| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing
Marketing can be expensive. It doesn't have to be, but sometimes you will spend more than you should. Usually you'll realise this after you've done it. But here are two tips that can save you thousands of dollars. 1- Make sure you really understand your market and your distribution channels. Sounds simple, doesn't it! For example, one client had developed an information product for small businesses. They had some assistance from another agency to check the market and confirm how they should present the product. Based on that information they printed marketing materials and ramped up to distribute through professional advisors such as accountants. Nine months later they came to me. Nothing was happening. Not one sale. Even worse, their distribution channel was not discussing the product with clients. Why the lack of activity? After a few sessions with my client, and some inexpensive (but very effective) research, we came to understand two things: 1) The target audience of owners of small-medium sized businesses were not interested in using this type of product, even though they needed it. 2) The chosen distribution channel was not well placed to encourage their small business clients to be proactive and use my clients product. Unfortunately, the 'research' conducted by the original agency was flawed. My client was not entirely happy with it at the time, and for good reason. However, based on our fresh insights we developed more suitable approaches for my client to distribute their product. In summary... * Before you spend lots of money (and time) pursuing a particular market segment, developing new products, or simply producing new marketing material, do some homework to ensure you are on the right track. * Get reliable advice from a professional who can explain things without confusing you with jargon. Take a bit of time to really check it out. It's cheaper to do this at the start, rather than after you have invested heavily in it. 2 - Know where to find your customers, and promote your business there. This is another so-obvious factor that is often overlooked. Most businesses want more customers or clients. Sometimes it's tempting to advertise very broadly to improve awareness of your firm. But beware! Who are you really promoting your business to? If you have a close look at whom your customers (or prospects) are, you should be able to narrow down the most suitable ways to promote your business to them. If your customers are other businesses, maybe direct mail would be best, or advertising in a relevant trade publication, or using personal sales visits, or simply by participating in industry events and getting known. If in doubt, ask your clients and prospects where they usually go for information on new vendors. If your customers are from the general public, then it's a bit harder to identify them individually. Print media can often provide great potential to reach prospects, but before you pay big money to advertise in a publication with broad distribution think about how you can narrow down the field. Firstly, are you better considering a media option that is focussed on your target audience? It might cost more in terms of dollars per centimetre of space, but the results may be far higher than with a general-purpose publication. Look for publications that address your audience, and look for suitable sections or features in larger publications. When you do this, be selective, and don't be seduced by claims of large readership or "cheap" advertising offers. Ask for a current reader profile from the publisher. Distinguish 'circulation' from 'readership'. Know who your prospects are and make sure you are reaching them with an appropriate message. Don't forget to look at all your options. For example, have you got your web site functioning properly? Maybe that's a better tool to sharpen than simply reprinting last years brochures. Be open to different ideas. I haven't yet seen a marketing budget that is "big enough", no matter what the actual size. So plan your expenditure carefully. Remember to measure the results of your marketing activities, and over time you can improve your marketing choices. In summary... * Try to be rational in your choice of marketing activities. Your decision to spend money should be based on a sound assessment of your opportunities to get your message to your desired audience. Take time to make the best decision. Sometimes you may want to get an experienced 'external opinion' to help you decide on the most appropriate options. # # # Copyright 2004 Marketing Nous Pty Ltd # # # Stuart Ayling runs Marketing Nous, an Australasian marketing consultancy that specialises in marketing for service businesses. He helps clients to improve their marketing tactics, attract more clients, and increase revenue. For additional marketing resources, including Stuart's popular monthly newsletter, visit his web site at http://www.marketingnous.com.au
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Becoming The Obvious Choice In A Sea Of Competition Differentiation, niche marketing, and positioning. These and other related business buzzwords have no doubt crossed every business owner and marketing director's ears in recent years. Client Attraction Technique #1: Niche Marketing When asked "what business are you in" many business owners often identify an industry, for example, "I'm an accountant" or "I run a beauty salon " or "I own a restaurant." But claiming to be part of an industry is not what attracts customers. Too Much To Do: Four Keys to Effective Delegating Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. Getting the Maximum Marketing Mileage Out of Your Nametag As a small business owner, you must always explore creative ways to promote your products or services. One of the most effective yet underappreciated tools you can use to keep your company "on stage" is your nametag. Self-Promotion on a Zero Budget Recently, I've received a few e-mails from people asking me for advice on how to get started in the writing biz. When I stop to think about it, maybe I've been lucky to accomplish this much writing in a short time. 5 Steps to Success: A Surefire Way to Achieve Your Goals No doubt you started this year with some big ideas about what you wanted to accomplish. I know I did!Maybe it was how many new clients you wanted to get, or how much money you wanted to make, or how many products you wanted to sell. 2 Step Marketing Do it Right.I receive postcards all the time. 10 Reasons Why Businesses Fail at Marketing. 1) They don't fully understand it.Perception: Marketing is advertising. Learn How to Market Your eBusiness in Real Time: Dissect, Study, Emulate Everything you will ever need to know about internet marketing is plainly available to you everywhere you go on the internet. All you need to do is dissect, study, and emulate these methods and you invariably will become just as successful as the people who created them. Service Marketers; How's Your Packaging? When a shopper picks up a product in a store, what's the first thing they notice? The packaging, right? The same holds true for someone buying a service.Yet instead of a folded carton with colorful graphics, you are the packaging for your service business. Top 10 Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Writer to Write Your Marketing Materials 1. It costs less to delegate to a professional than to waste your valuable time trying to do it yourself. Stretching Your Marketing Dollars--7 Cheap and Easy Ways to Market on a Budget Just because you have to stretch your marketing dollars doesn't mean their effectiveness will decrease. The easiest marketing solution is often to simply throw money at a problem. The Six-Step Process That Grows Your Business 1. Examine your clientele and define your ideal client. Did Jesus Get Killed for Practicing Interruption Marketing? I'm reading Seth Godin's Permission Marketing and he brings up the difference between Interruption Marketing and Permission Marketing.Interruption Marketing is when you interrupt people from what they are doing in order to ask them to pay attention to something else. Create Your Own Rumors A consultant new in the city asked me how I managed to get business so fast. Working for that marketing company definitely gave me a jump start. Ten Deadly Proposal Preparation Pitfalls Let's face it, the name "proposal" is a great misnomer, but since many businesspeople take it literally, they often paint themselves into a corner of chasing buyers, many of whom requested the proposal to collect idea for in-house implementation. Yes, it is a scumbag approach to drag honest folks arounf by their noses, but apparently there are many scumbags who practise this dishonest technique knowingly, and some innocent folks who believe this is normal and have fallen into the trap. Mark Twain's Great Marketing Idea To tell you the truth (and about 53% of this article is true), I don't know where I heard this story about Mark Twain. But I've heard it enough times to verify that it's either (a) at least half true, or (b) a credible lie. Step by Step Guide to an SMS Campaign SMS is good for:? Short lead times and immediacy ? Cost effective personalised communication ? Ongoing 1 to 1 relationships ? Automated data capture and compliance ? Direct revenue and uplift opportunitiesBasic Rules for SMSIn addition to permission, there are five key elements that differentiate SMS marketing from traditional marketing. These are also the key success factors for its use. Do I Need an RSS Feed? RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way. How to Put the Profit Producing Power of Couponing to Work for You Coupons have proven themselves to be highly effective sales tools for every conceivable size and type of business.Because coupons "pull in the business" they have gained remarkable acceptance and popularity among astute marketing managers.
|
| Good Credit Loans | home | site map | School Bus Clothing | Florida Pool Heating |
| © 2006 |
