As online marketing has grown, marketers have come to term traditional and direct marketing as ‘offline marketing’. This term captures all marketing techniques which do not utilise the internet as a platform. Offline marketing is a broad field made up of a number of different strategies and channels and it requires the combined input of many different specialists, from designers, to writers, to printers, media outlets and distributors. Market research is typically the first part of this process and direct marketing can be used to gather data to further this end.

What is offline marketing?

Offline marketing strategies utilize offline media channels to reach an audience and attract customers. These campaigns can include any number of the following:

• Television
• Radio
• Signs
• Promotions
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Banners
• Newspapers
• Pamphlets
• Posters
• Direct marketing

What are the benefits of offline marketing?

Offline marketing is one of the best ways to reach local audiences. While the costs can be higher per reader than online marketing, the audience is clearly targeted. In many cases, businesses can plug into an established platform like a state or national newspaper or radio station, which puts them alongside their competitors and gives them credibility.

Offline marketing is also the only way to reach people during certain parts of the day. If marketers want to communicate with commuters, the only real option is standard radio advertising. Similarly, local businesses can generate interest right around their premises by using signs or communicate with people while they read their day’s news through the paper.

What is direct marketing?

Direct marketing revolves around reaching out to the audience individually to communicate with them in a more personal way. There are multiple channels to conduct direct marketing through, which includes:

• Mail
• E-mail
• Phone
• In person

Direct marketing is distinguished from other forms of marketing, because the audience can respond immediately - whether it is by sharing their opinion over the phone, telling a door-to-door salesman or replying to an email.

What are the benefits of direct marketing?

Direct marketing produces an immediate response and therefore it’s a fantastic way to get immediate feedback on the marketing messages a business puts out. This makes measuring marketing success easier and contributes to the effectiveness of later marketing efforts. By speaking to their audience one-on-one marketers can be more personal and work to address individual concerns. Direct marketing efforts also give marketers more space, as they are not sharing their advertising platform with other businesses. This makes it ideal for longer sales messages.

The final benefit of direct marketing is the ability to catch qualified contact details for future marketing. By establishing which individuals are open to receiving further communications, companies can build a database of qualified prospects who will be receptive to new offers.

What professionals are involved in offline and direct marketing?

Because there are many different forms of offline and direct marketing, there are many different professionals who go into producing the material. They are not all necessary for every form, but they include:

• Copywriters
• Graphic designers
• Printers
• Media booking agents
• Mail distributors
• Market researchers
• Radio producers
• Filmmakers