Advertising Offline

We talked about the benefits of using online advertising, banner ads, AdWords, etc to drive traffic to your website.

While it normally takes a much larger budget, depending on how well funded you are at the start-up of your Affiliate Marketing business, or once you have begun to make some serious profits, you may consider using “offline” or more traditional advertising buys to drive traffic to your website.

Local television and radio ads are a great way to do this. Most local cable operations, such as Comcast Spotlight, offer direct response cable ads, which often will include the production of the ad, at surprisingly reasonable rates.

These ads will fall into the Direct Response Category – which is cheaper than a more traditional TV commercial because they will have a “Call to Action” by asking people to “log onto your website for more information on a great money making opportunity” or what have you. The same can be said for local radio ads.

Those that have the budget for it are developing what are known as vertically integrated multi-media campaigns.

In this case lets say you have a great Affiliate website selling a weight loss product or products. In such a multi-media campaign you can have a long form “Infomercial” produced about the product.

Add to that 30 to 60 second Direct response commercials imbedded within the half hour infomercial which are designed to have people who are watching the TV show go to the site and order product at a “special discount” using a code given on the air.

This lets you track your ROI. In this model the website is also used to promote the Television show before it airs, and magazine ads are taken out in major publications to “Tune-In” to the program before it airs on TV. This creates a multi-media media blitz that has been proven to result in major sales.

Now of course not everybody has that kind of budget, but there are other avenues of “offline” or traditional advertising that businesses have been using for years, that work just as well for an online business.

Coupon Mailers or windshield flyers, trade shows, even walking around with caps and t-shirts emblazoned with your website, all can raise curiosity create brand awareness and drive traffic to your site.

I live on a beach, and I have even seen airplanes fly by with banners to log onto particular websites, so don’t be afraid to be creative!