Differences Between Online and Offline Marketing

Differences between online and offline marketing are often ignored by people because they think it is obvious and not worth looking into. A money maker knows and understands online and offline differences and uses it to his advantage in bulding a profitable business that works.

It does not matter whether you are trying to sell products or services online or whether you want to use an online business to promote offline sales. It does not matter if you already have a home based sales business or internet based home business. You should understand the differences.

There are two main online and offline differences:

1. Establishing trust and credibility

Assume you have a store in a shopping mall or you spend your day visiting customers. Why do people buy from you except for the fact that you have a value-for-money product or service that they need or can do with? They buy from you because they trust you or, if they don’t necessarily trust you personally, trust your company. Why do they trust you or your company? Because you have established a certain amount of credibility with them.

There are many ways of establishing credibility. A company that has hundreds of stores and has been in business for many years has more credibility than a new company. People feel safe to do business with them. They know that if they have a problem the company will do whatever they can to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

Now for the Internet… There are often millions of competing Web sites trying to get customers to buy from them. It is estimated that more than 40% of all Web sites are not even 6 months old. - This is not because of the enormous growth of the Internet but due to the fact that most webmasters do not last longer than 6 months on the Internet!

Very often the customer cannot visit the company or go to the company’s store to have a look at the products being offered. The customer may be concerned about using his credit card on the Web for safety reasons. The customer has no way of knowing for sure that he will receive the product he ordered or that he will get a refund if he is not completely satisfied with the purchase.

Think about it logically. You can start an online business tomorrow in nearly any country in the world and sell a product that you do not even have or that may not nearly be a good as what the customer thinks it is. What recourse does the customer have? Travel thousands of miles to visit you to complain, take you to court? No.

Based on the above you should never underestimate the importance of establishing credibility with your online customers. Put yourself in their shoes. Have you ever lost money on the Internet or wasted money with a bad product you bought? How comfortable are you just visiting any Web site and buying their product with your credit card?

Always but yourself in the shoes of a potential customer. Whatever you do, it is important to make customers feel comfortable doing business with you and this can only be accomplished if you have established credibility with them.

Remember that it is a lot easier to establish credibility face-to-face than online. You need to work on it by making a deliberate attempt to provide customers with high quality content that they can really use and find helpful. This is one of the most important differences between online and offline marketing.

2. Online selling requires no face-to-face selling

Most people are afraid of rejection. It is certainly a lot easier to be rejected online than being told in your face or having a phone slammed down on you. In fact, the fear of face-to-fact rejection is probably one of the most important reasons why people start online businesses.

However, there is a big trade-off… As mentioned earlier, it is very important to establish credibility with customers. You may not face the same type of rejection online as you may experience offline but you risk not being able to establish the same kind of credibility online that you can establish offline.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that if you build it they will come. This is not “Field of Dreams” and you are not Kevin Costner. Not being able to see customers face-to-face can be great for some people but it means you have to work a lot harder to get customers.

Bottom line: It takes time to become a money maker. You need to understand online and offline differences. The more credibility you have with your customers or Site visitors, the more successful your home based sales business or internet based home business will be. Allow people to get to know you, give them what they are looking for (great content!), gain their trust, establish credibility and the dollars will follow.

Remember that the best way to understand online and offline differences is to put yourself in the shoes of a customer. By overcoming the disadvantages and maximizing the advantages you can use online and offline differences to benefit your business and gain a competitive edge over your more ignorant competitors.

Understanding the differences between online and offline marketing is important. However, it is even more important to understand the similarities between online and offline marketing.

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