Back to Basics: Offline Marketing

[Greg]

One of the most effective methods of marketing still remains word of mouth and personal selling. The beauty of online marketing is that the message can go wide-spread quickly and reach the masses. However, the conversion rate of personal marketing is unquestionably the highest around.

Note: Don't repeat this method. I knew an affiliate two years ago who made a batch of stickers with their bonus code on it and went into every Casino restroom near his house putting the stickers on the walls, etc. This obviously pissed off the Casinos and they sent plenty of emails etc asking him to stop doing this and defaming their property. It worked for a while.

Now another affiliate has taken a more ethical approach to this and has printed business cards for years with their info on it. It's worked like a charm and he has a few people scattered about in various locations now doing the same thing.

This is still a very effective strategy, although it is time consuming. If you are an ambitious person and have a way to get the message out to players then I have an idea for you. We (TG) have created some seriously nice and professional looking business cards and small fliers that are customizable. If you haven't checked out these new creatives then take a second to do so. I'll pop up a screen shot here. If you have a story or an idea on offline advertising then let me know. We don't have a brainstorming thread here but this might be a good start!

[MJ]

This is really awesome, now can you allow US players so I can take advantage of it?

Seriously though - super cool that you are with Tower now, this is a room I've been watching and wanting to do business with for awhile, I'll be placing you in several spots soon.

Btw - the feeds are a great idea too, any chance you can expand on those?

[Greg]

Good call with the feeds MJ. That is one area of marketing I never took advantage of - RSS. With Casino players having those progressive jackpot numbers updating on a continual basis is awesome. For one it's a BIG number that excites players and makes them want to get get in on. Another is that they are auto updating so it looks like to your visitors that your site is 'in the know.' I am going to do some homework this week and see if I can find a few examples of this being done well and post them here.

These are particularly nice banners for blogs as they provide a quick news article if needed. In forums it's cool to have a 'jackpot watch' and report when one was won and also when one is expected to pay out! Have some fun with that one

[Greg]

Hey I wanted to share one example of some basic, yet effective offline marketing. A few years back there was a guy who had a Party Poker vinyl banner made with his bonus code on it and hung it outside his apartment. Pretty wacky but I bet it was fun logging in and seeing hat first depositor come through! Some old school members will remember that post.

I saw a guy comment on Problogger.com with a little offline job he did to promote his content site. I'd try the same thing with at a local pub based around a free poker night or in any place that allows these to be posted. Casino hotel elevators are also a good place j/k. Guerrilla Marketing 101 example. Cheap and sometimes effective.

[AceHigh Pino]

Greg, trying to get in touch with your email int he signature but it's giving me an error message and sending things back. Hit me up.

[Greg]

Ah nice find buddy! My address is greg@toweraffiliates.com

Send me some emails

[AceHigh Pino]

btw Brandon sent me a great article on offline marketing a few years ago, and it was a sicko read. I'll try and find it and post some of it here if I still have it somewhere.

[Brokerstar]

I've really been thinking about this actually.

Here is my idea.

In the UK there are so many pub poker games going on. So I thought about getting some cool (yet fairly cheap if you buy in bulk) Tagpoker hoodies made up.

Now I was going to offer these to the tournament hosts as prizes to whoever won and also ask him to hand out flyers to all the players that take part.

I was also thinking of Cash prizes added to the final payout or a badbeat prize or to make the games more fun the tourny director could give the hoodie and cash prize for who ever pulls off the craziest bluff and shows. This would also make the games fun as well as hopefull getting people talking about the tagpoker spot prize.

Just ideas running round my head right now that need to be polished!

Broker

[FatToni]

I wanted to highlight this topic as it seems to me that offline marketing is not something what affiliates do in regular basis. (Do correct if I'm wrong) I think at least for new poker sites offline marketing should be essential piece when building your company's brand and aswell as your own brand. For example sponsoring small bar games and showing to the players that you are more than just a snippet of code, should add credibility and trust to your business.

So I would like to hear from others, how much you value offline marketing and how big of a part is it taking from your overall working time?

[Newjabber]

I think offline marketing is especially good for rakeback affiliates, because i know alot of players and i wouldent ask them to sign up without the best possible rakebackdeal.