Archive for Marketing
Today’s economy is tough, and businesses are working harder than ever to stay afloat. Do you know what it will take to beat your competition for that next customer? If you don’t, you could lose them to the competition. Having a marketing strategy is critical to any business’ success. A marketing strategy will help identify the customers that you serve and how you can meet their needs. Let’s talk about how you can create a marketing strategy to outfox your competition big time!
Identify your competition. Who is your competition? Off the top of your head, you should know who your top 3 or 5 biggest competitors are. If you don’t, this is probably a good place to start. Where would a customer shop if they didn’t come to you? You may have to think a little creatively depending on what type of industry or niche you are in, and if you are brick and mortar or online business. An online business can use keywords to help identify their competition. A brick and mortar store may use things like location and word of mouth to help know who their competition is.
What are your top selling products? This is an important part of your marketing strategy. It is so helpful to know what your customers know you are the go-to company, store or business to come to for. Look at your sales records for the past three to six months and see what your top 10 products are. If they are different than what you thought they would be, make a note of this for your own record keeping and business plan.
Do your homework. Once you know who your competition is, it is time to research them. Visit their online websites or brick and mortar locations. Read news stories that have been written about them. If they are a publicly traded company, read their stock reports. Try buying a few products and/or calling Customer Service and make a note of your experiences.
Ask your customers for their two cents. Your customers are a valuable resource when it comes to marketing because they are doing business with you. Send out a short survey with a Thank You gift and ask their opinion. Keep in confidential so they can feel free to give their unedited opinions.
Look at your business plan. Once you have done additional research for your marketing strategy, it is time to look at your business plan. It may be time to make changes to your business plan due to your new and updated marketing strategy. You may consider adding new products or reducing the products you sell. You can look at your business plan before doing this research, but it will be hard to make any changes until you have completed this work.
Small business owners are busy, and no one likes to think about having an additional task. But taking the time to analyze your competition can save you time and money. If you understand why your competition is successful, it can help you decide to make changes. Whether you decide to carry new products, reduce the products you sell or to change your marketing strategy, you are on your way to successful results.
Frustrated by clients who miss or just plain forget appointments? There has to be something to help keep your schedule on track. There is! Try what professionals in many fields have turned to, Appointment Card Stickers. These stickers easily attach to your business cards. Your clients know they have an appointment with you and that sticker draws attention to the appointment date and time. For many professionals this means fewer missed appointments and a smoother running day.
These stickers are easy to use and professionals like them because they are an easy way to remind every client of their appointment. Just attach the sticker to the business card and write in the appointment date and time. The sticker is an attractive graphic, specially designed to attract attention. They come in a variety of styles and colors, that will work well with your business card.
You’ll be surprised when using the stickers at how clients notice them right from the start. That’s because not every professional uses something this unique and stand out on their business card, so yours easily get attention. Even for the client who has a few business cards in their pocket, reminding them of a few appointments, you can be confident that yours will stand out from the crowd. That bright and colorful graphic draws the eye in and the first thing they’ll notice is the appointment date and time.
If you decide to use stickers in your office, remember to make them available to everyone in your office. Anyone who answers the phone or is at the reception desk can wind up making an appointment. They need to have quick access to these Appointment Card Stickers so clients’ cards always have the stickers on them. If you only use them occasionally or wind up forgetting to use them most of the time, then your clients wont know to look for them. The key is to use them each and every time, so they become your trademark.
Write on appointment card stickers with a black or blue pen. While a pencil can be convenient to use in the office for many reasons, you wont want to use it to write appointments. A gel pen can be used, just about any pen may be ideal as long as it doesn’t smudge. Some professionals prefer to use a permanent ink pen. Test out the pen to see if it smudges before you begin writing out appointments for clients. Then buy one or even two boxes of these pens to keep them available for your staff. While no office likes an added expenses, it is so critical that clients remember when their appointments are that this expenses is well worth it.
After just a few weeks of using these stickers, you’ll notice a marked difference in your office. More clients will be keeping and showing up for their appointments. There will be fewer clients forgetting their appointments and not showing up or calling the office afterward to apologize for not coming. Your office will be running smoother because all appointments will be kept. Revenue will be increased because appointments will be higher than before. All from using an attractive sticker on your business card. Its a great improvement from a small change, what could be better?
Getting ready to attend a trade show? It’s easy to see why they are so popular, just how often do you get to be surrounded by people and companies in your favorite industry? And if you are attending a trade show, you’ll want to make the most of this experience. This is the ideal opportunity to make connections and meet people in your industry. Let’s talk about how you can network successfully at this great event:
Plan to connect. We know that you can’t plan everything, but you can make an effort to connect with people. Talk to people not only who come to your booth, but when you go to get a cup of coffee or take a break for lunch. Chat with people in the elevator or on the escalator. The more chatting opportunities you have, the more networking you will successfully do. The very best networking is natural and comes when you are simply focused on connecting with people. And that doesn’t mean you are always behind your trade show podium.
Dress to impress. A trade show is a busy place and you are always on-the-go. But you need to think about your appearance and how you present yourself. Is your breath fresh? Ladies, does your makeup melt off your face after a few hours? Gents, is your suit pressed and shoes shined? Don’t wear a tuxedo or something totally out of place, but dress well so you make a great first impression. Choose clothing that looks good but also is comfortable. Ladies, choose flat shoes or low heels so it is easy to stand for most of the day.
