| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Budget Marketing: Managing Your Marketing Money Wisely!
There's a saying that half of all marketing efforts are wasted, but it's impossible to tell which half! I know from hard won experience how easy it is to waste money on marketing. When I first set up my own business in 1998, I spent tens of thousands of dollars employing the best graphic designer and printing a great glossy brochure. The feedback was 'Tom, that's one of the best glossy brochures I've seen!' But did it get me customers and help build my business? No! It was a pure ego trip. Now I know better. Most marketing efforts are done for purely ego reasons alone and almost all fail to live up to expectations. So what can you do about it? I believe the best marketing campaigns are built not on glossy brochures or expensive TV advertising but on understanding the needs and wants of consumers and then providing solutions to these needs and wants. Much of this is done by building powerful personal relationships and using the media to create awareness, credibility and trust in the hearts and minds of consumers. Here are the Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Spending Another Cent on Marketing. And, help solve that perennial question of how NOT to waste half your marketing efforts! 1. WHAT AM I TRYING TO ACHIEVE? Always start with an objective in mind. Is it to attract new customers in a start-up phase or retain long-term loyal customers? The marketing tools and tactics for each of these questions will be vastly different. Remember to set SMART Goals. => Specific 2. WHO IS MY BROAD MARKET? Who exactly are you trying to target? The more you can find out about them the better. What industry do they work in, what is their level of education and income, what are their values and beliefs and where do they live are just a couple for questions to consider. 3. WHO IS MY SPECIFIC TARGET MARKET? If you have a broad market try and segment it down. The more specific you can be the better. Think of the best way to eat a delicious and juicy orange. You must carefully peel away the astringent protective skin of the orange. Inside is the juicy flesh. When you have done this, carefully separate each segment without spilling a drop of juice. Take time to examine and focus on each market segment based on a range of different wants and needs. Regardless of size, each target market must be treated with precision and respect. 4. WHAT IS MY NICHE? I heard a great saying from fellow speaker Maree Wrack recently. "Provide the fruit, not the whole supermarket!". Focus on your strengths and deliver this product or service really well. 5. WHAT PROBLEM CAN I SOLVE? I believe running a successful business is pretty simple. As Bill Clinton said 'most of the big things in life are simple'. Being in business is about finding out about people's problems and then providing a solution for them. Whether you are running a multi-million dollar enterprise or a business from home, the principles are the same. 6. WHAT MAKES MY SOLUTION UNIQUE? What is it that makes your solution to a problem unique? Is it different from all the other possible solutions in the marketplace? This is commonly known as a 'Unique Selling Proposition' or USP. Identifying your USP helps to define your marketing strengths and identify markets. 7. HOW DO I REACH MY TARGET MARKET? What is the best way to reach your target audience? How do they get their information? Is it worth of mouth, personal referrals or through the media? 8. HOW WILL I DELIVER THE SOLUTION? What is the best way to deliver the business solution? What are the best and most cost effective distribution channels for my product or service? The channel chosen to communicate your message can define expense and effectiveness. Be realistic and savvy, make optimum use of your budget without cutting corners. 9. HOW MUCH WILL I CHARGE? Pricing is a very sensitive issue. Do you want to position your product or service as a low cost, high volume business or high value, exclusive and expensive. Make well informed, long term decisions keeping in mind your company's needs and those of your target market. 10. HOW WILL I RETAIN EXISTING CUSTOMERS? It is more expensive to attract new customers than service existing ones. The research shows that if you increase repeat business by 5 per cent you can increase your profitability by more than 35 per cent. How will you keep and retain existing customers? Create a structured model to follow for all clients and keep this is a high priority. Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are You Sabotaging Your Marketing Success? What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well, you'd be surprised how many small business owners think they are effectively marketing their business, when in fact they are cutting their own throat.Yes, they may be running ads that are pulling in leads or customers. 