Category Archives: Marketing

These days if your brand is without an online marketing plan you are dead in the water. Brands these days need an online marketing strategy in order to promote products and services to acquire new customers both online and off.

Social media, search presence and display advertising all factor into brand presence. In order to acquire a larger audience and thus customers brands need to utilize online platforms with fitness as well as intent.

But where do you start? Which marketing strategy is best? Unfortunately the answer varies based on many factors including your niche and your goals as a small business. Each business has different needs – do you want a greater presence, more leads, or more customers? It takes research and understanding your market in order to determine the most effective strategy for your business at this point in time.

The good news is that you can easily tailer an online marketing plan directly to meet your goals. By utilizing a combination approach to your use of tools, social profiles and effective use of media the right marketing plan tends to fall in place naturally.

Of course there are a few basics one must understand when creating a digital marketing plan for your unique business setup. If you’d like to see your business grow both online and offline the good news is that it is very possible when you utilize an effective model defined by prior experience derived from research into your market.

Marketing is one of the most critical elements to any successful business. One of the first elements to look at is your social media presence.

Let’s take a look at a few current social media trends shall we?

Internet use is exploding all across the world, in fact internet use has more than doubled in the last few years alone. After the dot-com bubble burst in the 90s people were a bit leery of the internet and where it was headed. But that trend quickly went away as more and more companies realized the digital world was only just beginning.

Not only has marketing dramatically changed the way we consume content has as well. Media and entertainment has shifted from traditional print forms to exclusively digital forms faster than anyone would have predicted.

It’s also changed the way business owners need to think about their marketing objectives, strategies and implementations.

At the foundational level marketing has changed. Some say for the better, others may not agree, but change it has.

Everyone loves to get a deal. It’s a fact of life. But what’s the best way to capitalise on this, as a marketer? Offers can be a double edged sword for any business, with an increase in sales or traffic but a lowering in individual revenue; it’s critical to find a balance to keep your company profitable.

There are a few different key ways to capitalise on this aspect of human nature, with their own pros and cons. Firstly is the one seen most often; discounted prices for a certain timeframe. Now this can be a given holiday, such as Christmas or Black Friday sales , or simply ‘next two weeks’, but the result is the same. These offers are best suited to physical stores rather than online, as the aim is to get people into the store. Once they are in, they’re more likely to purchase ‘accessory products’, which is where the main earnings come with offers. If you go to a store to buy a half price jumper, and you see a nice scarf, you are more likely to buy both as you have already saved money. These offers can also be a great way to get rid of excess stock, such as leftover seasonal stock such as summer shorts in autumn.

Another way to capitalise on exclusivity is through offers and coupons, as loyalty rewards or in other media such as newspaper offers. These have to be carefully planned, as though it does increase traffic, they also run a risk of losing money. For example, say you are selling a scarf for £10, and your total costs are £5 for the item (store space, manufacturing, shipping etc.) then you can potentially run a 50% off or buy-one-get-one-free offer, without losing money. But what about when the customer has another 10% off as a part of another offer, or with uniformed services discount or similar, then you will operate at a loss. In the UK at least, most companies get around this by including an adage to the coupon such as ‘cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer’. This is not the place in places such as America, where coupon use is much more prevalent.

Having an offer which is exclusive to a certain group of people adds urgency to the offer, meaning people are much more likely to shop there. People love to feel special, and individual tailored offers are a great way to use this mentality to increase sales.

Price matching is a relatively recent addition to the offer repertoire, with certain companies claiming to sell a certain item cheaper than anywhere else, or they’ll match the price. Now obviously this can go extremely wrong in certain cases, but a small loss can sometimes mean a large gain. For instance, if a company is selling a TV with price matching on Amazon, then there is nothing to stop someone creating an Amazon account and selling one of that TV for a lower price, and cheating the system by getting the TVs at a lower price. This can cost companies alot of money, but fortunately there are a few ways around this. Many companies manufacture certain models exclusively for a certain store, meaning the model number does not match between companies. The customer may feel cheated if this happens, but at least you do not lose money, and the person is still in the store. The other way around this can create a small loss; pricing lower than the competition, but only getting a few models in. It’s easy to understand that an amazing offer like this has sold out, and in the end the customer is still shopping in your store. Exclusivity is the key to event marketing, and can increase sales year round if used correctly.

