Vol.27: How to Effectively Integrate Media/Communication Channels (Part 3)

The previous article Vol.26: How to Effectively Integrate Media/Communication Channels (Part 2) focused on driving consumers to main part of your business, which is usually spatial channel, i.e. Attention and Interest of AIDA model.

This article focuses on integrating online and offline in the main part of your business, which is usually spatial channel of the chart below, which is Desire and Action of AIDA model.

In theory a case in which online or offline exclusive is possible, but in reality such are of minority and integrated use of online and offline media and communication channels is usually more effective today. Having said that, all 3 possible patterns, including offline exclusive and online exclusive patterns, are discussed.

1. How consumers/buyers used to go through the buying process before the emergence of the Internet? (Pattern 1: offline, bricks/mortar and bricks/mortar)

Before the emergence of the Internet i.e. in offline only world, consumers/buyers driven to the main part of the buying process by offline media and communication channels used to go through the process offline to finally take action = buy.

For example, they would go to offline store, see demonstration, get more detailed information by face-to-face communication with staff, try and compare products and services etc. and finally decide to buy. They might have visited and experienced some parts of such processed in other offline spatial channel such as tradeshows, seminars and events. Other possible examples include mail order in which consumers/buyers go through such process by printed materials (catalogues, forms etc) and phone, and direct sales by sales staff which is face-to-face offline communication channel.

Today when many people use the Internet everyday in obtaining information and comparing to make decision although the degree of the Internet use depends on person and other factors, this pattern is probably rare in reality.

2. How consumers/buyers can go through the buying process using the Internet 100%? (Pattern 2: online, click and click)

This pattern, although it might be minority, is possible, such as online shopping and enjoying online trading of foreign exchange. In many of such cases of, online consumers/buyers are driven to the buying process by online media such as the methodologies mentioned in the previous article Vol.11: How to Successfully Drive Web Users to Web Contents.

The online consumer/buyer would go through the buying process similarly to pattern 1 online, but experiencing similar processed by visiting web pages/contents, free from time and location restraint. They would first access reference landing pages, which is Desire part of AIDA model, the topic of the previous article Vol.15: How to Effectively Optimize Reference Landing Page. When they have decided to “buy”, which is Action of AIDA model, they would then be navigated to transactional landing pages to finally to complete “call to action” step, the topic of the previous article Vol.16: How to Effectively Optimize Transactional Landing Page.

Such online consumers/buyers might have visited and experienced some parts of such process in other online spatial channel such as tradeshows, seminars and events web contents available online. Such web contents, if posted after they have been taken place (e.g. as archive), enable consumers/buyers to re-visit and help then to recap.

3. How consumers/buyers can leverage integrated online and offline media/communication channels in going through the buying process? (Pattern 3: online and offline, clicks and mortar)

This pattern, the mixture of the other 2 patterns, is the ideal and is probably most common today. There are so many versions in this pattern and it is impossible to list up all. Some of the main versions are as below.

1) Online (reference information) > Offline (store)

This is the basic and the simplest version. Customers/buyers would obtain information, compare etc. online such as product information pages and then go to the nearby offline store to see and try actual products and services, ask questions to staff, and when convinced that this is the product/service they have been looking for, make decision to buy.

2) Offline (store) > Online (reference information) > Offline (store etc.)

This is also a possible version. For example, customers/buyers might have seen and became interested in a product/service when he/she visited an offline store but want to compare with other products/services provided by other companies and went home and accessed related websites for comparison. Then when he/she knows which product/service provided by which company is his choice, he/she would go back to the offline store again, and go through the process mentioned in 1).

3) Offline (tradeshow, event, seminar, forum) > Online (reference information) > Offline (store)

This is another possible version, which might be the most popular among version that consumers/buyers visit spatial channel besides store. For example, customers/buyers attend offline tradeshow, event, seminar or forum and having obtained primary information of products/services, get interested in them and decide to buy and do so then. But such is not always the case, and they may well get more information online for comparison and then finally decide to buy and visit the nearby offline store to do so.

4) Online (tradeshow, event, seminar, forum) > Offline (store)

This is another possible version, the basic version when customers/buyers are first navigated to spatial channel excluding store. For example, customers/buyers attend online tradeshow, event, seminar or forum instead of those of offline for reasons such as time and location restriction, and when the get interested in products/services, visit nearby offline store, and go through the process mentioned in 1).

5) Online (tradeshow, event, seminar, forum) > Online (reference information) > Offline (store)

This is another possible version based on 4). For example, customers/buyers attend online tradeshow, event, seminar or forum get interested in products/services and follow the link to web contents of detailed information of products/service, and then visit the nearby offline store, to go through the process mentioned in 1).

6) Offline (tradeshow, event, seminar, forum) > online (store)

This may seem unlikely but this is also possible. For example, customers/buyers attend offline tradeshow, event, seminar or forum and having obtained primary information of products/services, get interested in them and decide to buy. But such spatial channels are not designed for “selling” in many cases and in such a case they may well do so by utilizing e-commerce function of website (online store). This version may be suitable for services and software products.

7) Offline (tradeshow, event, seminar, forum) > online (reference information) > online (store)

This version is based on 6). Customers/buyers may well access such web contents as product/service information (reference landing pages) then after finally decided to buy, access transactional landing pages and complete the buying process.

4. What comes after?

After successful completion of “call to action”, follow-up needs to be done. This used to be done offline (e.g. telephone, customer service staff), but today in many cases, online follow-up such as e-mail and social media is widely used, at least as primary follow-up, then customer service staff may contact by phone or visit if necessary.


The next article will be about tailoring consistent message to meet characteristics of different media/communication channel.