What's Below the Line Marketing Anyway? I Dove Deep Into BTL Marketing to Find Out

I cringe whenever I look astatine really galore unopened emails unrecorded successful my activity inbox. I’m fortunate if I unfastened possibly 10 percent of them — including thing promotional.

But, of those 10 percent, what convinced maine to unfastened and respond to them? Those companies did beneath nan statement (BTL) trading right.

Email marketing, nonstop mail, events — beneath nan statement trading includes these and akin targeted strategies to person and person buyers. What goes into moving a successful BTL campaign? And wherever do you begin?

To thief you start, I dug into BTL marketing: nan history, its narration pinch different trading tactics, and champion practices from experts. Here’s what I found.

Table of Contents

• What is beneath nan statement marketing?
• Above nan Line vs. Below nan Line Marketing
• How to Make Below nan Line Marketing Work for You
• Below nan Line Marketing Examples
• Below nan Line Marketing Best Practices

What is beneath nan statement marketing?

Great question! Answering “What is BTL marketing?” is amazingly tough.

First, let’s look astatine history. Below nan statement marketing sewage its commencement successful nan 1950s.

Manufacturing elephantine Procter & Gamble wanted to abstracted advertizing activities based connected who sewage paid for them. “Traditional” advertizing costs (aka, TV, radio, OOH) payable to advertisement agencies made it supra nan statement connected nan company’s draught budget. Everything other fell below nan line.

In modern trading parlance, I’d opportunity beneath nan statement trading is simply a belief relative to demand generation. However, BTL trading successful believe feels much for illustration a subset of request gen — enabling request gen’s strategy done tactical specifications and execution. BTL campaigns often tally connected shorter operational timelines.

The results BTL generates attraction much heavy connected responses and conversions alternatively of request gen’s longer-term customer acquisition and nurture goals.

For our purposes, BTL trading strategies will include:

• Direct mail
• Email marketing
• Trade shows and events
• Location-specific promotions
• Targeted online outreach

While accepted BTL trading relies connected a beingness component, nan internet’s scope is inescapable. So agelong arsenic it’s highly targeted, personalized, and time-bound, you could make a lawsuit to see beingness and integer trading tactics.

Above nan Line vs. Below nan Line Marketing

Speaking of nan internet, integer trading has blurred nan lines betwixt supra nan statement (ATL) and BTL marketing. Yet, whether it happens successful cyberspace aliases beingness space, we request favoritism betwixt some operations. For our discussion, let’s say:

• ATL trading involves wide campaigns aimed astatine wide audiences.
• BTL trading involves targeted campaigns aimed astatine circumstantial segments of your target audience.

The elements of targeting and personalization make nan difference. Instead of advertisements nationwide, it’s mailers sent to a twelve neighborhoods. BTL brings a clear attraction to connecting pinch an assemblage subgroup and convincing them to buy.

This targeting shrinks a campaign’s size and scale, truthful BTL actions typically costs little than their ATL counterparts.

What do ATL and BTL trading look for illustration successful practice?

To reply this question, I went to Sara Croft. Croft is nan CEO of Five Four Partners, a maturation agency that helps companies motorboat and scale. Many of her early-stage startup clients usage beneath nan statement trading tactics.

She positions nan ATL/BTL disagreement pinch her clients for illustration this: “Let’s return a LinkedIn advertisement run example,” Croft said. “A generic, wide connection astir your merchandise that’s targeted to a very wide assemblage and sends group to your location page could get a batch of eyeballs and possibly immoderate clicks, but apt won’t consequence successful a conversion. For an early-stage company, this wastes time. While marque building is important, startups request customers — now.

“For targeted BTL marketing, an early-stage startup could see moving LinkedIn ads for a webinar,” she continued. “It’s a little obstruction to introduction for nan assemblage to motion up to be a webinar versus signing up for a demo of a perchance six-figure merchandise purchase. The webinar educates nan assemblage further and helps suffice and disqualify prospects. The results are tangible, measurable, and actionable.”

A beardown trading strategy requires some ATL and BTL actions, but it’s captious to cognize erstwhile to use each:

• ATL trading is awesome for companies wanting to summation marque consciousness and reach. If your metrics are much top-of-funnel-focused, you’ll do good pinch ATL tactics.
• BTL trading is for circumstantial audiences and supports bottom-of-funnel-related metrics. If your extremity is to person and convert, BTL is nan measurement to go.

Or, arsenic Croft puts it, “ATL trading makes nan imaginable alert of a symptom and its solution, but BTL trading helps them cognize what to do astir it.”

How to Make Below nan Line Marketing Work for You

Whether you’re moving trading for an early-stage startup aliases a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, BTL trading tin connection galore opportunities to person your target audience. But it tin beryllium daunting to start.

When I build BTL trading plans, I find it helps to adopt journalism’s Five Ws (Plus H):

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?
• How?

With these questions successful mind, let’s spot really you tin build and execute your plan. For our purposes, I’ll besides stock specifications from BTL philanthropist relations campaigns I’ve tally to necktie these concepts to actual outcomes.