Are you ready to be in full control of your business?

Now you’re there wondering whether quitting your day job and toeing the line to try a whole new world was the best step you’ve ever made.

It was scary making that decision, but you feel more apprehensive today because the future is turning out to be more and more uncertain.

Let’s talk.

How’s that business going? Oh, not really as well as you’d imagined it would? Pressured to attract more clients?

Let’s see.

Just a friendly suggestion – why not get help marketing your business?

It’s easy to say getting help from marketing consultants isn’t, business-wise, the best way to go. There’s the financial aspect of hiring another hand to help out, and this doesn’t always go over favorably, especially if you already have a team in place.

However, instead of looking at it as another financial drain, why not consider it as an investment? You know that each penny counts only when it’s invested in the business – and yes, invested in yourself. That’s pretty fair, isn’t it?

When you start putting in money, time and effort, that’s the time you say to yourself you’re giving this business a chance – a chance for it to grow. And so that’s what you ought to be doing, right?

Taking the time to read up on the latest online trends and strategies is part of what you must do as a marketer. So it only makes sense that you also use what you’ve learned and put it into action. The only way for you to see if they’ll work for your business is by applying them. You have that power to create that change.

But you may be thinking They say I can do it without the additional financial pressure. Perhaps you’re right, but perhaps not. If you decide to do it on your own, without the knowledge needed to apply the strategies properly and efficiently, then you might end up wasting both time and money. And of course, don’t forget that as you spend time trying to figure out what can be done, you might also miss out on other opportunities.

Opportunities such as what? Well, taking action means meeting clients and growing your business. Those are the things that are meant for you to do – and do quickly!

Let the experts do the business of figuring it out. They are there for that reason – to clear up the messy side of businesses and straighten things out. They do the thinking, while you’re busy running the show under their wise direction.

Ready for a chat? Get in touch with a consultant. A call to a marketing consulting firm might just be the trigger you’ve been waiting for.

Twenty or so years ago, small businesses and those who had limited budgets for marketing, had very limited means for promoting their products. Today, small businesses are competing alongside big businesses using the internet. The internet is a heaven sent resource for businesses. It allows them to market and promote their products using the least amount of effort and money.

If you’re looking for help to promote your business but don’t have a huge budget to do, so here are some simple and inexpensive ways you can do it.

1. Create a blog – A blog is a great way to introduce your product to your customers. Using a friendly, almost conversational tone, using a blog you can talk to your customers as if you’re talking to them one by one. People often respond to blogs more positively than to sales copy. They see blogs as personal and more intimate.

2. Use social media – This is one of the best and least expensive methods of promoting your product. Millions of people are using social media and are logged in almost all the time. Having a presence there will increase your reach and visibility to customers.

You can try a paid post to get more people to see your product. Paid posts require you to pay a small fee, but it’s still cheap compared to print or TV ads. If you don’t have a budget for paid posts, you can just make sure that your free posts contain the best content and the most stunning photos. People respond well to a beautiful photo, and are more likely to share it with their friends.

3. Consult with an SEO expert – SEO, or search engine optimization, is a term that refers to optimizing your website content to increase your chances of getting top search result. SEO consultants have the knowledge of what methods to use and strategies to apply to the kind of product that you offer. SEO specialists look at your current content and analyze it using SEO tools, to see if changes are needed to make it better optimized for web searches.

4. Sponsor a contest – A good example of a low cost contest you can sponsor is an online contest, wherein people will post a photo of themselves holding your product. The best photo wins, and you get user generated content for free.

A contest doesn’t have to award huge prizes. It just has to be fun and easy to do. Post contest rules online, and encourage your followers to join. You can also boost the post so that many people will see it.

Promoting your product doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate. Sometimes simple things like social media posting can do the trick. Create a post that becomes viral, and you’ve got your work cut out for you.

Billboard marketing, or sign spinners is what we come across at almost any hour of the day just about everywhere we go. Designed to catch the attention of potential clients, these signs often intrigue them to visit your business, whether it’s a store, a website, an event or even a seasonal promotion you want people to see. Here are reasons why using a sign spinner for your business is an ever-successful idea of marketing.

