Retailers already know that TV commercials, print ads, direct mail pieces, catalogs, radio spots and other forms of offline advertising push consumers to Web sites and search engines. Research from JupiterResearch and SendTec adds hard numbers to what has previously been anecdotal and sporadic. Specifically, this research shows that offline advertising initiatives drive online response.

Across different age groups, offline advertising media, gender and other factors, reseacrh consistently found that visiting Web sites and search engines are primary means of response to offline advertising, and that calling a phone number has dramatically declined in popularity.

The Findings
Measurement of consumer response online sparked by offline advertising initiatives is a key variable to understand as advertising dollars migrate to online media forms, specifically search engine marketing. Understanding the role offline advertising dollars have on online campaign results is paramount to overall budget and marketing planning. There were key findings that confirmed what most retailers already know about the impact of offline advertising on online response:

- 66% of those who responded to an offline advertisement visited the website or a search engine to learn more, while only 14% called a phone number from the advertisement

- 70% of those responding online did so in response to television advertising 

 

- 82% of these searches were conducted from home computers.

 

- Women who search online in response to offline ads are more inclined to purchase the product online, while men are more inclined to conduct further research

 

- 62% of catalog recipients who place orders place them online, vs. 27% who call the number featured in the catalog

 

- Younger users (and this is important as teens become young adults) are less likely to respond to offline ads: 25% of 18 to 24 year olds visited a website when the URL was featured in an offline ad, vs. 39% of those age 25+

 

-TV and print ads are the most likely offline formats to drive online search response (70% and 57% respectively) vs. 32% for radio, 27% for direct mail and 17% for outdoor

 

-Mobile technology is enabling consumers to react more to offline ads that are outside the home, with 66% conducting searches on their handheld devices in response to a magazine or newspaper ad.

These findings support a number of occurrences in recent years:
- U.S. advertisers are moving dollars from offline budgets to online, which may have huge impacts in online success and volume. Without the offline stimulus driving the online response, there may be a lack of demand in search.

 

- Specific segments of the population (i.e. younger people) have vastly different response patterns than other segments, and advertisers need to recognize this and make every effort to give consumers numerous choices of response, both to learn more and place orders.