Marketing Small Business Expert Articles
The Marketing Secret - What's in it For Me? |
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The Marketing Secret - What's in it For Me? You've heard it before: the basis of your marketing should answer the question from your potential buyer: "What's in it for me?" It's the truth. You yourself don't visit a website or look at a product unless there is a clear benefit for you doing so. Keep this in mind for your next marketing campaign. No matter if you have a newsletter, a blog, a press release or a direct mail campaign, you have to give the reader a reason to read. Otherwise you're missing out on potential business and wasting your time and money. Here are some examples of how you can offer value in each of these types of marketing tools. strong>Newsletter I am a strong proponent of e-newsletters. I send two out to my company's subscribers each month. I include a personal note, links to places I've been interviewed, and an article on marketing. Now, while I certainly hope my readers will read the press releases I've included and listen to my interviews, I know the reason they open my emails in the first place is that article. I'm providing useful information they can easily digest in their Inboxes. In return, I hope they'll explore my websites and contact me if they need marketing services. Blogs Why do you read blogs? Probably because you find information that helps you solve a problem, like how to market online or how to write a press release. So free information is what's in it for you. I do this out of the goodness of my heart. Again, I provide this information, hoping that when you need extra help with marketing, my readers will consider my company. Press Release Think press releases are designed to help you promote your company? Think again. Their purpose is to help solve a problem a potential client has. Say you're shopping for birth announcements online and you stumble across a press release for Baby's Here Inc. You find out that this company sells unique, customized birth announcements online. It piques your interest, so you visit the site. You end up ordering all your announcements here. Problem solved. It's important to relay your news in a way that answers that question, "what's in it for me," for your potential customers. Address the problem your news can solve. A new office location can provide easy access to your store for people in your new geographic area. A new pet product may solve the problem of fleas on your dog. Direct Mail We all get direct mail. We usually glance at it, and if it doesn't catch our attention, into the trash it goes. Having attractive graphics is half of the battle. But once you've drawn in the eye, you have to attract the mind. Make sure your postcard or letter directly addresses how you can help the reader. Make them hold on to the card long enough to want to know more. Susan Payton is Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations, an Orlando marketing firm. She assists small businesses with marketing strategy and communications. She is also the author of 101 Entrepreneur Tips, a guide that helps entrepreneurs make repeat customers, close the sale, and delegate work. For more information on Susan and Egg Marketing, visit http://www.eggmarketingpr.com or email her at smpayton@eggmarketingpr.com Get marketing advice on The Marketing Eggspert Blog, http://www.eggmarketingblog.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Payton |
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7 Low Cost No Cost Ways to Market Your Company |
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7 Low Cost No Cost Ways to Market Your Company There's good news if you're a business owner. You don't have to spend all your money on marketing! There are low cost ways which you can use to your advantage. The key in finding out what they are! Read on to find out how you can do this. a. Business card: This one is such a given that maybe it shouldn't even be mentioned. However, it's surprising how many entrepreneurs forget to get a business card made. You need to have professional looking, attractive business cards which you can hand out when you meet clients. Also, the fact that you have a business card and business stationery at hand shows people that you take your business seriously. b. Trade shows and meetings: Trade shows and other professional group meetings are entirely for networking and building contacts. Make sure you go to a Chamber of Commerce meeting, a civic association meeting or even one from the Rotary Club. Keep your business cards handy and every time you meet someone, tell your name. By the time you start talking about your business, you should have already handed the card to the person. Make sure to also take a personal interest in what these people do and ensure they remember you as a business contact. c. Press releases: You could leverage the tremendous power of press releases. These are inexpensive, freely circulated and get you loads of publicity absolutely free of cost. Make sure to pick out a USP of your company or product which is unique and sellable. Then create press releases around this theme. Send these releases out highlighting this unique selling point so as to create a curiosity. Make sure the USP you are highlighting is going to interest the target audience. d. Network, network, network: You need to network and build on contacts with other people in the same field. Tell them you are available for work and that you can help them with any overloads they may face. e. Be a speaker: One of the best ways to generate free publicity for your business is by being a speaker. If you have a good command over the language and are able to speak well, consider giving a speech on a common topic of interest, related to your products and company. By speaking on a niche subject you get to establish authority as a subject matter expert of sorts. You could try establishing contact with various speaker bureaus that can provide you with suitable platforms for giving speeches. f. Give free demos: If you have a set of products which can be demonstrated be sure to do it. Select a popular venue and then show people how to operate the product. If you have developed some tool for using in your work, you could teach others how to use it as well. g. Cold calling: You may think cold calling is only for those irritating telemarketers but you couldn't be further from the truth. If you want word about your business to get across fast, then make sure to be prepared to make cold calls to customers. So if you thought marketing your company signifies huge investments, think again. With these methods you can start promoting your company right away. It's really easy and quick. So all you need to do is implement! (c) 2007, Doug and Claudia Brown of www.whatisyourplan.com All rights reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as article and by-line are published intact and with all links made live. Doug and Claudia Brown use their 40 plus years of business building experiences to educate people and businesses on how to dramatically increase their revenues. Free Report "17 Strategic Steps to Steps to Achieving a Six Figure Income or More" at http://www.whatisyourplan.