The importance of offline media in your media mix

Brand awareness and awareness

Offline media is everywhere in everyday life, often appearing in unexpected places and moments. This can range from a wrapped tram in the city streets to a catchy jingle on the radio, an interesting offer on a billboard or a powerful message in their favorite magazine.

Subconsciously, people see your message and store it during their daily activities. This is in contrast to some online environments where surfers try to protect themselves against unwanted advertising messages with ad blockers.

By ensuring that people regularly encounter your message as part of their everyday lives, it will be better remembered and thus have more impact. In other words, when you make smart use of offline media it has a positive impact on brand recognition and brand recall. This effect is further enhanced by getting the blend of off- and online channels right.

Targeting

With the data that’s available today you can target online in a very focused way. However, we should not underestimate the selectivity of offline media. With traditional media you reach a wide audience, but it is certainly possible to appeal to a specific target group.

For example, newspapers and magazines often have a characteristic socio-demographic target group that also allows precise targeting. With signage you can work on very specific geographical areas, which makes it easier to reach local people. And niche target groups can also be targeted with offline channels. Just think of trade magazines or newsletters.

Target groups that are more difficult to reach online, such as seniors who are less active on digital platforms, can also be addressed more easily via traditional media.

Which brings us seamlessly to another major advantage of offline media: accessibility. Online media campaigns are only visible to those who have a smartphone or PC, offline media, on the other hand, are free of such things.

Authenticity and brand experience

The main advantage of offline media is that they offer the target audience an immersive and engaged experience. The physical tangibility of magazines, newspapers, brochures, etc. ensures that your message sticks better. The advertisements can be viewed quietly and at any time, which has a positive impact on brand recognition.

An impressive billboard can also grab attention and leave a lasting impression, allowing you to include people in your brand story and expand your brand experience.

Endless creative possibilities

When it comes to creative formats, the sky is the limit. There are plenty of possibilities to make your brand stand out. This can range from irregularly shaped brochures to light projections on buildings and wrapped, themed bus shelters. You might not think this is already happening, but it is:

When you think offline it’s easy to only think about billboards or print advertisements, but that is only a small list of the countless possibilities. Where you can often only make an impact visually with online media, with offline media you can go that little bit further.

Online and offline media: the power of the blend

Imagine, you are on your way to work, and you hear a commercial from brand X on the radio. During your coffee break at the office, you scroll on social media and you come across another advertisement from brand X. On the way home, you see that same brand on a billboard along the road. Before you go to bed, you quickly read the online newspaper, where you notice the same advertisement again. In this example, it becomes clear that both media will boost the other in the field of brand recognition.

Offline media can also stimulate online traffic to your website, for example by integrating a QR code into your print ads. When someone scans the code, it takes them to your brand’s landing page, and you can retarget that person with online advertisements.

There are many opportunities to combine traditional and digital media and take them to the next level. Online and offline media should certainly not be seen as two separate parts of your strategy. On the contrary, when you use both well and smartly in your media mix, you don’t just extend your reach, you also increase the overall impact and effectiveness of your campaign. This increases the ROI of your campaign, win-win right?

About the author

Ciara Di Virgilio

Online Advertising Specialist | iO

With a fresh perspective on digital ads, Ciara proclaims an equally fresh media mix of online and offline content to achieve the best results. Always positive and spontaneous, with relevant knowledge of ads on Facebook, Google, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube as her greatest weapon.