Offline ads include TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, yellow pages, billboards, and direct mail. All of these can be utilized at almost any scale, from local campaigns to national ones. They are used by billion-dollar brands like Wal-Mart and by local teens looking for babysitting gigs. Even today, advertisers spend more on offline ads then they do on online.
- Offline ads can be easy to test. For as little as $300, you can put out a radio ad in a market you’re targeting and see how it performs. Billboards are the same way, you can buy space for a few hundred bucks a month, or rent one in a more prime location for many thousands.
- Demographics of each advertising medium are the most important factor to consider when making an offline ads purchase. You should be able to answer many of these questions by asking for an audience prospectus (sometimes called an ad kit) from whatever company is selling the ad inventory.
- Cost of an offline ad depends on its reach. A billboard in Times Square goes for much more than one in the middle of Ohio because more people see it. Most offline advertisements work similarly. To run cheap tests you look for remnant advertising-ad space that is currently being unused. Buying remnant ad inventory can work across most offline mediums, not just in print. Buy a small ad in a niche publication and give it a test.
- Tracking offline ads are much harder to track as compared to online ads that have tracking built-in. Successful offline tracking involves the use of tools like URL shorteners, unique web addresses and promotional codes to measure effectiveness. Examples: From the Traction book-Create flyers that link to tractionbook.com/ flyer. For direct response ads you can provide unique coupon codes.
- Magazines are nearly 7,000 different magazines in the US, ranging from commercial publications with millions of subscribers to small trade publications with hundreds of readers. There are three general magazine categories:
- consumer publications that appeal to the larger population (these are the ones you see on newsstands and in grocery stores),
- trade publications covering a particular industry or business,
- local magazines that you’ll see for free along sidewalks and near grocery stores. The key is understanding the demographics, circulation, and publication frequency of each magazine.To get this information, just ask the magazine for their ad kit (also known as a media package, media kit, or press kit). Or, use the magazine handbook produced by the Marketing Publishers Association to find magazines that appeal to your target market.
- Newspapers share many characteristics with magazines. They are published on both a national and local scale, the pricing is largely based on the circulation of a given paper, and they allow you to choose the type of ad you want in the paper. Its demographic definitely focuses on 30 yrs and older.
- Direct Mail entails any printed advertising message (ads, letters, catalogs , etc.) delivered to a specific group of consumers through the postal system. Here are a few good direct mail tactics for direct mail: Provide a self-addressed envelope to increase recipients, have an offer or clear action you are asking recipients and look into bulk mail options to reduce price.
- Local Print Ads include buying space in local publications; church bulletin, community newsletter, coupon booklet, flyers, directories or calendars. It is possible to test print advertising because of its reasonable cost, just a few hundred dollars can expose you to thousands of people in a targeted area. Ads in the yellow pages are also inexpensive.
- Usually TV ads are very expensive, but over the last few years it’s become possible to advertise on TV without spending so much money. Local TV spots on one of the 1,300 + TV stations in the US can be an effective and reasonably priced way to make an impression.
- Buying TV ads is a rather opaque process that involves a lot of negotiation, as there are no rate cards in the industry like those in print advertising. Thus, for larger media buys, you will likely want to hire a media buyer or agency to handle the many sellers out there and to ensure that you get a quality spot at a fair price.
- Infomercials can cost anywhere between $ 50,000– 500,000 to make. They can be 2 minute infomercial shorts or the more traditional 28 minute episodes. These ads are almost always direct response: advertisers want people to see it, then visit a website or call in to take advantage of a special offer.
- How To Get $250,000 for $10,000 by Tim Ferris
- Offline Ad Resources for Tractions Chapter 11 by Gabriel Weinberg
- 5 Ways that Offline Marketing is Still Critical for Startups by Dena Enos
- Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, Icons Accelerate Success by Shane Snow a book with great insight into how others have successfully grown a startup and the psychology and activities that preceded success.
- 60 Offline Marketing Ideas for Startups on Startup Freak blog
- Offline Marketing for Startups
- Brand Recognition: Five Offline Marketing Techniques for Promoting Your Startup by Lauren Hoover