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| Hybrid Marketing
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- The Power of Online and Offline Marketing Together
by David Ehrlich, President, Track Marketing Group |
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The right blend of offline & online marketing can create much stronger results than either method alone. Since associations are directly competing with online ventures, the bar has been raised in how we communicate our value and provide services to current and prospective members. In this world of hybrid marketing, those that bridge these two forms of reaching their target will win.
Let's look at some benefits offered by each method and review examples that show the synergies of a hybrid marketing effort. |
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| Offline Marketing Benefits:
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Accurate membership lists - Thanks to years of collecting and maintaining databases, the offline world offers far stronger access to prospective lists. While email lists are developing, they are not as precise and encompassing as traditional lists.
Established format - People are conditioned to receive direct marketing on paper. Just as people still desire reading a newspaper even though they can get news online, direct marketing delivered via the mail is still comfortable and easy to review.
In your face delivery - Since the mail is delivered to you personally, it's hard to miss a well-designed colorful piece with a loud and clear message. |
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| Online Marketing Benefits:
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Quick - Email offers instant delivery and quick processing. The target can respond quickly and easily.
Cost - Aside from initial costs to build a web presence, the cost to reach people on-going electronically is less expensive since you avoid printing and postage. Banner ads may be less expensive on a cost per thousand basis, however, you ultimately measure cost relative to results to determine the best value. Since other web sites may be open to barter and reciprocal web linking, you may be able to get web exposure for little or no cost.
Viral - Your members are much more likely to forward a relevant email to a colleague due to the relative ease of this type of communication. Encourage the "evangelists" who will undoubtedly surface from your online marketing activity; they can provide word-of-mouth value. |
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| Hybrid Model: |
Maximize your results using a hybrid direct marketing model.
For example:
Recruitment - Obtain a prospect list from a traditional offline database. Send a colorful post card, which advertises a teaser that can be obtained online. For example, a free query of an industry salary survey. The mail piece would contain a web address that goes directly to the salary survey promotion page. To access the survey results, the prospect would enter their password (printed on the card) and their email address. After displaying the results, a thank you page could highlight reasons to join.
You will know who responded based on the code/password, and with their email address, you can offer them additional information. Consider a privacy policy and an opt-out option. The respondents have helped you obtain an email list, which might have been hard to come by otherwise, and you have the opportunity to continue to reach these "warm" prospects.
A similar web-based freebie would be a sign-up form to receive a limited subscription to an electronic newsletter. This could serve to educate your prospects and show the value they would receive if they joined. The cost to deliver the newsletter via email is low and you'll build a bond with your prospective members. Again, you used offline tactics to cast a wide targeted net and then you used online marketing to engage & educate them.
Consider the reverse - If you can obtain an email list, or better yet, if you can advertise in an existing email newsletter or web site relevant to your target audience, you can capture key demographic and offline information based on an offer. For those that respond to the initial offer (perhaps a first step to provide some information online or to mail a relevant item) but do not take the full offer, you can nurture the relationship via a combination of offline and online marketing.
Conference promotion - a post card reminding members and past attendees to "save the date" is a way to physically get in front of your members to sell an up-coming conference. Pointing them to your web site can help provide the "fresh off the press" details that were too timely to mail. Depending on the level of interest (based on early registration) you can decide, as the event gets closer, if you need to follow-up with a mailing highlighting conference specifics.
While the decision of how to balance your direct marketing efforts is important, it's also critical to remember that however you choose to reach your target market, the message must be relevant, timely, and contain an offer which will motivate action. |
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