Q: What are some of the best offline marketing Affiliate Programs? I am not very fluent with the online marketing techniques – still in the whole codes and webpage learning phase. My question was if you know which affiliate programs offer offline marketing tools. And part 2 of my question was if there are any tips you have on what type of offline marketing is effective (flyers, clip ads etc)?
A: I’m sorry to say that not a single one comes to mind. Over the past five years, I’ve been encouraging my affiliates to use various offline tools, but none really have taken root.
Some methods that I have tested successfully offline as an affiliate have been business cards (creating a card for you as an affiliate with a cloaked affiliate link as the url, coloring pages (there’s something memorable about your url on fridges across the country), and customized pens (leave a few at the post office, bank, etc. – everyplace people need a pen).
And, of course there is direct mail (which I use in both affiliate recruitment and retention campaigns). I’m thinking about putting together some fliers that can be printed (with affiliate urls) and plastered as the grocery store and any other community bulletin board.
Lots of ways to promote offline, but it’s not really being done by the online-centric these days.
That’s not to say that you have to hunt for programs that provide the tools – be resourceful and develop some tools on your own (be sure to run it by the affiliate manager first) and get creative offline.