This guide shows you how to use a variety of both traditional and Internet-based marketing techniques to gain more business. Note: To avoid confusion and the heavy use of "he" and "she", it is adopted throughout this guide.
If you want to promote your products/services to your target customers, you need to communicate with them in a way they understand and can respond to, which means choosing the right marketing method or methods to reach them. Have you chosen the right marketing tool (or combination of marketing tools) to reach your target customers?
Individuals will buy some products or services to satisfy the basic physiological needs, that is to satisfy hunger and thirst, to be free from pain or injury; for security or safety reasons, or because they have to comply with the law. However, it is not always simply about needing or wanting a product or service to serve a specific purpose, or to satisfy that basic physiological need that stimulates an individual to buy.
You need to be aware of what is happening in your market now, and possibly in the future, that may affect your business. Say what you will do to build on strengths and eliminate weaknesses. Having said that, however, you should set goals at least on an annual basis.
You then need to develop a marketing action plan for each strategy to help you achieve your goals. Does advertising only in the print publication appeal to you or are you considering combining this with online advertising on the publication's website? What are the advertising costs, including the cost of creating the ad, and how long you need to run the campaign for your target audience to respond.
You will also need to ensure that your organisation, or external call centre, can handle the response to a campaign. If you are advertising on your company's vehicles, consider the image and impression your drivers are making to the public.
Different countries have different laws regarding sending unsolicited emails, so it's always best to check the laws in the country you're targeting before starting a campaign. In the UK, all email marketing to individuals must be done with their express consent; they have to 'opt in'. If you collect his details and do not make it clear that you wish to contact him by email with further offers in the future, you will be in breach of the regulations.
If you purchase or rent a list from a third party, you may use it only if that third party obtained the list based on express prior consent, that is, if the intended recipient has actively consented to receive unsolicited email from the third party. Offer an incentive that can be completed electronically, such as a free report or fact sheet that can be downloaded from your website. In the UK, you can send marketing emails to those you have in your database without first getting their permission.
This will not only help you tailor campaigns by sending them the right message in the right way, but it will also save you money and even prevent you from pursuing the law and incurring penalties. Because people often have more than one email address, it may be advisable to include the recipient's email address in the message and a line that says "click here to remove [email protected]", that way the recipient can see which email address will be deleted.
Your existing customers are the obvious starting point for subscribers to your newsletter, but you'll also be keen to add new prospects to this list, building a dialogue with them over time and increasing your chances of getting new business from them. win, give a boost. Put yourself in the shoes of your target customers and think about what they would like to read. For more information on this topic, you may want to read our sister publication The Easy Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Newsletters and Articles.
Make sure you map out a release schedule and stick to it – no excuses that you were too busy to get the summer edition out. If you go through an issue, your customers/subscribers will feel like they can't rely on you anymore, and you also break that chain of loyalty you're trying to build. This can be done through a contest or inviting them to post a comment or join a forum on your website.
They can keep both your existing customers and target customers informed about new products and services.
Whatever it means, don't forget to emphasize the benefits of the customer using or contacting your organization, or the benefits of the product/service, and in the language your target audience will respond to. You might consider making your brochure available as a download from your website, or perhaps from an easy-to-print page. Whatever you decide, make sure your website reflects your company's image and products and is designed with your customers in mind.
There's no point in having a trendy, eye-catching website with small print if your customers can't see or access it properly. Make sure your website can be easily updated, preferably by you or one of your employees. Give someone on your team the responsibility of taking care of your website and making sure the content stays current.
One of the most important aspects is to keep the vital information 'above the fold', which is what your customers immediately see on the screen without having to scroll down. If you are at least two people, you can also have a pre-arranged signal between you to get rid of the time wasters.
How the target group will see your company name and in what connection they will be connected. How much you will have to pay for sponsorship and what it covers. Maximizing your sponsorship requires additional time, effort and cost over and above what you are paying for the sponsorship; so make sure you have the resources to do it and the commitment to make it work.
It doesn't have to be a big sponsorship deal like the Olympics or the London Marathon; many successful sponsorship deals can be made between local businesses and charities and other organisations. Photos of the winning exhibits can be placed on your company's website with a link to the art faculty and vice versa. However, if you have a struggling product or brand, it might be best to consider repackaging and relaunching rather than trying to run a sales promotion.
The sales promotion activity can also be carried out in cooperation with other parties in the form of sponsorship. Sales promotion should not be seen in isolation, but should work alongside your other marketing activities.
The secret to successful media coverage is to send the right story at the right time to the right media to convey the right message. You do this by submitting your news stories on a regular basis to the media relevant to your market and your organization. If your story doesn't get used, then move on to the next story and keep a regular steady flow of good news stories to the journalist.
You need to make sure you send your news story to the most relevant media for your market, so some research will be necessary. When constructing a "news story" to tell your news story, think in terms of a triangle or pyramid, with the entire story, including the angle, contained in the first paragraph and then expanded upon in subsequent paragraphs. Write the words “News Story” at the top of the document, even if you are emailing it to the journalist, radio or television station, or website.
You may also want to include in the subject line of your email: "News Release" and your company name or the title of your news release. We can email these to you and then you can choose the best clips for your news story.
The film and music industries have already harnessed the power of the internet by tapping into and using online opinion leaders. Now, when planning a marketing, advertising or sales campaign, it is simply not enough to think only in the printed and tangible matter, but these campaigns must include and embrace online marketing. From blogs to social networks, the Internet is not just a tool for the young; all ages access and use it.
One of those campaigns was Hotmail, which managed to recruit twelve million new subscribers by adding the line 'Receive your free email from Hotmail' at the end of outgoing emails. However the news about your organization and its products and services is spread, whether that's online or through traditional word of mouth or campaigns, make sure the message is positive. If you have a reputation for good quality products and services, you can build a solid and growing customer base.
You can also improve this by communicating consistently with your customers and potential customers using some of the effective marketing techniques discussed in this book. For those other techniques not discussed in this book, such as telemarketing and selling, which, as I mentioned earlier, require a high level of personal development skills and special training in sales techniques, you may want to read our sister publications: The Simple Step-by-Step Guide to telephone telemarketing and appointment making, and the simple step-by-step guide to successful selling.
