| |
| |
|
Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Good Marketing Pays for Itself
Most companies ask themselves this question: "How much will this advertising cost us?" when they should actually be asking themselves this: "How much will it cost not to do this advertising?" If your company spends $1000 per week on marketing then you could save $1000 per week by not doing any marketing. That is true but it is the simple and shortsighted view of the situation. However, if the revenue generated from that marketing is $1010 you have actually just lost $10 by not doing it. Most times the margin is not that slim. We generally bring in around 10 times what we spend in any given week. That means for every $1000 we spend on marketing we bring in $10,000. If we decided that we were only going to spend half of what we were normally spending we would automatically save half of our budget. That is great but we would likely lose up to half of our weekly sales income. In trying to save half our budget we actually lost 9 times that amount. It all comes back to your Return On Investment. That's the ROI I am always talking about. If you only make what you spend on your marketing it is not doing its job. The money that you spend on your marketing is your investment. The money you bring in on sales is the Return On that Investment. That is why your ROI is the most important statistic to consider when trying to divide up your marketing budget. Putting more money into a marketing strategy that has a higher ROI doesn't cost you more money, it makes you more money. Saving money by lowering your marketing budget doesn't sound so enticing when you think about it that way. Unfortunately many businesses cut their marketing budget first when trying to stay afloat during slow periods. They are actually hastening their downfall. You have heard it time and time again, "It takes money to make money." It is as true today as it ever has been. You have a good product or service, you run your business well, the only thing that you need is good marketing and that will eventually pay for itself. Perhaps by now you are convinced that you need to spend some money on promoting your business. Maybe you are still stopped by the big question, "How?" What do you really need to know, and how can you actually make it work? Let's start with the "Basic Principles" of promotion. What is Promotion? Promotion is making something known and well thought of. Why do you promote? The purpose of promotion is to bring in more business and enlarge your customer base. Always try to bring in as much business as you can. It sounds like an obvious thing to say but many people still don't follow this rule. Don't assume any number of new customers will be too much for you to handle. If you have that much business you can always bring on temporary or temp-to-permanent staff to handle the work load. How do you promote? There are more ways than you would ever think. Have you ever heard someone say, "I never promote and I am always busy" OR "I don't have to promote, all my business comes from word-of-mouth"? They may not be aware of how they're doing it, but I promise you they are promoting somewhere. Maybe they just go around telling everyone they talk to, that they don't promote. (Sound funny? It's still promoting.) Maybe their canary yellow window ledge with the bright red apples on the shelf behind it attracts so much attention that they don't need to do anything else. Well here are some ideas you can do "knowingly" to drive in the business. Every action that every member of your staff engages in is promotion. Whether good or bad every action is giving someone an impression of how your company is or does business. Here are a few examples. a) Greeting your customers with a smile is a great place to start. b) Calling your customers after they have had a chance to use your product is a good way to promote that you care about their experience with your organization. It can also create an opportunity to make more sales. c) A neatly packaged product, the shipping label on straight, promotes that you take pride in what you do. d) Always keep updated brochures or catalogs in your reception area for people to see and take with them. d) If you have customers coming into your business, make sure they are greeted pleasantly, professionally, and immediately. I suggest you sit down and write out all the things that your company actually does to promote using the above definition. Sit down with your staff and do a pow wow. Not only will it bring you all closer together and going for the same goal, it will open your eyes as to all the ways you can make your business well thought of. Every little detail counts. Thanks for reading and good luck. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she's sharing her marketing secrets with others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at http://www.postcardmania.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
First Steps to Developing a Marketing Plan Direct Mail . . The Marketing Secret Every Child Knows Little Kids Ask Until They Get What They Want.Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, can I have an ice cream? Can I, Can I, Can I, Can I? Please, Please, Please, Please. Logo Facts What makes one logo better than another?Simplicity.A good logo works in the simplest form. Grab Your Audience by Focusing on Benefits Have you ever chosen to pay attention to someone just because they were so self-absorbed they didn't even know you were in the room? Of course not! We pay attention to people who take an interest in us. If we want our readers to pay attention to us, we better pay attention to them!The people we come in contact with through the course of our jobs are human beings with feelings, needs, wants, and desires. Promotional Magnets: Promotion that Sticks Some people are happy with just a business card. For others it's not enough to be glanced at once and packed away. Creating a Marketing Timeline That Works: 17 Simple Ideas for Marketing Your Small Business "Goals are dreams with deadlines." -Diana Scharf HuntWhen clients come to me for marketing help, the first thing I ask is, "What's your plan?" If I'm greeted with a blank stare, then I know we have work to do!In order to set up a great marketing strategy, you need to write it out in black and white. Newsletters - A Great Way to Build Business Relationships This is an excellent way to grow your business using your mailing list (which I trust you are constantly building). However, you have to accept that there are people who'll read your newsletter and there are those who won't. 5 High-Impact Marketing Tips Here are 5 high-impact marketing tips you can use to boost your sales quickly. All are simple to implement and they involve little or no new expense. Is Your Company A Member Of The Community? One particularly hot south Texas day, I was making a routine sales call to a family Mexican restaurant. Angela, with whom I had an appointment, is a real "hands on" lady. Tradeshow Booth Cures - Living Color Feng Shui is the Ancient Chinese practice of configuring home or work environments to promote health, happiness, and prosperity. By utilizing elements such as light and color, Feng Shui Masters used their skill to promote the flow of "chi", or vital energy , to protect and enhance the prosperity of the Imperial Dynasties. How Important is Your Marketing? Bob called last week from Phoenix, Arizona with some stunning news about his web site. He first contacted me in the fall of 2003. Top 10 Ways to Create and Manage Opportunity Most of us are used to the concepts of risk management or time management. Many of the same principles can be applied to creating and responding to opportunities. Marketing Strategies: What Choices Do You Have? Most business people want to see improvements in sales and profits. But how do you get there? What choices do you have?To build your business there are four strategic options that must be considered:1) Sell existing products to existing customers. The Five Most Common Joint Venture Marketing Mistakes To Avoid Joint Venture marketing has become a highly popular way for small businesses to maximize their profits. When two or more businesses combine their resources synergistically, it creates greater marketing impact and bigger profits than either can have alone. Service Marketers; How's Your Packaging? When a shopper picks up a product in a store, what's the first thing they notice? The packaging, right? The same holds true for someone buying a service.Yet instead of a folded carton with colorful graphics, you are the packaging for your service business. Dont Use Yourself as Your Pricing Yardstick "I wouldn't pay more than what I charge now."If you are not a member of your target market, toss this thought about your own preferences out the window this very minute. Motivating Shoppers with Online Coupons (Part 2 of 2) Last time we discussed how online coupons and promotion codes can motivate buyers. We discussed examples of coupons and some of the aspects of these offers that can boost sales and generate urgency to a purchase. The Biggest Needle In The Haystack Hello everyone! Have you ever been curious about something, and wanted to learn about it? If you're like me, I am a pretty curious fellow, I really like to learn.Where is the best place to start finding the information you are looking for? My choice for information gathering is the Internet!Where do you start your search for information? I use search engines, my favorite is Google. Newsletters are Marketing Machines! Is your business publishing a print or e-newsletter? An informative publication is a great way to stay in touch with your customers and leads. It also reinforces your expertise in your industry. Money Making Real Estate Marketing Ideas Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors make it out to be. Some equate expensive products and services with quality.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
