Traditional or Digital Marketing? Try Integrated Instead

Traditional or Digital Marketing? Try Integrated InsteadFrom social media to QR codes, from email marketing to SEO, digital marketing definitely seems to be taking over the advertising and marketing space. But, does a world of digital marketing mean that traditional marketing no longer has a place? While your business probably can’t rely on traditional marketing alone, it is still an important part of your overall campaign. Instead of choosing between digital or traditional, take an integrated marketing approach that combines the best of both worlds.  

How can you combine traditional and digital marketing to best work to your benefit? Check out these quick tips on how to get started.

  1. Establish Consistent Branding Across Print and Digital Channels. 
  2. A visual integration of your print and traditional marketing helps cultivate brand awareness and recognition across all channels, print and digital. Customers and clients should be able to make a clear visual connection between your company’s online presence and its printed materials. Business cards, brochures, case studies and company promotional items like t-shirts, mugs or notebooks should all have the same colors, fonts and logo as your website.

  3. Make sure all of your Materials have Strong Calls to Action. 
  4. A call to action is any phrase, sentence or social media icon that inspires customers to take another step. A call to action on your website landing page, for instance, might inspire customers to click through to another page to schedule a free consultation, read more information about a specific subject or start shopping online for a product. A call to action of some kind should be present on all of your marketing materials, even print. Print marketing calls to action should suggest that the potential client or customer check out your website for more information, scan a QR code or visit your company’s social media sites to learn more.

  5. Bridge the Gap from Traditional Marketing to Digital. 
  6. If a customer first interacts with your company through print marketing, each piece of your traditional marketing should offer a clear path for customers to interact with the company online as well. QR codes, shortened URLs, email addresses and social media contact information should be included on your printed materials and branded products. Even just a short digital outreach like a twitter handle can help customers connect with you online.

  7. Conduct Social Media Giveaways and Contests. 
  8. Everyone loves a good giveaway. Contests and giveaways conducted via social media or email subscription are a good way to get people interested. Giveaways and contests require very little effort from customers and not too much effort from your business. As part of the reward, you can give away promotional branded items like t-shirts and water bottles. Giving out these branded, useful products will help perpetuate brand awareness across multiple channels.

With these 4 simple steps, you can work towards establishing a marketing plan that successfully integrates print and digital marketing. Traditional print marketing is tried and true, but digital marketing is absolutely necessary to be found online. By using both traditional and print marketing, you can reach a wider audience, promote your brand across multiple channels and be found online.

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