8 BIG Benefits To Selling Big Ticket Items Ok, before we get down to the benefits of selling Big Ticket Items, we had better define what a Big Ticket Item is. A Big Ticket Item is any product or service that sells for more than $500 or $1000. Are We There Yet? Small business marketing is not like taking a family vacation.Did anybody take a family vacation this summer? Do you have children of your own, or do you remember what it was like when you were a kid taking a trip somewhere?I can still remember the family vacations as a youngster growing up. The Top 10 Wild and Wacky Ways to Market Yourself for Big Visibility In today's competitive world of business, it takes moxie and pizazz to sell a great product, idea, or service. This list will provide you with ten unusual and creative marketing strategies which will help you to stand apart from the competition and to increase your visibility. Cook Up Something Special: How To Create A WOW Experience For Your Clients My niece recently graduated from high school, and my family spent the entire morning, evening, and night celebrating this wonderful once in a lifetime event with her.Our final celebration was dinner at a restaurant chosen by my niece. Resume Writing Service Marketing Marketing A Resume BusinessWhen starting a resume business, your marketing campaign is the most important aspect of your business plan. Without clients being able to find your services, you will not have orders! We suggest starting out with local advertising. There's More to Marketing ROI (return on investment) Than Meets the Eye All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, "I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible." This is wrong think. Preventive Marketing Offers Small-Mid Sized Business Owners An Ideal Way To Maximize Their Results As the owner of a creative services boutique - I have realized that at least 9 out of 10 prospects/clients have suffered from one or all of the following (very detrimental) symptoms of trying to grow their businesses:Trouble defining their "BIG PICTURE"Little to no understanding of "evolution focus"Overwhelming feelings of "being stuck", "spinning wheels", "not knowing what to do next"Not enough information about options, alternatives and solutions to common strategiesNot enough knowledge or support to ask the right questions when researching opportunitiesChallenges in differentiating between "good advice" and "bad advice"Difficulty bouncing back from ill advised decisionsExhausting unnecessary dollar amounts for otherwise less expensive projectsNot enough resources to avoid future mistakesUnrealistic expectations about each unique component of the marketing mix and how enlisting one does NOT guarantee another.Somehow along the way the corporate mentality of "delegate everything" has convoluted the fact that small-mid sized businesses don't always have the resources to do this. Polishing Your Translation Style - Marketing Your Services You have read part 1 & 2 of this article series (see below for link). And, you are probably asking yourself "what else is there to say about improving one's translation style?" The answer to that, my friends, is the most important part of the message. Take the Test: Do Your Marketing Materials Really Grab Attention? Today's constant bombardment of marketing messages means your materials must grab your prospects attention in the first few seconds, or your efforts are wasted.How do you know if your marketing materials will prompt prospects to keep reading? Take this simple test: hold each of your marketing pieces at arm's length and answer the following questions:1. How to Manage Your Marketing Mix Here's the deal: advertisement is not marketing. It's like saying you want to have a garden, but you're only willing to plant the flowers. Lead Generation: What Is It worth? Our business environment has changed dramatically. Companies must now be disciplined and market-driven if they want to stay alive. Developing the Unique Selling Proposition The "Unique Selling Proposition" advertising campaign was developed by Reeves in 1961. Reeves proposed that marketers offer products different from their competitor' offerings by developing products that have a special formula, design, or feature. Tips For Developing An Effective Questionnaire Developing the questionnaire is undoubtedly the most important part of conducting a survey. The quality of the questions will determine the quality of the results and the effectiveness of your survey. What You Must Know When Marketing Your Business Marketing is both an art and a science. Anyone who says differently probably isn't doing very well marketing his or her business. Five Tips to Make Your Marketing More Creative Same old same old just doesn't sell anymore. To make your marketing stand out, you need to get creative. Creating And Maintaining A Mailing List Starting to collect proper information to create a mailing list is not difficult, once you know how to proceed. In this report, uses for mailing lists are briefly described. Consistent Marketing Provides Big Rewards Being inconsistent when it comes to marketing your business can be a recipe for disaster. Nothing is more irritating to a potential customer than inconsistency. Marketing Plans... A Simple Approach To Get Off The Marketing Roller Coaster Are You Riding The Marketing Roller Coaster?If you're like many of the small business owners or independent professionals I meet, then running and marketing your business can be like riding on a roller coaster. I'm picturing a roller coaster that mostly goes up and down as opposed to one that flips you upside-down or sends you around backwards. Adapting Blog Technologies To Corporate E-Newsletters Every January, trade publications put out a list of predictions for the coming year. They discuss products, services and trends that they think will change the way business is done, labeling these "disruptive technologies.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
