Driving Offline Traffic To Your Online Presence

For a small business that has always been brick and mortar only, the transition to the online world can be a difficult one.  A business owner that has always done offline advertising and networking may feel that they are at a disadvantage when it comes to marketing their business online.  However, that is not necessarily the case.  In fact, these business owners may actually have an advantage in that they already know what kind of marketing materials and messages work for their business offline, and they can use those advertising pieces and marketing activities to begin to drive traffic to their online destinations.

To jump start your online social networking, take advantage of the networking opportunities and contacts you already have in the offline world.  Once you have set up your social networking account (my favorite is LinkedIN) search for your friends and colleagues to start building your connections.  I think many times small business owners are unaware of just how many of the professional people that they already know are using social networking.  If you are in any offline professional networking groups such as BNI, LeTip (are they still around?), or Chamber of Commerce make sure you are passing on your online networking contact info along with your name and number.  Include your profile address on your business cards and when exchanging information ask if you can connect with the person online.  (On a side note:  Make sure that when you decide on a username/profile name for your networking sites that it is professional in nature.  Use your name or your business name whenever possible and keep them consistent across social networks so that people begin to recognize you and your brand.)

If you want to drive traffic to your website make sure you are printing your web address on all of your printed marketing materials.  Did I just hear a collective “DUH!”?  I know, I know… that seems like a no-brainer but with as many ads as I come across with no web address on them, I sometimes wonder how no-brainer it really is.  When people visit your website from your printed ads they will usually do so for a number of different reasons.  They may want to learn more about you, they might simply be curious, others might want to see if you are an established and professional company or any combination of the above.  For the people that don’t feel the need to visit your website from your printed ad, you need to give them a reason.  You could do this in any number of ways - create a coupon that can only be retrieved on your website, inspire curiosity or mystery about what they might find there, create a forum where they can connect with other users of your products, run an online contest from your website, offer tools and resources that would be of interest to them…  You know your market better than I do so I’m sure you can come up with some even better ideas for your business.  Also worth a quick read is the article Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Packaging? by Chris Crum over at Small Business Newz.

What are some things you have found to work well for driving your offline traffic to your online presence?

Reader Comments

Angel McClinton says...July 7th, 2008

I haven’t been as active on LinkedIN as I should be. I’m going there right now and connecting with YOU!

Thanks for these great tips.

Lisa Katz says...July 8th, 2008

Brandi,

Your previous commenter is proof that LinkedIn is probably a waste of time, especially for traditional businesses. While its fun to throw around buzzwords I’m sure if we followed up with Angel we would find out that he didn’t use Linked In for much more than an entertaining search to see if anyone Angel knows signed up since his last visit and then he signed off having accomplished very little. (Angel if I’m wrong and you generated new business or created some crucial strategic alliances from your last visit to LinkedIn, then please correct me.)

In actuality, a great transition point is services like http://ww.zolve.com/ and http://www.referralkey.com/ Unlike LinkedIn where you befriend 500 corporate strangers and nothing becomes of it, traditional businesses will like the fact that referral networking is based on “actual” relationships. Also it is possible to execute traditional referral campaigns and drive actual traffic to your brick and mortar location.

Lisa

Brandi Cummings says...July 8th, 2008

Hi Lisa-
I don’t see Angel’s comment as proof that LinkedIn is a waste of time, but as an example of someone who has yet to take full advantage of what LinkedIn has to offer.

I myself have been skeptical of the usefulness of social networking sites such as LinkedIN and Facebook as some of my previous blog posts will show. However, I have found LinkedIn to be pretty useful in connecting me with people that I did not know previously, but I now have an “in” with so to speak and am able to forge relationships with.

I checked out the 2 social sites that you suggested and I don’t see a huge difference when comparing them to LinkedIn. The major difference in the Referral Key site is the ability to track and run referral campaigns, which I agree is a great addition. It has the feel of the traditional offline networking groups and I think small businesses that have experience in those kinds of groups will indeed feel comfortable there. However, the concepts are still the same: connect with people you know, and in turn the people that they know, and nurture those relationships by sending referrals, recommendations and connecting with others for the purpose of doing business.

Not every social networking group is right for every business - whether it is online or off. I think the important thing is finding the right one for your business and then taking advantage of all it has to offer.

Thanks for the comment and the heads up on 2 other options for finding the right networking group for our businesses.

Lisa Katz says...July 9th, 2008

Brandi,

Thanks, its nice to see a blogger proactively participating in their site.

I think where we disagree is whether or not you can make viable business connections on LinkedIn or Facebook and in my experience that isn’t likely. I am young and have been using social networking since the first month Facebook came out, way be before the “adult” set declared it the next best thing since profits. What I quickly learned was that the value in these sites, if any, was communicating with people I already know and trust. After making thousands of connection there wasn’t really much left to do. As I entered the professional world my Facebook connections became even less consequential.

What it comes down to is “What is a connection on a social/business networking site really worth?” According to sociologists and several BBC studies the answer is: very little.(I’d love to site sources but I’ll save that for when you let me author a blog =) In fact, certain trends suggest that those with more connections on social networking sites tend to have less connections in the real world.

I by no means have anything against social networking its just that as they are used, one real world connection is probably worth a thousand LinkedIn contacts.

To be honest, we probably have a better rapport on this comments board than most LinkedIn members have with the majority of their connections.

The reason is simple, we have put more time and thought into this dialog than just asking a friend of a friend to agree to be pals and saying “how are you on their birthday.”

The old joke goes that if you meet someone and actually want to continue the friendship you say “Let’s never become Facebook friends.”

I appreciate you allowing me to give my perspective.

I must admit I am a bit bias because I am a strong proponent of Referral Key and have many years experience with Facebook and Linked In.

Lets keep in touch.
Lisakatz@rocketmail.com

Brandi Cummings says...July 9th, 2008

Lisa-
You make some great points here and bring up issues that should definitely be looked into further: What is the real and perceived value of an online connection? How does a real world connection compare to an online connection? Does Facebook ruin your ability to interact with people in the real world

I have enjoyed getting your perspective and hope to hear more of it in the future…

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