The end of the year is beckoning and that means one thing for marketers; the holiday marketing journey has begun. Usually, the festive season which begins in late November throughout December and early January is one of the busiest periods in the calendar of marketers and the most profitable as well. As customers intensify their shopping efforts to get the best holiday picks, retailers on the other hand are busy doing ads both online and offline to maximise the exposure of their products and drive traffic and conversions their way.
Some businesses usually set apart budgets to operationalise the marketing activities of this period. As customers become more digitised by day, their mode of shopping changes from direct walk-ins into retail stores to searching online first through tables, phones and other gadgets before beginning the actual shopping process. Social media marketing has been the vehicle used by retailers to target these new age customers. However, this doesn’t mean newspaper and other traditional marketing platforms have been abandoned in favour of digital techniques. As a matter of fact, there is still a crop of customers who rely on newspaper ads in making their purchase decisions.
The best approach retailers can adopt is that of combining the traditional marketing tactics with the new age digital platforms. This will help them maximise product exposure, target their campaigns much more effectively, increase conversions and boost bottom line. There are lots of creative ways you can adopt to give you the best coverage this festive season.
Using Traditional Media as Social Drivers
Outdoor, print, radio, billboards and other traditional marketing platforms can be used to promote your social media channels. As a retailer, you can do this by adding the social media icons such as Twitter and Facebook on these traditional media. Also, you can use these media to give information to your targeted audience on how they can join your social conversations. If you have contests, helpful tips and special offers on social channels, you can also publicise them using the traditional media.
Extend Social Conversations into the Traditional Space
Given the vibrant nature of social media, lots of subjects and topical issues are discussed there. One of the best ways you can bridge social media with traditional marketing is by transferring some of the conversations from the social media space into the traditional platforms. For instance, you can use a pleasant comment a customer has made on Facebook or Twitter to form your next discussion on radio or your headline on newspaper. This will in turn excite the particular customer who made the comment on social media making him the mouthpiece of your brand everywhere he goes.
Use Traditional Media as the Prize
You can develop a context on your social media platform such as uploading videos, photos, or posting comments on your Facebook wall then encouraging as many friends as possible to like the page. Instead of the winner being announced through social media, you can do so via traditional media such as print ad, TV sport or your website. This will help generate buzz both offline and online hence creating a perfect blend.
Leveraging on Social Media for Audience Feedback
The beauty with social media is that it is a two way communication where you engage the audience directly. In order to bring both the traditional and social media together, you can use your traditional marketing mouthpiece to spread your message and turn to social media to capture the opinions and thoughts about your campaigns. In order to benefit from this relationship, you need to take into consideration the feedback and use it to modify your campaigns.
Redefining Your Landing Page
The website has been the go-to landing page for traditional media. With the rise in prominence of social media and the need to blend it with traditional marketing methods, you can switch your landing page to be your social media channels. Instead of directing audience comments to your website, channel them to your Facebook page and Twitter handle. In this way, you will be able to continue the conversation across the channels as well as get instant feedback. Your blog may also serve as a great landing page option.
In addition to the above ways, you can also choose to respond to online complaints and comments direct through traditional media. This will create the much needed bridge between the two marketing divides.