There’s no denying that social media marketing is a key part of the success of any modern business – but this doesn’t mean that traditional forms of marketing, like printed leaflets, are now useless. In fact, it pays to use both online and offline marketing methods, especially when the two are linked together. This is generally known as cross-media marketing, using a variety of mediums to consistently and uniformly deliver your message and brand.
What’s more, with the low costs of leaflet printing, and the design and content options they offer (Article: Content and Design Tips for Powerful Leaflets that get you Results) along with free accounts available on most social media websites i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc.., it’s a great way to market your business at very little cost. With that in mind, here are two ways that you can link your leaflet marketing with your social media campaigns.
1. Use QR codes
QR codes (What is a QR Code?) are probably the most direct way to link your leaflets with your social media marketing campaigns. Essentially a hyperlink translated into an image, your customers will focus the camera on their mobile phone or tablet device on the QR code box, which will then take them directly to your website or social media page, depending on which site you set the QR to. This is a fantastic way to get your prospective customers directly from your leaflets to your social media pages, and as a result, it also helps to strengthen your brand and online presence, and makes your whole marketing process more holistic. However, as they rely on the image on the leaflet, you should make sure that you only use high quality printing when using QR codes, as blurry or pixelated leaflets can stop them from working correctly.
2. Use consistent branding
You don’t always need to link your marketing campaigns directly; there are other, subtler ways to make your leaflet and social media campaigns work in harmony. You should already be aware of the importance of branding to the success of any business in today’s marketplace, but did you know that it can also be used to create a strong link between your online and offline marketing campaigns? Using consistent branding across both your social media marketing and your printed leaflets helps remind your prospective customers of who you are, and helps them link the leaflets they receive in the post with the high quality content they read on your Facebook or Twitter page.
The art is to keep the same colour schemes, graphics and messages on all marketing material and outlets, so that potential or current customers instantly recoginse your company and logo making you the first choice in their purchasing decisions. At every opportunity try to link your marketing and you will see its effectiveness rise quite significantly.