You have the traditional. TV newsprint, Radio, Billboards, Direct mail. I operate an indoor billboard company and the ROI is high. It works great for branding and we see a high retention for service based companies.
great inputs.I think if you sponsor a big school sporting event you might also get good results.By us its usually 4 schools competing at one time and there is about 2000 pupils per school.Plus all the parents who attend that gives you a conservative figure of about 10000 people who will see your brand for about 8 hours on the day.
Word of mouth advertising. Though it's a natural byproduct, you can promote it by giving your clients great treatment and nice (unexpected) bonuses. What can you do that would make a client go out of his way to recommend you to someone else? You can also sponsor events such as contests, charity events and such. It would be best if you can sponsor an event loosely related to your online service.
News and print media, magazine ads, promotional items like pens, cups, stickers, etc. given to the right people who can spread the word about your service, etc. is the way to go for marketing online services in the offline world.
I think the biggest problem you will face with offline marketing and marketing a webpage is that most people will not remember the domain name nor have the interest to look it up laters as its hard to explain what your website does in a few short sentances. Users don't have the easy ability to click a link if your add is on a billboard which takes a whole lot of effect to be lost through marketing using such methods.
i would geo target customers if you are selling an online product. But you have not specified what online products you are selling so it depends.........
the best way to advertise offline is through newspaper and sign boards. I would say, advertise daily in the most popular newspapers and i am sure you will see the difference. Also keep special discounts, offers and schemes to attract people. This would really boost your sales and would give you a new direction to grow.
media buys and postcards. You can try drop cards that look like $20 folded in half w/ your message inside.