Integrated Marketing- Online Retailers Take It Off-line

The hand that rules the press, the radio, the screen and the far-spread magazine, rules the country.” Learned Hand 1942

Even in 1942 Hand knew exactly what he was talking about, though in today’s world, I’m sure he would have also included the Internet. Relying on only one method of marketing doesn’t spell doom, but it certainly doesn’t improve one’s odds of succeeding, and etailers validated this with their 2003 holiday marketing campaigns.

While etailers have already recognized the need and explored mass (think all those wacky Super Bowl TV ads and highway billboards during the Internet heyday), most have still relied on their web sites to directly handle sales. This year, things have changed.

Online or Offline - Which is Better?

According to a report issued by ActivMedia (August, 1999), four in five web sites have off-line sales channels with 54% reporting a “substantial two-way synergy between brick-and-mortar and cyberspace.”

The most commonly used off-line sales channels are as follows:
* Print advertising 44.0%
* Personal sales 42.7%
* Direct mail 32.8%
* Printed catalog 31.5%
* Retail store 28.5%
* 800 number 26.1%
* Sales reps, affiliate marketing 25.6%
* Online sales exclusively 19.7%
* Broadcast media 13.3%
* Outbound calling 8.3%

This year, more etailers than ever seem to “get it.” Retail conglomerates Amazon, Red Envelope, Spiegel, and Dell (just to name a few) have sent out print catalogs to past purchasers, ensuring their chances of being remembered and purchased from this holiday season.

And, of course, these marketing geniuses know how to entice their “regulars” with special coupons, discounts and offers.

A recent study put together by Shop.org and BizRate.com found that 45% of US online buyers are shopping offline - in stores or catalogs - but then logging on to actually make more holiday purchases.

The study also found that 24% of online buyers research their purchases in a store and then buy their gifts online from the same retailer- yet another compelling reason to ponder integrated marketing.

The Integrated Marketing Process

How to best go about shifting from one marketing channel to multiple ones? It’s both a question of strategy and budget. To simplify, start with your target market. Where do these people spend the most time? Is it reading print publications? Watching TV? Commuting to work? Online?

Once you understand the typical behavior of your demographic, you can put together a wish list of media channels and whittle it down. No doubt that with off-line marketing you want to include the vital URL on any tangible piece of promotion. We’re talking anything from brochures to magnets to receipts to press releases to TV and radio ads.

Plan before you act, however. What will your call to action be? For what offer? When will that offer expire? Through what means do you want the buyer to respond? (e.g. call you, visit your store, go to your web site, etc.)

And don’t just send these targeted visitors to your site’s home page. How are they going to know where to go then? Create a unique page for each special promotion and from each different media source. Not only will you be able to better track and measure the impact of your campaigns, but you will shorten the sales cycle by giving them a more direct path to what they came for.

There’s always the guerilla approach: If you’re a mom-and-pop store trying to boost your Internet sales, set up a computer out front with your web site pre-loaded. Let customers check out your site and shop from an expanded inventory. If you’re more of a techy and less of a marketer, get creative: hire some high school students to post flyers with your special offer and your URL.

Summing It Up

There are some of us who live and breathe the Internet. It’s how we read our news, play our games, listen to music, and shop. But others need tangibility to see, feel, touch, and smell. Internet retailers are no different than traditional ones. They must comply with the needs of ALL consumers, not just Internet fanatics. By integrating and refining their efforts, etailers are not only getting smarter, they’re making more money.

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