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_C._Brown |
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How to Target Your Market |
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How to Target Your Market The number of people who buy products and services is nearly infinite. But the number of people who want and need your product or service is definitely finite. Trying to market to everyone is a waste of money. So how do you leverage your marketing budget to filter out all the non-buyers and reach your prospects and customers? You need to target your marketing efforts to those people most likely to buy what you offer. Identifying your target market makes creating, pricing, distributing, promoting, positioning, and continually improving your product or service easier, more successful, and ultimately more cost-effective. Anything else is a waste of time and money. Target marketing is one of the corporate world's most effective business strategies. Simply defined, a target market is the majority of people your business attracts, either by design (yours) or by accident. If you don't already know, figure out who buys your product or and service--and why. Develop a picture of your ideal buyer: their demographics and the problems they're trying to solve. (For more about solving your customer's problem, see my article, "Solve Your Customer's Problem.") Then use this information to create a marketing strategy that will attract those ideal customers to you. The five major demographic breakdowns are as follows: Gender--women currently make the vast majority of buying decisions, a trend that is not expected to reverse. Age--younger people increasingly have money to spend, and the proliferation of online sales sites has made it easier for them to do so. Family composition--size, age of its members, etc.--a larger and more varied family has more, and more varied, needs. Whether pets are included is also a factor. Income level--people with more money buy more expensive things and are less affected by fluctuations in the economy, yet they are a smaller segment of the population. Geographic location--regional habits and tastes, climate, and other natural features affect buying patterns. Finally, don't ignore your most valuable target market--your existing customers. So, what are you currently doing to promote your product or service? What kinds of results are you getting? How can a marketing expert help you get better results? Lisa J. Lehr is a freelance copywriter specializing in direct response and marketing collateral, with a special interest in the health, pets, specialty foods, and inspirational/motivational/self-help niches. She has a degree in biology, has worked in a variety of fields including pharmaceuticals and teaching, and has volunteered for many causes including special-needs kids and literacy. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, art, music, outdoor exercise, and all things Celtic and Renaissance. Have you signed up for her free e-mail series on marketing strategies? http://www.thegoodplacetobe.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_J._Lehr |
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Insurance Agent Marketing - Creating a Sustainable Lead Generation Pool |
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Insurance Agent Marketing - Creating a Sustainable Lead Generation Pool Successful producers know that quality, local insurance leads are vital to ongoing success. Funny how the pen that writes up an order for new business is always tethered to the phone. And today that phone is tied more and more to the internet. The internet is rapidly changing. Insurance agents thirsting for relevant insurance leads need a competitive advantage. While a competitive advantage based on paying for every lead on a per lead basis can be effective, it means you are tied to: 1. Your own cost outlay (and budget) for each and every lead 2. The number of leads any given vendor can supply. But, an alternate strategy for successful insurance agency marketing exists. No, not alternate--parallel. No insurance agent carries just one line; it would cripple the agency's income. Multiple lines mean multiple chances to connect with customers. Lead generation should work the same way. Your insurance marketing efforts should combine more than one tactic to put you in front of your customers. And this is where search marketing comes in. Local search. A recent stat shows that Google will soon account for 30% of all online advertising. Why? Because companies will pay good money to be in front of the right prospective client at the right time. And, they'll pay even more money to get in front of that prospect with the right message at the magic moment in time. That's what you can do with successful search marketing It's not easy, but it can be sustainable. Unlike pay per lead, a strong natural search campaign, coupled with thoughtfully placed paid search efforts can send your agency sales soaring. Search can really be your best referrer. Craig Lutz-Priefert is Vice President of an insurance lead generation firm. MorePolicies.com provides insurance marketing services for local insurance agents MorePolicies.com also provides quality natural insurance leads and agent-engineered websites. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Lutz-Priefert |
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