1. Define your target segments.

Who are you talking to? Because of BTL’s tighter targeting, you request to get elaborate pinch your target segments. The much accusation you person connected your imaginable buyers, nan better.

In past campaigns, I’ve built philanthropist outreach lists based connected demographic and psychographic information gathered done various sources:

• Age
• Location
• Disposable income
• Engagement pinch different content
• Previous liking (e.g., volunteered astatine an organizational event, visited a beingness location)
• Previous giving information (if available)

These information points helped maine build nan imagination for my perfect buyer.

2. Customize and personalize messaging.

Once you cognize who you’re talking to, you must understand why you’re reaching retired and what you want them to know. I’ve seen trading teams tally pinch generic transcript from different campaigns and telephone it a day. That’s a surefire measurement to discarded your and your buyers’ clip and resources.

Through marketplace investigation and past interactions, you tin build a nuanced knowing of your messaging. What clicks pinch prospects? What makes people’s eyes ray up successful interest? What scares them away?

At this stage, believe articulating your messaging pinch draught copy. I find it adjuvant to laic retired an soul little containing:

• Core messaging
• 3-5 cardinal points I want buyers to remember
• Purpose connection (Why americium I reaching retired to you?)
• 30-second elevator transportation transcript (What americium I trying to say?)
• Draft transcript for short-form and long-form content

Great penning comes from awesome thinking. Use this soul little exemplary to shape your thoughts and authorities your case.

3. Pick nan correct channels.

You’ve chosen your segments and crafted a compelling message. Now, where will you find your buyers? When will you scope out? And how will you do it?

BTL trading campaigns past connected nitty-gritty details. From your investigation and experience, you should cognize wherever your buyers walk their time.

Coupled pinch clear messaging, you tin take nan correct transportation channels:

• Direct mail
• Email marketing
• In-person experiences

My philanthropist guidelines loved receiving letters successful nan mail. They tended to beryllium older and were much apt to respond and person by mailing backmost a cheque alternatively of completing a integer aid form.

So, my statement would nonstop a missive each 2 months to complete 1,200 donors aliases prospects. The transcript would beryllium ghostwritten arsenic a committee member, programme manager, aliases moreover programme beneficiary. We’d show donors astir their gift’s effect and induce them to renew aliases upgrade.

While we offered aggregate engagement channels (e.g., “Find america connected Facebook” aliases an online aid link), that missive converted and upgraded much donors than immoderate different tactic.

Pro tip: I wouldn’t usage generative AI to constitute afloat drafts. But, AI devices tin thief you see personalized accusation from your CRM to humanize copy.

For instance, calling retired a donor’s past unpaid relationship astatine nan yearly vacation show helps you link much meaningfully. AI tin standard those mini insertions crossed hundreds aliases thousands of letters.

I knew my philanthropist guidelines wrong and out, which helped maine tally successful BTL campaigns. With each these pieces successful place, you tin commencement moving your campaign.

4. Measure and analyse results.

As you execute your plan, cheque your advancement often. Pay adjacent attraction to really your BTL run fits wrong your wide trading strategy’s goals. Know which metrics matter to your organization, and usage those metrics to way your campaign’s outcomes.

For instance, my philanthropist guidance role’s goals included:

1. Establishing caller giving relationships pinch prospects.
2. Reactivating lapsed givers.
3. Upgrading gift amounts for existent donors.

Every missive successful my nonstop message run focused connected gathering 1 of these goals. I’d past cheque nan consequence and conversion complaint connected those letters to study what worked, what didn’t, and really I could amended for nan adjacent batch.

Remember to stitchery quantitative and qualitative data, too. Post-action surveys tin present other intel connected your assemblage and halfway messaging. Prospects mightiness not respond to your first BTL action.

But, connection them a chance to triumph a $500 gift paper if they complete a study telling you what you did wrong? That’ll commencement conversations.

5. Tinker and retry.

You won’t ever get it correct nan first time. In fact, it’ll astir apt return astir eight touchpoints to move a prospect. Use your information to tinker pinch erstwhile stages and effort again.

Like immoderate bully technological experiment, don’t change excessively galore limited variables astatine once. You want to way what you’ve changed truthful you tin replicate winning outcomes. Try altering 1 segmentation criterion (e.g., displacement nan property group) aliases transmission choice, and rerun your experiment.

Croft relayed that this is 1 of BTL’s top benefits. “BTL trading helps you place what to scale,” she said. “When you commencement pinch much targeted marketing, you tin amended understand nan campaign's ROI.”

Below nan Line Marketing Examples

You tin spot BTL trading passim your regular life. Let’s attraction connected 2 examples from my life — and really these companies converted me.

Example 1: Email Marketing to My Canine Friend

Email is simply a celebrated transmission that is overwhelming users. These days, your buyers astir apt ne'er unfastened your email: 79% of consumers delete branded emails astatine slightest half of nan time.

And moreover erstwhile they unfastened it, consumers walk an average of 9 seconds earlier deciding to bargain aliases trash it.

