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Seven Offline Viral Marketing Ideas
By Matt DeAngelis (c) 2006

Recently I participated in a forum discussion about offline
marketing – that is using more traditional marketing offline to
drive traffic to your website or blog. I can still remember the
first time I saw a URL in a TV commercial and how cool I
thought that was.

The offline world has the constraint of geography, so the least
expensive forms of viral marketing are going to be
geographically bound, which can be challenging for some sites.
Someone on the forum said that offline marketing is a waste of
time for most sites or blogs. I think that is a false
generalization. In fact, every site should practice some form
of offline viral promotion. We call these efforts drive to web
programs and they can be very successful.

There are two important pieces to all promotion, and they
become even more important in promoting your site offline. Just
like the online world, your success at offline promotion is
going to hinge on putting your message in front of the prospect
in the right context – meaning at the right time and when they
are in the right mood to perform the action you are looking
for, which in this case is a visit to your website.

You need two elements for each viral marketing idea – the hook
and the context. Once you figure out how you're going to do it,
you need to determine where you're going to do it. If the niche
and scope of your business won't lend itself well to local
leads, passing out business cards isn't going to work as a
viral marketing idea. I think every site could benefit from
offline leads – it's just a matter of how much time and money
you want to throw at them.

So here are ten ideas with an explanation of hook and context
for each:

1. Idea: Use your URL like your phone number. Most people get
it on their business cards but leave it off many equally
important items that become marketing materials. Here are a
few: letterheads, press releases, yellow page ads, newspaper
advertising, radio and TV ads, company vehicles, brochures,
sell sheets, the bottom of every page of your catalog. Wherever
there is a phone number there should be both a URL and contact
email address that is generic (contact@yourco.com).

Cost: Nothing. You're already paying for the materials anyway.

Context: Global, because all of your marketing materials travel
all over the place, and your ads should be seen and heard
everywhere in the markets you choose.

2. Idea: Webcards. You can get business cards pretty cheap these
days. Companies like DCP Print offer 250 free business cards
with their ad on the back (their own viral marketing) or $9.99
for 500 cards. They seem a little thin, but they'll do. What
you want to do is choose an attention-getting color that fits
with the image of your site (a nice sky blue or yellow), and
put your URL right in the middle in huge letters. Put a short
description of the site and maybe your email and/or telephone
number, and give them out.

Cost: Minimal.

Context: More locally focused, because you are handing them
out. But check out the next idea.

3. Idea: Make every customer contact a viral marketing
opportunity. Remember the webcards from the last idea? It's a
no-brainer to hand them out directly to customers, right? How
about paper clipping a couple of them to an invoice or
statement or other correspondence with a small postit note
personally written by you asking them to keep one of the cards
and give the other one to someone who might be able to use it.

This will work with many of the ideas on this page.

If you spend enough time building relationships with your
customers they should be happy to help. Be sure to thank them
for any referrals.

Cost: Minimal.

Context: Sort of a viral marketing meets chain letter idea that
has potential. Global in scope.

4. Idea: Referral Bribes. This is a terrific idea, because it
works both offline and online. For online you can send an email
to your customers or put a link on your pages. There are tools
like refer-a-buddy for websites and there are plenty of free
refer this page to a friend scripts out there.

Offer your current customers an incentive to refer new
customers. Maybe it's a coupon for a percentage off their next
order, or an entry into a prize raffle or something else of
value. This encourages people to tell you who referred them so
you can see who's helping you out.

For the offline equivalent, make up a coupon and hand it out to
people to hand out to other people.

Always send a thank you to people who refer other people, even
if you bribe them.

Cost: A little to a lot, depending on the bribe.

Context: Global, if you combine offline with online.

5. Idea: Tchochkes . Tchochkes [choch-kez] are little gifts
(knick knacks) emblazoned with your URL that you give out to
people. The webcard could actually be considered a tchochke,
but they usually are stuff we have on our desk or around our
house like paperweights, coffee cups, T-Shirts, refrigerator
magnets and other stuff.

At my wine shop we give out corkscrews with foil cutters that
have our info printed in gold on them. I never have them out
where people can see them but people often ask for them so I
know they are getting around.

These can be very effective, but they can also be very
expensive. If you come up with a well-designed coffee cup or
paperweight it will end up on the desk of your customer, where
everyone that comes into his office can see it. Make sure the
URL is prominent, and try to make it fun and unique.

Cost: Could get very expensive.

Context: Global, depending on where you send them.

6. Idea: Direct Mail with a personalized offer I have done this
successfully many times, and your success is going to depend on
how well you target your prospects and the quality of your
offer.

If you have a super-niche site, subscription-based site, or
high ticket niche item this idea is probably a winner for you,
though it may get expensive. There are (snail mail) mailing
lists for everything. I have used a broker, Edith Roman for
years. Put together a mailing list and a good offer, like a
trial subscription or free gift or special coupon or free knick
knack or something like that.

Use a well designed, neat, personalized letter with a
personalized URL (an easy one), and send them off to redeem
their offer. Use a personalized splash page and a good offer.

Cost: Fairly expensive to very expensive.

Context: Global.

7. Idea: The World as Your Billboard. If there is opportunity in
a more local focus for your drive to web program, you should
figure out how to get your URL in front of as many people as
you can locally. Creative and unique wins the day.

I've seen posters, yard signs, billboards, bumper stickers,
pens and pencils, car window signs. Think about it and come up
with something good.

Don't clutter them with text. Use your URL and a few
descriptive words:

www.yankeewine.com
Bigger is better

One person had bookmarks made up and inserted them into books
at the local bookstore (owned by a friend) in relevant
categories. Brilliant. Another person created PDF viral
marketing kits for site fans to spread the word in their town.
Another brilliant idea.

Cost: Inexpensive.

Context: Local.

Always, always, always have business cards, web cards,
brochures, tchochkes or some viral marketing medium on you,
because you never know when an opportunity to pass them out
will arise.

I have a supply of business cards and brochures in the trunk of
my car. I even have a stack of cards in the saddlebag of my
motorcycle.

All of these ideas are combinable, and you should be
implementing at least one or two of them. I'd love to hear your
offline viral marketing ideas. Post them at AffiliateBlog.
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Matt DeAngelis runs http://www.AffiliateBlog.com. Matt is the
former CTO of Modem Media, a pioneer in the Internet ad space.
As a foot soldier in the Internet revolution, Matt devised the
technology behind many of the most successful ad campaigns of
the time. Affiliate Blog offers insights on Marketing and the
top Affiliate Programs on the Net.
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