{"id":42043,"date":"2021-01-19T08:01:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T07:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sotrender.com\/blog\/?p=42043\/"},"modified":"2024-09-09T12:38:21","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T10:38:21","slug":"online-store-traffic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sotrender.com\/blog\/2021\/01\/online-store-traffic\/","title":{"rendered":"How Physical Events Can Improve Online Store Traffic"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rise in your online store traffic means an increase in visibility. However, just because your store is online doesn’t mean that you have to keep all of your marketing efforts there. Here’s why you should include offline marketing tactics such as physical events to get better traffic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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How important is it to increase online store traffic?<\/h2>\n

Offline marketing for brick-and-mortar stores, and online marketing for eCommerce stores: it\u2019s long been assumed that this arrangement makes complete sense, but of course it doesn\u2019t. When was the last time you were truly offline for any decent stretch of time with no smartphone in your pocket or laptop at hand?<\/p>\n

Today, any retailer hoping to thrive must take advantage of <\/span>all <\/span>tactics available to them \u2014 and just as physical events can be effectively promoted online (particularly through <\/span>high-ROI Facebook marketing<\/span><\/a>), they can also prove incredibly potent for promoting eCommerce brands<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019re going to quickly look at forms of marketing, then set out how you can use physical events to markedly expand your online store’s traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Offline versus online marketing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You can think of offline marketing as <\/span>traditional <\/span>marketing because it\u2019s been around for so much longer than its digital-age alternative. Offline marketing involves classic methods like putting up posters and billboards, running TV or radio ads, sending out promotional mailers, and \u2014 most notably here \u2014 setting up attention-grabbing events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Online marketing, as you’d expect, involves every promotional method that you can route through the internet. YouTube and podcast ads replaced TV and radio ads while marketing emails replaced promotional mailers. You can even run virtual events<\/a><\/span>, and that option has become significantly more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, though it\u2019s more common to see online seminars than anything else.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are four main differences between the two: popularity, audience, impact, and trackability. <\/span>Online marketing is now far more popular<\/span><\/a>, which makes offline marketing the underdog \u2014 if it\u2019s done well, it can really stand out. Offline marketing is better for older people, with online marketing ideal for generations who spend a lot of their time browsing the internet.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Each approach is impactful in a different way. Offline marketing materials can take advantage of the senses of touch, taste (think of food samples in stores, for instance), and even <\/span>smell<\/span>. Back in 2014, car company <\/span>Nissan worked with Air Aroma<\/span><\/a> to develop a unique brand scent to be used at all trade shows (see the above example of such a show).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, <\/span>online<\/span> marketing materials need to rely on sight and sound, but they can do spectacular things with them. Just think about what modern graphics can achieve: digital effects that would be all but impossible to recreate in the physical world.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last main difference is trackability, and that\u2019s where online marketing has a clear advantage.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s possible to track offline marketing methods but it\u2019s much more awkward to manage this.\u00a0Through cookies and other forms of online tracking, you can get rich and near-immediate feedback from your online campaigns.<\/p>\n

However, the line between offline and online marketing is increasingly blurring. For instance, the use of custom QR codes<\/a> in physical marketing materials allows businesses to track engagement from offline campaigns and seamlessly direct consumers to their online platforms.<\/p>\n

If your online store is on social media, you can track your store’s social media reach with Sotrender<\/a>,\u00a0an AI-driven social media analytics tool.<\/p>\n

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Now that you know the differences between the two, we can move on to three ways you can improve online store traffic.<\/p>\n

You can build hype through showcases<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s important for online stores to update their product ranges on a semi-frequent basis. After all, there are few words more powerful in retail than \u201cnew\u201d \u2014 but when you have something new to show off, you need to make an effort to do just that instead of just cycling it into your inventory with little more than a few marketing emails to promote it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is particularly true for certain product types that fundamentally rely on <\/span>qualia<\/span>\u00a0or subjective experiences. In addition to well-established types like foodstuffs and perfumes (you can\u2019t exactly taste a new snack through a laptop screen), there are now complex electronic devices that lean on <\/span>sensations<\/span>: <\/span>here’s an example<\/span><\/a> in the form of a mood-altering headband. How can people trust that it works? Ideally, they\u2019d try it themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although <\/span>Hapbee wearables<\/span><\/a> raised quite a lot of money through crowdfunding wielding some high-profile testimonials, arguably the results could have been even better had it been possible to fully convey the <\/span>experience<\/span> on a wider scale (it did showcase the tech at <\/span>some <\/span>events, as seen in the video below.<\/span><\/p>\n