We all live in an age today where everything goes online—easier and convenient. Social media and many other online platforms make marketing and promotion of a business easier than ever, reaching swiftly to the customers at the click of a mouse or touch on a screen. However, we shouldn’t forget that people who spend much time staring on their smart-phone screens and checking e-mail inboxes quite frequently still live in the real world too, at least for now. So, alongside online, fellow signage companies are advised to go for effective offline opportunities for marketing and promoting large-format services and products.

There are certain offline marketing strategies, such as direct mail, vehicle graphics and local events, which can be used as an effective means for signage companies promoting business, service and products in local proximities. Sometimes online or e-mail marketing loses much of its efficacy simply because of the irrelevant ‘junk mails’ that often bother recipients. In this respect, some market studies reveal that direct mail still beats online when it comes to measuring the rate of response from the recipients. So, here the point is signage companies must post direct mails to their clients based in closer areas, with a meager spending on postal.

Vehicle graphic is yet another effective offline marketing tool. When we consider this medium, it is found that vehicle graphics have been around for decades since the advent of vehicles. But the prospect has been broadened these days as vehicles are wrapped in stunning imageries or graphics conveying marketing and promotional messages—moving quite ahead of those adhesive letter and sticker days.

It has been said that vehicle graphics, if done in a right way, are one of the most effective and cost-effective offline marketing mediums as it’s all about being seen while moving around!

And ‘events’ are also where offline marketing can be carried out in an effective way. When we say events, it doesn’t mean the large-scale trade expos but the local happenings in our localities, which could be anything like welfare organisation meetings or non-industry-specific forums organised in the locality where we live. Such local events can provide you the opportunity to mingle with the people who are likely to be your present or potential customers. This will be an opportunity for you to talk about what you produce and tout your service, products and some landmark projects to those who are already known to you as well as those meeting for the first time.

Here the bottom line is that while engaging in online marketing we shouldn’t forget that ‘printed’ promotional items sometimes serve more effective and livelier than any other. In this issue, Kota, now gearing up to incarnate into a smart city, is the chosen region for the Region Exclusive coverage. Signage firms of all sizes in the city are passionate about upgrading their infrastructures to meet the need of their clients demanding high-end graphics for groundbreaking projects.

Bidding adieu to the memorable 2016, we wish you all a Happy & Prosperous

New Year 2017 ahead!

– Sonal Khurana
sonal@smediagroup.in