The Importance of Face To Face Marketing in The Digital Age

Marketers rely heavily on online marketing techniques and strategies in the present digital age. That is because there are numerous platforms to connect with a massive base of potential buyers or customers, making it easier to share and spread information. You can use email marketing and social networking platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

Yet, even with the popularity of digital marketing, face to face selling is still one of the most effective ways of building a healthy, long-lasting relationship with a customer. If you are one of the many people still questioning the relevance and effectiveness of face to face marketing, understand that it can help build your brand more than internet-based and traditional marketing strategies.

That is because face to face promotion gives existing and prospective customers a live way of experiencing your business or brand. The marketing method is often highly effective because it involves warm smiles, handshakes, and productive engagements, which lead to a positive, unforgettable impression of your brand.

Research supporting face to face marketing

Various studies show the importance of face-to-face marketing in this virtual age. According to a survey by The Center for Exhibition Industry Research, about 40% of exhibitors reported receiving more value from organizing exhibitions.

Another research performed by EventView in 2009 established that nearly 65% of salespeople and marketers chose to have event marketing to accelerate and strengthen business-customer relationships.

Also, Forbes surveyed more than 750 business executives in 2009. The survey established that about 90% and 80% of the executives indicated that face-to-face meetings or interactions were essential for persuasion and decision-making.

Moreover, in another report by MPI (Meeting Professionals International), face-to-face interactions enable the conversion of about 40% of potential customers. The study also showed that over 25% of the existing businesses might collapse without the help of face to face marketing experts.

Below are some of the benefits you can get from face-to-face marketing.

1. Builds relationships, credibility, and trust

Almost every person prefers to work with business partners they can trust. If you are a salesperson in an event or coffee shop, a warm handshake and a friendly smile with a prospective client can go a long way in setting a positive tone for a conversation and working relationship.

Because you are in a position to develop mutual trust, friendship, and affinity with a person, you can freely ask questions about the challenges facing the business. You can then address how your marketing service offers solutions.

It is a challenge to build a rapport with a prospective client when there is no in-person interaction, and instead, you are using social media platforms or a phone for communication.

2. Creates a high level of customer satisfaction

Once a potential customer becomes satisfied with the service you are offering, typically, the customer will refer your business to friends, family, and workmates. You can take the initiative and ask for referrals if the customer is satisfied and uses your product or service regularly.

More referrals from your customer will translate into more success for the business. Word-of-mouth marketing generates a better return on investments.

3. Enables efficient communication

As a marketer and entrepreneur, you may find it much easier to communicate in person than virtually. That may be because you often spend much of your life communicating with people you know, some being your friends and neighbors.

However, you may find it intimidating to initiate a conversation with people you do not know, especially if you are an introvert. In such a situation, you must continue meeting people; after some time, you will become better at marketing your product or service.

Once you have interacted with people a few times, communicating with a potential client becomes easy, like asking your neighbor for assistance.

There is a need for adequate planning and preparation so that you run a successful face-to-face marketing campaign. This may involve choosing the right place to find your target audience, avoiding hard-sell tactics, tapping into emotions and reinforcing your brand identity.

As a marketer, you should know that combining digital communication and face-to-face advertising is the only way to achieve a more effective marketing campaign.

Before a face-to-face event, you may utilize virtual marketing to create a pre-show contest. You may ask attendees to answer questions or post a picture on a Twitter post. Then you announce the winner of the competition in a live show.