Although it is clear that most website users of the internet use search a engines to find their destination, is there a better alternative?
I recently had a look at the stats of a website I have been working on. To my amazement only 5% of the visitors came from other websites or search engines, the rest were direct requests. This website is only 3 months old, so it is fairly new with barely any link popularity, but for such a new website an average of 150 visitors a day, is not too bad.
I asked the owner how he was promoting his website, and to my amazement he was using none other than flyers. The website is advertising his adventure tourism business, as you may have noticed when you visit a tourist destination there are plenty of flyers on the counter. Advertising all sorts of accommodation or locations to visit.
He employed a very smart Graphical Designer to create a flyer that is very eye catching. These flyers are so catchy that he has told me that he never has enough. You may be thinking that this is expensive because you have to pay for the printing, but in actual fact it is much cheaper than some internet advertising. For instance to even have his website listed optimally on Google AdWords he would be paying in excess of $0.50/click. Whereas printing flyers that can be passed on for years only cost $0.23 each.
On the other hand some people choose to spend thousands on optimizing their websites, gambling to be in the top of the results. Or you could choose to use paid advertising, but targeting your potential customers can be difficult and costly. I am certain that the old fashioned flyer advertising is here to stay.
The benefits of flyers are astronomical; targeting your audience is the key to success. Travel destinations, travel agents and rental agencies are all targeting his potential customers. Since he first began his business, he has always used flyer advertising, and with the amalgamation with the website business is soaring. This indicates to me that with the synergy of the real world and the internet we can create very powerful advertising campaigns.