Bring updated business cards. This is one of the most important things you’ll do to make connections. While many will add you to their PDA or cell phone, lots of people still like to collect a classic business card. Bring plenty of them and be sure the information has been updated to reflect your most recent title and contact information. Don’t forget to add social media contact information. Another great tip: consider writing your cell phone number on the back so they can easily contact you during the trade show to meet for lunch or dinner!
Offer something. A great way to make connections is to have something to give. Don’t worry, you don’t have to give away the whole store or offer unlimited access to your bank account to make some great connections. Most great connections are made through offering useful information and resources. If you meet someone at the conference who is looking for a vendor, offer to refer them to yours so they can get printing done or a website designed.
Create a get together. This is one of the most ways to make connections at a trade show. Get to know the people and companies near you at the trade show and then coordinate dinner at a local restaurant or cocktails and appetizers or even a favorite tourist event. What could be more fun than visiting New York City or Chicago or San Francisco and then seeing one of the best tourist spots together? Its a relaxed setting and a great way to get to know everyone.
Being at a trade show is a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience you’ll never forget. It is possible to make great connections there if you try. The most important thing is to make an effort. Focus on making an effort each day to network and make connections, and then stay in touch after the trade show is over. Now that’s successful networking!
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- Most Common Details Left Out of Trade Show Booth Designs (monsterdisplays.com)
- Energy Curved Fabric Displays and Other Cost Saving Fabric Trade Show Options (exhibitdeal.com)
- Creating A Quality Exhibition Booth (exhibitdeal.com)
Promotional videos can be great for your business in numerous ways. A good video can be a powerful advertisement for your products, services, special events or the company itself. It can help you land new customers or new employees. Here are some tips for putting together a video that will accomplish your goals.
Think Hard About Your Target Audience
This may sound obvious and it is, but often times, we just scratch the surface when it comes to thinking about what we hope to accomplish with certain tasks. You need to go deeper than just thinking that you are trying to sell a product, recruit new employees or showcase your company to show perspective clients why they should choose you. Really think about who your viewers are. What do you want them to do? Are you showing this live or is the video for the Web? What is general age range and professional status of your viewers? What are their needs and how can you meet them through this video? Going a bit deeper can help you tailor your promotional video more effectively and make a greater impact. Going with the assistance of a marketing professional may be a worthy investment—if you cannot formulate a powerful message, all your efforts will be for naught.
More is Not Always Better
It seems that people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. While it may be tempting to load a lot of information in the video, more facts do not necessarily translate to getting your message across any better or more convincingly. We tend to think that we must provide as much information as possible to win people over, but that is not the case. There is no set rule to how long it should be as it depends on the purpose of creating it, but something short with high production value will be much more effective in piquing interest than a longer video, even if it provides more information that you feel you want your viewers to know.
Consider When to Hire a Professional and When to Do It Yourself
It is totally possible to make a professional video on your own cheaply. But, just because we can do something ourselves, that does not always make it the best course of action. If you are serious about your business’s success, you need to honestly assess when it is better to hire professionals than do something yourself. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Video can be a very powerful tool for growing your business and you want to do it properly. Getting a lot of little things right is vital to producing a high quality video, such as the proper lighting and sound. If your staff does not test well on camera, it might be better to hire professional actors. There are lots of nuances to producing a good video that only a professional would know. Ultimately, it comes down to your goals and what you are looking to accomplish with the video.
Kelli Cooper is a freelance writer who specializes in content that helps people increase their success both personally and professionally. If you need quality hard copy videos, check out DVDCopyCat a San Francisco USB media reproduction company.
Using a magnet to market your company’s products is a clever and fun way to gain new business. Frequently, people will put magnets on their refrigerators or filing cabinets. Often, those magnets will stay there for months or even years. The use of magnets to advertise your company is quite a low cost way to gain new business. Magnets are very appealing, durable and can stick to almost any magnetic surface. People very often go to their refrigerator or their file cabinet, so using a magnet ad is a great way to get attention for your company.
As you begin to contemplate the design of your magnet, think about other magnets over the years that got your attention. What was it about them that were special? Was it the color? Was it the font? Was there a striking image used? A good magnet ad must have had something that got your attention. With the advice of your printing company, you should be able to come up with a striking design that will get attention.
Okay, don’t use magnets for marketing in this way.
One of the clever ways that you can use a magnet to advertise your product is to make it into the shape of whatever the product is that you are selling. If you are an auto mechanic, you can make your magnet into the shape of a car. Then you will put the contact information of your company on it. When someone sees that on a surface, they will know immediately that your company services cars, and they will be more likely to remember your firm.
Next, really think about which colors to use for your magnet. The more vibrant the colors, the better the chance that someone is going to see the magnet and take action. You might not want to make a magnet black, because many of the refrigerators sold today are black. This means that your magnet is going to blend in and will not be noticed. However, one way to fight this is to use a black magnet with large, white letters. This approach will get your magnet a lot of attention.
Also, think a lot about what text you want to use on your advertising magnet and what font you want to use. There is a tendency to want to cram too much information into a small space. If you put too much text into a small area, your prospect is probably going to lose interest. A small magnet with a lot of text is just too hard to read. You should probably stick with a good image, your company’s name, contact information and slogan. That is about the right amount of information that someone can read in 2-3 seconds. If you have much more text than that, few people are going to take the time to read what your ad has to say.
Hopefully, you will now understand just how effective a magnet can be to advertise your product. With the help of your printing company, you should be able to design a magnet for marketing that boosts your sales.
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