Copywriters Forum

Do you remember when offline advertising was still a thing?

There was Newspaper ads, Magazine ads, Billboards, Flyers and Brochures, your Business cards, and Direct mail (just to name a few).

Most companies these days are completely focused on internet marketing, and they ignore the offline advertising altogether. Which makes sense, since everybody is online these days, right?


Well, it’s true… The internet is part of our lives, and it’s here to stay. But let’s not forget all the customers who will find your business without going online. (believe it or not… there’s still some people who exist in the physical world)


If you think offline advertising is pointless, here’s a couple things to consider…

1- If everyone else is leaving offline advertising behind, that means there’s a HUGE OPPORTUNITY for you to fill the void, and get the attention of customers who are still part of the physical world.

2- It’s infinitely easier for people to delete emails (without ever reading them) and ignore your online ads – than it is to dismiss a promotion that’s part of their physical world (like a piece of paper they’re holding in their hand).


So those are a couple of powerful reasons to consider offline advertising. If for no other reason, than to stand out from the crowd.

Because like a wise man once said … “If you want to stand out from the crowd, look at what everybody else is doing… and then do something different”


So when you’re running your next advertising campaign, just remember that offline advertising is still a viable, and profitable way to bring customers to your business (even if you just use it to direct them to your online store)…

But online advertising is less expensive. We can send a shoutout to 1000 people with a click, for pennies. It costs a lot more to print and send 1000 pieces of paper.

Good point. I guess it depends on what we’re selling and who we’re selling it to. So it all comes down to ROI numbers. (cost per acquisition, lifetime value of customer, price point, competition, where we can get the most attention from prospects, etc.)


Edited: Here’s an article I just read from target marketing. It presents a couple research studies showing that a sizable number of millennials prefer print over digital marketing when it comes to bringing engagement into reality…

How and Why Marketing to Millennials With Print Boosts Engagement


So I guess that’s something else to think about…

It’s also important to remember that half the population doesn’t live in a city. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that lots of people aren’t anywhere near urban centers. I live 20 miles from the nearest town and it’s only got 600 people in it. There are still lots of places where people don’t spend a lot of time on the internet.

I recently received a PDF from the Canadian government about online marketing from the US to Canada. It seems that the majority of Canadian businesses don’t even have websites or email addresses. They still use print, billboard, radio and mailings to attract phone calls. Therefore the Canadian government is keen on getting more US marketers to go after Canadian customers online.

It seems that I also recently read that radio advertising is still considered one of the best performers for ROI in terms of dollars spent for potential buyers reached.