Online PR v traditional marketing for home business

Getting your home business message out there

Today’s guest post reminds home business owners not to forget about traditional methods of marketing.

The growth of online marketing has been a boon for home business. The costs typically associated with offline methods are significantly reduced when brands go digital, as are a great deal of the resources required to get a message out.

But with all these new-fangled tools at your disposal, it’s easy to forget the value of traditional marketing methods and their digital equivalents. In this article, we’ll take a look at some neglected channels and investigate whether you should be targeting them alongside your online PR efforts for your home business.

Direct mail sells
Companies can now fire off reams of digital correspondence with the touch of a button, which leads many to forget about physical mail. But figures indicate that direct mail can produce great results when used right.

ExactTarget found that a whopping 65% of online consumers had made a purchase as a result of receiving physical mail – with this method being especially effective with older shoppers. Similarly, a Millward Brown case study revealed that greater emotional processing is involved with physical correspondence.

Online channels still a firm favourite
Despite these promising statistics, online channels’ dominance is set to continue for the foreseeable future. Email and social media are particular areas of growth and this trend will only persist as more companies get to grips with these fields.

TV and print
Television continues to be one of the best ways to get your message out, but the cost is of course prohibitive for home business. And while the death knell of print has been sounded for many years, its demise seems to be a long time coming.
However, these channels rank among the most effective in terms of influencing purchasing decisions – outpacing the likes of website banners and video adverts on YouTube.

Press releases
Press releases have been used by organisations with a message to get out for more than a century. However, home business owners are often reluctant to grapple with this enigmatic marketing tool.
In the past, businesses looking to get places with these have been forced to outsource their efforts to specialist agencies, but as with most things – the dawn of digital has lowered the bar in terms of accessibility.
The growth of online news sites and agencies offering online press release services means that companies can get their message in front of journalists both far and wide for a marginal cost. However, it may still be worth outsourcing certain elements of the process if you’re not confident in creating and distributing a press release from scratch.

For home business owners looking to promote themselves, the future looks bright. And by tying together a range of on and offline marketing techniques, you can ensure that you’ll get your message in front of your target audience with more precision than ever before.

Image used courtesy of Shutterstock