How An Online Presence Helps Offline Businesses
©2010 Doug Champigny, http://info-at-this.com/offline-businesses/
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
An online presence can take many forms – websites, blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, social media pages, business networking sites, etc. – and each of these can help offline businesses in a variety of ways.
For example, look at the ‘About Us’ page on most blogs and corporate websites. Potential customers often read this information to know more about your company before doing business with you for the first time. Yet where in the offline world is your business history, special qualifications, experience and/or educational credentials available to potential customers?
Offline businesses that manufacture appliances, industrial machinery, even software programs can demonstrate the new features of their existing products, innovations in new products or highlight the ease-of-use in their line using online videos. How hard would it be to demonstrate the same to potential customers and targeted leads living hundreds or thousands of miles away using offline technologies?
The how-to market is another area where offline companies can clean up online. A wool company can show how the stitches in a complicated pattern are knitted and the beautiful sweater that results, then end with a pitch for the pattern free when the consumer purchases the required wool through that offer.
But not all issues are easily solved through online videos or audios. Perhaps yours is one of the offline businesses that manufactures or distributes highly technical, specialized equipment for hospitals, optometrists or dentists. After-sale service can easily include great customer care if the medical practitioner knows they can ask you a question on Twitter or FaceBook and receive an almost-instant reply. And what would that do for your customer retention and satisfaction?
An online presence helps offline businesses in areas beyond marketing and customer management too. For example, if an unknown supplier has a product that’s a perfect fit for your existing clientele or can get you products you’re already using at a price below what you’re currently paying, wouldn’t you want their marketing department to find you online and contact you?
And you can probably think of a number of ways having an online presence could help the human resources departments of offline businesses; even the smallest of companies could benefit from an online page encouraging qualified applicants to submit a resume online. With a collection of resumes from qualified applicants on hand at all times, would you need to pay to advertise job openings? And how long would it take to fill a vacancy if you had already pre-qualified the applicants before the position came open?
The truth is almost every department or area of operation in offline companies, big or small, can benefit from an online presence. Brainstorm with your department heads, customers, suppliers, colleagues or friends as best suits the size of your business and see how many ways you can find to benefit your particular business through it’s online presence.
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Having gone from newspaper advertising manager to founding and operating 2 full-service advertising agencies, Doug Champigny had already mastered the world of offline marketing before turning his attention to online marketing full-time. Now, over a decade later, marketing mentor, author and speaker Doug Champigny is a world-famous marketer with a major online presence who often appears live onstage at marketing seminars, conferences, conventions and workshops around North America. With more than 35 years of online and offline advertising and marketing experience, Doug Champigny is uniquely qualified to teach you how to succeed in offline and online marketing through his numerous web properties and/or through direct marketing mentoring. Give your marketing the PowerStart it needs today – Click Here for more information!
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Technorati Tags: offline businesses, helps offline businesses, online presence, marketing, customer management, suppliers
says:
It always amazes me that more offline businesses don’t use the internet more. This looks like a great new resource to help those take advantage of some of the new technologies and improve the spread of their business.
Mike Paetzold´s last [type] ..The Power Of An Accountability Partner
says:
Having looked at a lot of websites I am always amazed at how some of the bigger companies still do not get it about how an effective website could potentially increase their sales and save them money in advertising. just gives us a chance to make money from them by showing them how to do it right.