Online and Offline Marketing Part Two

This is part two of a two part post about integrating  traditional green marketing and online green marketing.  The most powerful campaigns   incorporate both and here are some of the strategies I recommend

Multiple Touch Points

The different marketing channels are already merging and overlapping today. Consumers watch TV commercials on their laptops and listen to radio Ads on their iPhones. TV and Radio ads send listeners to company websites for special offers, and the optimal  campaigns use multiple touch points including print, website, social media, telemarketing and mobile.

Leverage the strength of each Marketing Tool

Each online and offline tool has its own role in the overall marketing process. For example, TV is great for reaching a mass audience while Social Media is the perfect medium for gaining access to a younger, digital savvy and mobile audience. It is also ideal for engaging and communicating with your market.  Social Media allows unprecedented openness and authenticity, and enables powerful two way conversations with your prospects and customers.

You can promote a new green campaign or products to your Facebook Fans and Twitter followers, and, in return, also get honest feedback and advice from them.   Look at Patagonia’s Facebook Fan Page for a great example.  They are honest about everything that is good and bad about their products. In addition, you can always add your Facebook Fan page to your Advertising, Packaging and Brochures with a special offer, like a coupon, to become a Fan

One of the best examples of successful online and offline integration is found at Method, the Green Cleaning products company. They sell their products in over 25,000 retail outlets including Target and Whole Foods and, as described in Jacquie Ottman’s upcoming book , The New Rules of Green Marketing, they creatively use traditional marketing including “Cleaning Tours in Chicago, Boston, New York and other cities, setting up “pop-up shops” on street corners where customers can swap an old toxic cleaning product for a free Method one.“

Their inspiring brand is strengthened by their online marketing. Their excellent website features their engaging People against Dirty Campaign and they fully leverage the power of social marketing.  When you join the campaign you become an “advocate” and then  participate in their mission to promote green cleaning, while interacting with many other advocates through their Facebook, Twitter and Flickr communities.

Method are also in a highly competitive market where they compete against major players like Procter & Gamble, and also use paid media for their laundry detergent. Again, the goal is to integrate online and offline marketing in order to increase your reach, strengthen your brand and grow sales.

So consider how you can do the same in your organization and boost the impact of your marketing.  Start by setting up a Facebook Page, Twitter and YouTube account and connect them to your website so you have more online points of contact with your consumers. Use Facebook for dialogue, Twitter for Tweets and YouTube to showcase your products. Also, ensure your Website, Facebook and Twitter addresses are on all your marketing materials, stationery, business cards and every form of communication.

Then offer an incentive to encourage people to give you their email address. Maybe offer a coupon or discount, or a free newsletter. Or hold a contest and promote a  live event or a store promotion. Coordinate the distribution of all your news and content to every channel.

The more you connect your marketing channels and the more you re-purpose your message for offline and online the better.  When you create a virtuous cycle you establish the foundations for leveraging all your marketing initiatives and achieving long-term growth in Sales. As new technologies emerge you can integrate them into this cycle, and stay at the cutting edge of Green Marketing.ge-490″ />