Vivid Approaches

No matter what’s the message a sign delivers, this genre of marketing follows a different approach in terms of communication, presentation and physical aspects to cater to the needs of different audience, or even each customer.

They Create Urgency

According to studies, sign walkers make a mark in scenarios where most other traditional modes of advertisement may fail. Actually, they target the impulse buyer, who is ready to purchase at the moment, but just doesn’t realize it until a sign spinner creates certain urgency which the buyer needs. Also, such ads aim at prospective customers already visiting your area of business or passing by that region.

Target People Already Away From Their Home

Most forms of marketing, including Television commercials, mails or brochures tend to target people sitting at home, thereby requiring them to actually leave their place in order to to visit a business. On the other hand, sign spinners target crowd that’s already traveling away from home, which in itself meets half the goal.

Motion Advertising

Sign spinners use movement to catch the eyes of people in a fashion that a stationary advertisement cannot. That’s why huge businesses have realized the benefits of opting for motion in their outdoor advertising as well as point of purchase displays. Sign spinners are at times, often assisted by store decor that may include huge signs placed in the immediate area quite strategically to increase the exposure. Arrow signs also work wonders in directing people to your location.

Extremely Affordable

Last but not the least, affordability works as an important factor that makes sign spinning very efficient for promoting your brand. While most ideas of advertising, including flyers, newspapers or television ads cost a huge deal, these signs on the other hand, cost a whopping 80% less than that of an average TV commercial. And, making a business big calls for promotions and investments in advertising, which makes sign spinning a preferred choice that can work in close interactions with the masses.

Starting a business is one thing, and making it grow is another. If you find your business to be struggling with getting more customers, then you need to take your marketing efforts to a higher level. By hiring arrow sign spinners, you can increase your chances of obtaining exposure for your business. Naturally, the more people know about your store, the greater chances you have of getting more customers. This, of course, impacts your business profits tremendously, which is what you need for your precious investment.

Sign Spinner Benefits

In a society that is saturated by conventional ads, people want to see something exciting, different and powerful enough to captivate their attention. This is why arrow sign spinners are in demand right now, since they perform various stunts and skits that instantly make people want to watch and tune in to the message they have to share. As the crowd listens, they learn more about your business, which is what the sign held by these professionals are all about.

Just picture this you made your way out of the office, and you are looking for a place to grab a bite. There are several restaurants nearby, but what catches your eye is that talented performer doing all sorts of stunts while carrying a sign pointing towards a brand new restaurant in town. Being an impulsive buyer that you are, and not knowing exactly where you wanted to go, in the first place, you decided to give the restaurant being advertised a try.

You see, this is the exact scenario that transpires when some people are engaged by these sign spinners. They watch, applaud, get the message, and check out the business advertised by the talent down the street. This is just what you need for your business, which is why sign spinners are a big hit when it comes to elevating your brand while giving the crowd something entertaining to watch.

Just remember that not all sign spinner companies are created equal. There are good ones, but there are exceptional ones. The idea is to go for a reputable company known to offer full-service marketing campaigns to clients. You want a company that provides custom-designed signs, giant billboards and arrow signs, and highly trained sign spinners who can deliver your message in an effective and powerful manner. So, start your search, and reap benefits offered by this one-of-a-kind marketing technique.

Tip #1: Constantly be responsive when your employee asks you to assist them. Keep in mind that their success suggests success for you. Make sure to check in with members of your team regularly. Discover how they are doing and ask if there’s anything you can do to assist. If your employee does not feel supported, your success rates will suffer.

Tip #2: If you have a multi-level marketing company with a concentrate on item renewal (consumables), make certain to reserve a minimum of 3 renewal checkups at every occasion. Prior to leaving each occasion, attempt to set up a minimum of 3 more such checkups. Doing this will make sure that your company grows instead of simply sustain itself.

Tip #3: Do not keep putting money down a rat hole. Develop a particular goal you want to buy into your MLM endeavor. Strategize your endeavor well and follow your strategy thoroughly. If you lose financial investment cash and are not earning a profit, reassess your choices. Determine if you might be much better off chucking this task and beginning on a brand-new one instead of losing more cash.

