Effective Offline Marketing Strategies
The essence of business is to sell products or services. A product or a service is conceptualized because there is a market for it. This can either be existing or potential market. With competition real tough these days, companies are in the lookout for effective offline marketing strategies. For marketing to be effective, different strategies for each marketing component should be implemented.
Product Strategies
A product is developed to answer a particular need or want. But, to counter competition, new features or benefits should be added aside from its basic function. This can include a more appealing color or an inclusion of a minor feature. If the product is a rice cooker, for instance, a steaming rack can be added so that it can steam foods as well.
Variants can also be introduced, like new flavors for juices. Packaging should be regularly improved or enhanced as well, especially for consumer commodities such as shampoos, toothpastes, canned goods, and cereals. These products are regularly purchased by consumers and are also produced by a lot of competitors. Thus, repackaging will counter stiff competition. It will also avoid product fatigue or boredom on the part of the consumers.
Promotional Strategies
Customers today are not only demanding but also discriminating. They can afford to because of the availability of many products and services of varied brands, models, and features in the market. To have an edge over a competing product or brand, offline marketing strategies that will effectively market the product should be implemented.
The most effective advertising medium today is the television because people are glued to their TV sets for an average of two to four hours per day. TV ads should be creatively done to catch the attention of its target customers and promote memory recall. The commercial models or product endorsers should also be appropriate to the target market segment.
Pricing Strategies
Overpricing and under pricing can be both beneficial and detrimental to a product or service. Overpricing may cause customer to shift to other brands while under pricing may convey an inferior quality of product.
Therefore, it is important that pricing be carefully studied to arrive at an optimum price. Social pricing can also be adapted. This means that if the product is sold at high-end markets such as boutiques and other exclusive shops, the product can be priced higher than its regular price. This strategy is more applicable to non-essential or luxury products.
Product Channel or Distribution Strategies
The channels through which the product will reach the end users are also important. Networking and multi-level marketing are widely popular these days. Aside from the regular advertisements in the form of TV and print ads, the product can also be promoted and delivered personally by dealers and agents.
Marketing is both a science and an art. Since the users are human beings, both their mental and emotional faculties are involved in choosing the particular brand, type, or model of products to buy. Thus, it is important that effective offline marketing strategies be implemented to attract customers and to sustain their patronage.
