Offline And Online Marketing Converge
April 9, 2007 – 12:21 pmIt’s easy to think of online marketing as being somehow completely different that more traditional offline methods, but in essence, nothing is different except the technology. Internet marketing allows businesses to get the best up-to-the minute data about customers, but the rules of traditional marketing still matter.
Online marketing is still trusted less than offline marketing
This is the one big difference that I can see between offline and internet marketing. Physical businesses tend to have a relatively high degree of trust, while many online entreprises are thought of as “scammy”. Clearly there are a lot of scams on the internet, but a trustworth company should have no problem answering the objections of the potential customers. If trust is a great issue, then offer a full refund on your product, for instance. There are any number of techniques an online business can use to establish credibility, and most of them parallel what happens in the bricks and mortar world.
Ways to establish trust:
- Offer free technical and customer support
- Have a liberal return/refund policy
- Be highly accessible - email and possible a phone number depending on the nature of the product
- Ship fast and free if possible
- Advertise!
The same things that make people trust offline businesses can help improve your website’s credibility. As the credibility goes up, revenue should go upwards as well.
What makes your trust or distrust a website?
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2 Responses to “Offline And Online Marketing Converge”
I agree not much is different, except the technology. As long as someTHING (ads, text, banners, audio, video) is getting front of someONE your statement is correct. But, the technology has revolutionized and evolutionized the process. The revolution is targeting, the evolution is the level of tracking!
I don’t trust those single page “spammy” websites that make you scroll for days in order to view their offer, those very plain sites with white and lots and lots of text. They are everywhere! I only trust that they didn’t spend a lot of time or money on their site because they are trying to make a quick buck. Like a brick and mortar business, websites gain trust through appearance… appearance of legitamacy, appearance of professionalism. In reality, you might not offer these things, but your nicely designed lobby, and your nicely designed website signafy that you do, signafy that you care, and are willing to spend time and money catering to your audience.
By Zach Katkin on Apr 13, 2007
Zach, I know exactly what types of sites you mean. They’re terrible!
By Darren on Apr 16, 2007