your sales people and then even consider buying or hiring different props such as a magazine holder to handout some of your printed content.

This might sound somewhat redundant, at first, seeing as how your company is probably already present in the majority of these industry relevant events. However, there’s always room to increase the efficiency of your presence by introducing a change or two.

First, you need a clear goal and a strategy that’s built around it. Second, you need to balance your time. Even though you’re probably focused on generating new leads, make sure to save some room for your existing connections in order to not let them down.

As for the benefits that you stand to reap from this, it ranges from direct sales opportunities (which are a short-term gain), all the way to a chance to make a lasting impression. It all depends on how you playing your cards.

3. Print business cards

The thing about business cards is they go beyond merely promoting your business. In some cultures, (especially in the Far East) they have an almost ritualistic value. As for their relevance, bear in mind that there are almost 27 million business cards printed daily, even in this digital world. This statistic alone should be enough to prove just how relevant this business promotion method still is. Even more importantly, there’s a claim that company’s sales increase about 2.5% for every 2,000 business cards handed out.

In conclusion

The last thing you need to understand is that promoting your business in the offline world is a strategy that can yield a surprisingly positive ROI. The greatest problem lies in the fact that you won’t have an easy time tracking and analyzing ROI. Sure, you can take an estimated guess, yet there’s no way of actually knowing if a person decided to look you up online out of the blue or if they were influenced by an offline strategy. This, on the other hand, doesn’t mean that it’s not worth it.