Marketing Tips & Advice

Marketing

• Quantify your marketing objectives
• Budget for time and finances to achieve them
• Identify what else you need to know
• Manage the process all the way
• Review and adjust on a rolling basis

"Management by objective works - if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don't."   
Peter F Drucker

Advertising

• Do it for response or awareness, and always make it easy to respond
• Measure before and after to see if it works
• Avoid one-off advertisements - a series works better
• Check what your customers/prospects actually read before booking space
• Bigger is not better- go for an early right hand corner

Direct Mail

• Use a clean list - business lists change by 30% each year, consumers by 20%.
• Make a good offer- give them a reason to contact you
• Use AIDA in your letter, and have more "yous" than "mes"
• Attract attention by a question/ challenge/statement/lumpy envelope
• Be aware of the best time for a positive response

Customer Newsletters

• Give your customers more information about you, in an easy to digest format
• Tell happy customer stories - they are more credible than simple claims
• Introduce your people - people buy people
• Re-cycle PR stories
• Use involvement techniques like competitions and response to your website

Exhibitions

• Plan using cost/benefit matrix
• Quantify other benefits - list gathering, competitor information, awareness
• Think of your exhibition stand as combined stage/retail shop
• Use involvement devices
• Train staff to identify level of interest/competitor promptly and follow-up

Seminars

• Use to demonstrate new products/ services
• Mix clients/prospects
• Link with trade magazine for more publicity
• Invite hands-on interaction
• Develop your networking skills

Brochures

• Think carefully how your brochure will be used
• Consider your target audience
• Apply the 30 second attention test
• Check out what brochure the competition have
• Clever printing saves money (and is environmentally responsible)

Sales Promotion

• Use when product/service is mature or a commodity
• Use when competing for market share
• If using competitions, make it look easy to win
• Even sophisticated business people like appropriate free gifts
• BOGOF - 'Buy One, Get One Free' helps move stock to your timetable

Public relations

• Worth up to 5 times the credibility of advertising
• Identify your key publics and influencers
• Tailor the message to your reader
• Planned and consistent works harder for you
• Apply the yawn factor -would you read it if it were not about you?

Putting it all together

• Log sources of enquiries accurately
• Use most cost effective first, least cost effective last
• Measure everything in term of return

"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself."

Peter F Drucker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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