In today’s fast-paced world we live in, digitalisation runs most businesses.

As a result of this, individuals and businesses are both increasingly dependent on the digital and virtual world. 

Maintaining a successful business requires investing in a well-blended mix of online and offline marketing strategies, as no one medium can get the job done alone. 

If you own and run a small-scale business, you have even more reason to opt for offline marketing strategies for your small business.

Why is this, you may ask?

Small businesses tend to operate in a local region, are start-ups, or have a limited number of clients or market share. Therefore, to gain exposure and reach a larger audience, offline promotions can aid in increased brand recognition and awareness.

In this article, we’ll discuss some popular offline marketing strategies for small businesses to use while promoting themselves, ensuring strong and steady results.

1. Distribute printed material

Using digital adverts is great, but you’d be surprised at how many people still respond very positively to printed materials.

Studies have also shown how brand recall is much better when people view adverts in print, as opposed to consumed digitally. Advertising your small business using well-designed small business flyers, posters, and pamphlets tends to be effective as they’re harder to ignore than ads across the internet, on the computer.

This form of physical advertising can also be quite cost-effective. You can create free small business flyers using various online software that allow you to customise ready-made templates, with your own business details and offerings. Once these have been designed you can print and hand them out in popular local areas that tend to get a lot of visitors, such as malls, supermarkets, schools, restaurants, and other places.

2. Send direct mail 

Despite living in an age of social media and smartphones, direct mail remains highly persuasive.

What’s great about using direct mail for your small business is that it’s a relatively inexpensive marketing method for businesses on a budget, and has the added benefit of being highly targeted –  the offline version of a paid social media campaign!

You can use data to personalise the mail and have it delivered to your targeted location, based on your target audience demographics.

You can add special discount coupons to the mailing pack, or various promotional small business flyers which can help with a higher conversion rate, and also help you track and measure the success of your mailing campaign. 

3. Publish in niche magazines

Another budget-friendly way for small businesses to promote their products or services is through the use of local or niche publications. Placing an ad in magazines that cater to your business niche, local newspapers, or trade publications can help you connect with potential customers and get the exposure you need.

Alternatively, you can also opt to publish an article in either of these publications in an area your business’s expertise lies in. This can help not only get your name out there but also establish your business as a credible source for particular products or services.

4. Attend local exhibitions and networking events

Whether you live in a tiny town or a large bustling city, there are sure to be lots of networking opportunities available for your business. All that’s required from you is to take some time to find these local opportunities, attend them, and make sure you’re talking to as many people as possible.

It can be a local exhibition at which you exhibit your business or a talk, seminar, conference, or event of some type. Just keep talking and connecting with attendees, as you never know when you could meet someone who can help spread the word and grow your business.

Don’t stop at just events – go that one step further by having conversations with other business owners, friends, colleagues, neighbours and family members. The more people you talk to, the more they will know, making it easier for the promotion of your business through word-of-mouth.

At events like these, you also have the opportunity to set up a stand to sample your products, talk about your services and hand out any small business flyers or pamphlets you’ve created.

5. Hand out business cards

An increasingly forgone but still very effective offline marketing tactic to promote your small business is by distributing your business cards. Like what was mentioned in the first point, business cards are an affordable and easy way to stay in touch and connect with people you may meet along the way.

You can create a simple or stunning design yourself by using online business card templates. Print them out and hand them out at networking events, to friends and family to distribute, leave them in public spaces, or just pin them up on bulletin boards across town. A versatile and cheap offline marketing strategy that can get your small business lots of exposure.

6. Set up a referral program to incentivise word-of-mouth

There is no doubt that one of the best ways to get new audiences to try your products or services out is through recommendations from those near and dear individuals who potential customers trust, such as friends, family, and colleagues.

A great way to get those word-of-mouth referrals up is by incentivising customers who do this, providing them with a gift, discount code, or some form of loyalty points that they can redeem with your business at a later date.

What’s great about running a referral program is that you can customise it to suit the like and budget of your small business.

This offline marketing strategy will not only help you grow your business through an increased number of customers but also help build a good reputation for your brand by people actively spreading the word about your business.

7. Give away branded merchandise

Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t love a freebie? Believe it or not, people still use and adore even branded items that are given away for free, particularly when it’s a local business or a brand they love.

Creating and giving away branded merchandise has been a very popular offline marketing method for years and continues to be to date. It’s also the perfect way to get the name of your brand out there and can be done cleverly with some thinking and planning by having products created that relate to what your business offers.

Increase your brand recognition and recall with your customers by using out-of-the-box ideas with your merchandise.

8. Get sticking!

Printing custom stickers presents business owners with a quick, fun and creative way to get more eyes on your brand.

Order eye-catching stickers of your brand’s logo and/or tagline and stick them anywhere and everywhere to capture attention and heighten intrigue.

This low-cost, low-effort offline marketing approach might seem simple, but it’s still a super-effective means of boosting consumer recognition for your brand name and branding.

Conclusion

Those are some offline marketing strategies you can use to grow your small business. Remember, however, that a seamless combination of both online and offline will always help you market more effectively, as what offline marketing can do, online may not be able to, and vice versa.