When you first think about boosting your website’s traffic, SEO and social media marketing are probably the first two things that come to mind. While your head immediately goes toward digital efforts for digital exposure, offline marketing is just as important as online marketing to gain more website visitors.
Here is a list of five effective tactics to boost your website traffic offline.
Workshops
Education is an important pillar here at GreenMellen, and we do what we can to spread our knowledge of digital marketing and/or learn more about industry trends. Workshops are a great place to achieve this, and we love hosting our regular A Brighter Web Meetups for local business owners and WordPress enthusiasts.
What we love about our Meetups is that it attracts an audience who not only want to learn more about our industry but also need professional guidance on what next steps they should take. Thus, this is a great way to gain more website traffic and new leads who are ready to work with you professionally.
Printed Materials
Even though we speak about the power of digital marketing, printed marketing collateral still has its place in marketing. People do read magazines, newspapers and leave behinds such as one-pagers and brochures. While it may not get you “likes” or shares, as long as your website’s URL is on them, they will still drive traffic to your site.
Clothing / Swag
In case you didn’t know, we also try to attend at least one other WordCamp somewhere in the US (other than WordCamp Atlanta). Last year, we were fortunate enough to attend WordCamp US in Philadelphia, and we noticed right away that many people wore their business’s brand on their clothes. Whether it was a baseball cap or a hoodie, we noticed right away that people were sporting their brand as an extra marketing effort while networking with vendors and other attendees. We even used clothing to introduce our new logo in this gif:
If you are going to be a vendor or a sponsor for an upcoming event, it might be wise to have your website URL on swag. People crave free stuff, and when people leave with a branded item with your website on it, there’s a good chance they’ll type it into their search bar.
Podcasts / Radio
Okay, this might not be “offline,” but podcasts and radio interviews are an efficient way to gain more exposure. Both of our co-owners have been interviewed on small business podcasts and radio stations (such as Businessology and Atlanta Business Radio), and we have received leads from doing these. While podcasts are much trendier nowadays, radio is not dead. The reach radio provides still higher than any other marketing channel, and it’s a great way to get in touch with your local audience. Reach out to your local radio stations and industry-related podcasts and see what you can do to reach your audience through the airwaves.
Business Cards
You never know when you’ll run into someone who could use your services, which is why you should always have business cards in your purse, backpack or wallet at all times. Even if the person you meet isn’t interested in working with you at the time, you should still pull out a business card if they ask what you do for a living. Who knows, they may have a friend or relative who is in the market for your services.
To stand out, aim to have a business card with a creative design. It should match your branding, be easy to read, and, most importantly, include your URL. Here is a picture of our business card, and we regularly get compliments on its unique design:
Networking Events
The power of word of mouth cannot be denied, and networking is a fantastic way to put a face to a business’s name. You should attend multiple trade shows, conferences, business associations or industry-related events every year to expand your network, and as long as you give them a physical leave behind that has your website on it, you should expect to see traction on your site following the event.
By adding these offline marketing tactics to your strategy, your website’s traffic will see more success than just digital marketing alone. If you have any other ideas of how to utilize offline marketing to enhance your website’s traffic, comment on this post.
If you have any questions about more offline marketing tactics, let’s talk soon!