Tip #4: Do not simply hire individuals, coach them. In multi-level marketing, you’re frequently rewarded for binging on more individuals. However if those individuals leave after a couple of brief weeks, you have actually got absolutely nothing to show for all that hiring effort. Rather, serve as a coach to your employees. Demonstrate the ropes to them and help them out. They’ll be most likely to remain.

Tip #5: Have pride in exactly what you market. Pick business opportunities that have product and services that you like. You can not effectively represent something that you do not have pride in. Research study and partner with business people that you trust. Simply make certain you inspect their productivity results to make sure they fit your strategy.

Tip #6: When doing multi-level marketing, choosing the best item is essential to making money. Ensure you choose an item that you believe in. Likewise, ensure any warranties or guarantees for the item can be corroborated. It’s a smart idea to pick an item that is special which can not quickly be acquired at a regional shop or at a lower rate.

Tip #7: As you consider the numerous company opportunities and choices that may be out there for multi-level marketing, you should take a look at this MLM travel review site. Anybody can be successful with MLM, however regrettably there are a great deal of failures, really a lot of to count. Do not let this get you down, so keep checking out to discover helpful info that will make you feel excellent entering the MLM company.

Tip #8: Make certain you have practical expectations prior to your choice to join into multi-level marketing. Earnings generation and success is not as lucrative as numerous multi-level marketing business make you think. Statistically, only one from 100 multi-level marketing agents make any cash or achieve success. Additionally, in the MLM world there are numerous dubious company practices and frauds, so take care.

Tip #9: Discovering the ideal multi-level marketing opportunity is crucial, and understanding when to delve into business and when not to is vital. Most of the time if something appears too good to be true, it is more likely just something created to make business owner rich. Do not fall victim to a bad MLM company, and utilize the abilities here to discover something that works for you.

Tip #10: In order to be successful in multi-level marketing, you should want to hear your coaches and learn the best steps to take. A lot of multi-level marketing business provide mentorship from the business’s MLM veterans to brand-new agents. It remains in the veteran’s benefit to see you be successful, so the majority of the time they want to teach you how the system works. You can duplicate your coach’s success by listening and practicing exactly what they teach.

Tip #11: Practice transparent interaction with your team. Keeping back details is dishonest and will not cause trust. It is extremely important that the members of your down line feel they can trust you and that you have their benefits at heart. Even if your employees have actually never completed the task and are nothing more than a non-active member, you need to make every effort to be truthful, reliable and encouraging. If your employee does not trust you, you will never ever have success with MLM.

Texting is one of the most convenient ways of keeping in touch with your customers. You can communicate in a quick and effective manner with millions of people so that they are always up to date with your latest news and with your best promotions. However, sending an SMS to each customer or prospect in your database might take you a very long time, so you have to find a better solution to message a large number of people with only a few clicks. Besides, using a computer is more convenient and much faster than using a mobile phone for such things. In addition, by using email, you can craft your campaigns in such a manner that your customers are going to be waiting for your messages, as you are going to know exactly when to hit them for the best response rate.

By using an email to SMS software solution, you can benefit from several functions that can help increase the satisfaction of your customers. You can send each of them a personalized message, thus making them feel more important. You can also schedule your SMS campaigns in such a way that all messages reach the recipients at the best possible time of the day. If you send them something when they are asleep or during work hours, they may not even read your messages. This would be a waste of time, effort and money. Moreover, if your recipients are at work, they may be disturbed by the incoming message alert, so it’s best to pick your times very carefully. This is why you need to do a thorough consumer research prior to planning such direct marketing activities. SMS messages are awesome, but only when they are sent out at the right time.

The good thing about sending email to sms is that you can schedule it to reach people when they are ready and willing to read and take action. In addition, they are all going to receive the messages at the same time. This feature wouldn’t be possible without a specialist software or a special service to help you transform your emails into text messages.

Even if some of your recipients are outside the network coverage area or they have their mobile phone switched off, your messages are going to be delivered as soon as their phones become operational again. When they are going to see new messages, the first impulse is going to be to check their inbox to read them. This is how you can have response and opening rates that approach 100%. This means you will have more chances with some of these people who will follow your sales funnel up to the point where they become your paying customers. This is what all business owners and managers would like to see, but not all of them know what it takes to get there. You have to be smart and use technology to your advantage. This would enable you save time and money, and your customers appreciate you more.