Your email should inform, engage, and person successful 9 seconds. That’s a gangly bid for immoderate trading team.

BarkBox did that to me. I person a dog, and she’s classified arsenic a “Super Chewer.” She loves gnawing connected tasty treats and reliable toys. BarkBox knows this and sends maine highly targeted, personalized emails.

They put my dog’s sanction successful nan title and discarded nary clip successful presenting nan offer. The email contains their Super Chewer lineup for nan vacation box, truthful I cognize precisely what I’m getting. And BarkBox offers a clear CTA to person maine successful seconds. Guess who will chew connected their Rudolph-themed artifact this vacation season?

Pro tip: If you’re struggling to usage email successfully, our broad email trading guide tin thief you begin.

Example 2: Direct Mail Gift Boxes to Upgrade My Subscription

Receiving a beingness point still intends thing to people. Research from gifting level Sendoso recovered that 83% of recipients consciousness closer to a institution aft receiving a beingness gift.

But that gift has to mean something: Business.com investigation recovered that 54% of professionals person received a gift truthful bad that they instantly threw it away.

You request to cognize precisely what your purchaser wants and reenforce that sentiment pinch your gift selection.

For instance, I’ve been utilizing and evangelizing an AI position procreation instrumentality called Gamma for complete a year. As a reward for my support and advocacy, they asked maine my garment size and sent maine a swag box.

Inside, I received a properly-sized branded hoodie, a h2o bottle, and a personalized note. Gamma sent maine useful, meaningful items. While this container celebrated our relationship, it besides nudged maine toward upgrading my subscription.

I did precisely that. And I’ve been much apt to stock nan instrumentality pinch my trading friends.

There’s a higher upfront costs to this maneuver — and a higher costs for nonaccomplishment if you don’t cognize your audience. But successful nan correct hands and pinch nan correct people, nonstop message tin present large conversion numbers.

Below nan Line Marketing Best Practices

We’ve covered a batch astir BTL trading truthful far, but earlier you statesman your adjacent campaign, let’s reappraisal a fewer last (yet vital) champion practices.

Do your research.

Successful BTL trading intends knowing your target assemblage intimately. There’s nary shortcut to this process. Your extremity should beryllium to scope nan correct people, successful nan correct place, astatine nan correct time, pinch nan correct message.

Audience investigation helps you execute that objective. Deep investigation lets you conception an assemblage crossed respective axes:

• Demographics for illustration age, gender, and income.
• Purchase intent for illustration group searching for “best assemblage laptop to buy.”
• Lifestyle, including attitudes, opinions, and interests.

A immense magnitude of quantitative and qualitative information is astatine your disposal to thief you conception appropriately. Explore target assemblage investigation tools and techniques to get nan bully stuff.

Secure applicable permissions.

BTL trading is exciting, but region to see immoderate ineligible and ethical implications. Did your nonstop message recipient consent to a gift box? Are you pursuing CAN-SPAM regulations pinch your targeted email outreach?

Because BTL strategies typically request individual data, reappraisal your information information and privateness requirements earlier launching campaigns. Tell group really you scheme to usage their information and what worth speech they tin expect. It pays to beryllium upfront astir your intentions and fto group opt retired easily.

You tin moreover move support gathering into a touchpoint. For example, fto gift container recipients prime nan swag they really want. You stitchery their consent while letting them return part. Plus, they’ll beryllium other excited erstwhile their hand-chosen package arrives.

Integrate BTL into your wide trading strategy.

This extremity mightiness look self-explanatory. But I’ve seen teams effort to execute BTL strategies without knowing really different trading actions and ATL strategies impact their audiences’ marque cognition and intent.

For example, you tin build an unthinkable booth acquisition astatine your industry’s largest waste and acquisition show. But if cipher knows you’re location aliases what to expect (i.e., contented you stock successful an supra nan statement property merchandise and media outreach campaign), you’ll miss retired connected important ft postulation and coverage.

Effective BTL actions require you to understand marketing’s power crossed your organization. Marketing and communications, sales, customer occurrence — prosecute anyone progressive successful achieving marketing’s strategical outcomes.

Also, scheme comprehensively to guarantee everyone agrees and is search nan aforesaid outcomes. For instance, usage HubSpot’s email trading readying template to thief you plan, calendar, and optimize your BTL email trading campaign. Share this archive pinch each stakeholders to support everyone connected track.

BTL Marketing Matters More successful Busy Digital Worlds

My reappraisal of BTL trading near maine reasoning we request much trading for illustration it. Generalized marque building has a captious spot successful our trading toolkits.

I don’t deliberation we’ll person a world wherever you’ll ne'er tally ads aliases bargain advertisement space.

But, amid nan sound astir scaling trading and deploying AI and akin technologies, there’s thing refreshing astir existent personalization. About thing meant for me.

That’s why I opened those 10 percent of emails with:

• Offers tailored to my needs.
• Simple and clear calls-to-action.
• Delivery astatine nan correct spot and time.

In a busier world, thief your customers consciousness seen and heard. BTL trading done good tin thief you present connected that emotion while besides driving stronger trading outcomes.