The Connection Your Physical And Digital Marketing Needs

All too often, physical and digital marketing are treated as two different practices. It's true that marketing methods can change majorly from medium to medium, but they should all be incorporated as a plan that is focused on a single set of goals. Physical and digital marketing can be two sides of a coin, each one benefiting from the value of the other. Here are a few ways to make this a reality.

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Let data inform your traditional marketing methods
Personalization can play a huge role in the success of a marketing campaign, but usually, it's reserved for email and other forms of direct digital marketing. However, all the customer data you gather, such as through lead capture forms and in CRM tools can benefit physical marketing methods, as well. The most obvious example is that you can tailor direct mail marketing to give it a more personal touch and connect better with your audience. Physical mail already feels more intimate and personal than emails, but you can use digital marketing data gathering methods to enhance it even further.

Creating a throughline
The journey from physical to digital and vice versa can be made much easier. You can easily give customers an address to follow on their phones or laptops, but you can simplify and streamline the journey to make it almost seamless for them. If you make QR code images, a leaflet, billboard, or even TV advertisement and create a direct link to a webpage. This can be used as a landing page for specific advertisements, for instance, but QR codes have also been used in guerilla marketing methods, keeping a little surprise in store to great effect when done well.

Hit them where they are
Most people carry a smartphone, tablet, or some form of a portable digital device on their person. Aside from allowing them to connect to the local network, it allows the local network to connect to them. As such, you can set up omnichannel marketing so that if the person nears your physical store, they can get an alert as to what deals are currently active. If you are able to use existing customer data, you can even highlight items in stock that might be of particular interest to them.

Embrace the shareability
Hashtags are perhaps the greatest and best-known symbol of shareability in the online world.l However, their benefit is not solely restricted to online media. Many products have launched promotional campaigns that involved printed hashtags directly on the product. This can encourage those customers who are either more plugged into social media or more enthusiastic fans of your brand to get online and share of their own volition. Of course, you can't always guess how viral a particular tweet or campaign will go, so it's often better to build these campaigns off of already trending hashtags.

The experience of the customer can switch from physical to digital and back again in seconds. Your brand experience and marketing should reflect that same journey and the tips above can help you ensure it does.