I’ve spoken at length about the business upsides of committing to your social media presence. Whether you’re hoping to attract talent, generate business leads, drive online sales or raise the profile of your business, the right social media strategy can play a huge part in making you successful.

However, there are three challenges for a business to overcome if it really wants to fully exploit social media …

Those three key steps to make your business more social media savvy are:

• Devising an effective social media strategy
• Securing the social media skills necessary to deliver this strategy
• Making the whole business more proactive on social mediaLet’s look at each in turn – and the changes you have to make in your business to exploit the full benefits that social media can bring …

  Devising an effective social media strategy

  Planning is essential when it comes to winning with social media. Once your team is let loose on social media, it can become a major time drain on the business. Your company needs to have a defined audience that it would like to reach, a specific outcome that it wants to achieve – and a funnel that takes people on that journey from first encounter to desired outcome.

  For some businesses this may be achieved entirely organically. You’ll seek to build up an ever larger audience and become increasingly effective at converting that audience into business leads, website traffic, online sales or candidate applicants. Yours will be a business that wins itself a rapidly growing fan base and engages to steer fans in the desired direction.

  For other businesses the focus may be much more focused on direct marketing. You will become expert at using the vast array of advertising options and re-targeting approaches that are made possible by social media advertising channels. You will test, learn, test until you’ve found the formula of audience targeting, advertising copy, call to action and landing page that delivers a favourable ROI on your social media spend.

  In my experience, most businesses will use a combination of both of these approaches to fully take advantage of social media and the business upsides social can bring.

  Securing the social media skills necessary to deliver this strategy

  You probably noticed that we’ve just uncovered a significant obstacle for any business wanting to take advantage of social media Having the skills in your team to do all of the above is a big ask. Maybe you’ll choose to outsource your social media to a social media agency to dodge this challenge altogether, certainly this is an option that some SMEs have been adopting.

  Many businesses would like to have these skills in-house though. At which point you have two options. For the most rapid results, there’s no avoiding the fact that you’ll have to hire a proven Social Media Manager to lead the delivery of this strategy. You’re going to need to involve someone in the hiring process who has deep knowledge of social media, or you run the risk of hiring someone whose seemingly impressive social media skills are actually quite mediocre. Or you’re going to have to find the budget to engage a specialist social media recruitment agency who can select a proven expert for you. Obviously this ratchets up the cost of delivering on your social media strategy quite considerably.

  Once on board you’ll need to invest in keeping their skills current, given the rate at which social media best practice is evolving. Social media training like this actually opens up a second option though. Many businesses are attempting to get social media results at a lower cost by relying on admin staff or interns to deliver their strategy. Without investment in their training, this can be a horribly ineffective option. Social media is often viewed as being free and easy to use. But there’s nothing free or easy about getting business results on social media – and misjudging this is the single biggest reason that businesses fail to get results from social media in our experience.

  However, if you can afford to wait a few more months to see social media results in your business, training up an under-utilised or lower cost member of staff may be a highly attractive option. Online courses can make it possible for a staff member to learn these tools and approaches on the job – and to undertake training that is bespoke to the needs of your individual business. Take a look at The Unfair Advantage if you’re considering going down the route of training staff in social media skills.

  Making the whole business more proactive on social media.

  Numerous studies have shown that potential customers need something like seven touch points with your business before they will feel reassured and ready to “buy”. Whether your “customers” are potential hires that you want to join your business, or people who you want to buy your services online, or businesspeople who you want to request a consultation … the same logic holds. If people have had more exposure to your business brand and its advocates, they are more likely to take the desired course of action and in a shorter space of time.

  It stands to reason, therefore, that a team who all play ball in sharing a company’s messages on social media will achieve stronger results than a company that’s trying to get its message out there on its own. A company whose voice is multiplied is also more likely to be noticed and shared by social media influencers, taking your social media reach to a whole new level.

  Success on this front comes down to two things. Firstly, conveying the message from your CEO that this is critical to the success of the business. You need your staff to really buy in to the importance of them being more proactive on social media. Secondly you need to give your staff the tools necessary to do the job. From curating the content to be shared to providing the tools that make that sharing hassle-free, the easier you make things for staff to get involved the more they will do so.

  Related Video: Social Media Marketing Insights for Small Business Owners