|
|
For Financial Planners, Marketing and Publicity Is About You
For financial planners, getting publicity, in the end, isn’t about having contacts in the media. Or about writing a great press release. In the end, it’s about one thing: it’s about you. You, and the knowledge and expertise you share every day...
How To Measure and Improve Site Success, Part 1: Plan and Evaluate Marketing Programs
Measuring and understanding your Web site's success is a critical process that is sometimes overlooked. Many times, marketing efforts stop at getting traffic to the site. Traffic alone, however, does not make a site successful. By "connecting the...
Marketing Through Mobile Marketing
What can mobile marketing do for your business? Really what you should say is what can it not do for you? This high tech, amazingly simple marketing plan can transform virtually any business. Without marketing, what does your company have? As any...
Off Line Marketing for On Line results
So you’re all “Googled” out, are you? You’ve been working feverishly placing e-zine ads, paying for placement and position with search engines, buying online classifieds, and trying to optimize search engine rankings for your website. All of that...
What is Article Marketing?
Simply put article marketing is advertising your web site through the use of articles. This choose of advertising is preferable over others for the simple fact that it's free. There are many article directories that allow you to submit your articles...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How to Turn Your Marketing Into a Money-Making Machine - Preparing for Marketing that yields results
The usual complaint from companies is that Marketing simply does not yield as expected. So much effort, time, and money goes into campaigns, and yet the frustrations persist: Why aren’t sales up? Why are we not growing? And the truth, sadly enough, is that no one can really pinpoint what is working well, and what simply is not producing anything (and costing the company!).
As with anything else, preparation is key. Without laying a foundation for success, success will not magically appear.
Strategizing
Strategy comes first, allowing you to determine your goals and what actions you will need to take accordingly. Once strategy is firmly in place, you will have the language at your disposal for all communications with your target audience.
Here are important areas to define:
1. Identify who you are, your values, what you stand for
2. Have a clear vision for where your company is headed, a mission statement to live by
3. Be sure you understand your product and/or service well
4. Always know your audience inside and out
5. Dissect in great detail what the benefits of your product/service are
Note that going through this process is crucial whether you have been in business for a day or for a decade! And it is important to review these areas periodically, at least once a year. In doing so, you continually have a good grasp of who you are and what your purpose is as a company.
Your overall strategy unfolds from the above answers and statements. Before diving into the gameplan, answer the following questions, which will help define the direction you will take in the years to come:
1. Where do we want to be as a company in a year? What does it look and feel like?
2. How about in five years?
3. Ten years?
Be detailed. Don’t hold back as you define every aspect of your organization, and how you will interface with all those around you: management, employees, clients, and vendors. The thought precedes the event, therefore start by painting the picture, and its realization will happen naturally.
The gameplan
This is the fun part, the actual gears of your money-making machine. I recommend that you use a calendar approach, either via software, or through a wall-sized calendar that everyone can write on and reference easily.
The calendar becomes your week-by-week or month-by-month roadmap for what you will be doing to reach your audience—the gameplan itself that will keep you focused on your goals. By knowing
what is coming up well in advance, you will be able to plan accordingly and execute successfully.
The purchase rarely happens right away, and it is therefore crucial to stay in touch with potential customers consistently over the long-term. This will gradually convince them that you are the company of choice, and allow them to overcome their fears and objections. Cutting through the clutter of SPAM and regular mail, billboards, radio, and TV—just to name a few—takes time. You need to stand out and have something useful to say.
To establish expertise and win audiences over, try these ideas:
1. A letter announcing an upcoming event. Hold a special event (presentation, seminar) and make a big deal about it.
2. A follow-up call on the letter. This is different than cold-calling, as you are specifically referencing this special event, of potential interest to that targeted individual.
3. The actual event. Whether showcasing some product, covering some aspect of investing, health-related matters—this brings you face-to-face with your audience, allowing for unparalleled interaction.
4. A document follow-up to that event. You might choose to make available information from the event, for those who were not able to attend. More educational material to draw them closer to you.
5. A case study or useful article that is mailed out. Not written about you, but about a topic relating to your business or industry. The case study is a powerful tool for discussing how you solved a customer’s problems, and can include testimonials that are worth gold.
6. An email announcement. Something useful that you recommend that could be of benefit to your audience. Only to those who have opted in, of course.
Bottom line: do not bore or annoy your audience! Give them educational and interesting materials without actually selling (the beauty and power of successful Marketing). You will be educating them towards the time when they choose to purchase from you—and there is nothing like working with a customer who already knows all about you and what you do…
About the Author
Josh Barinstein is President of Red Frog, Inc., the Portland, Oregon ad agency that provides worry-free experiences and powerful results in the areas of Marketing, Print design, Web/CD-ROM development, and Video production.
Learn more at www.RedFrogInc.com or by calling 888-955-0550.
You have permission to distribute this article as long as all of the text contained herein remains intact.
|
|
|
|
|
KnowThis: For Marketing, Market Research, Internet Marketing ... |
KnowThis.com offers a wealth of information, forums, and resources for professionals, academics and students in traditional and internet marketing, ... |
www.knowthis.com |
  |
Marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Marketers depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, ... The next big thing is a concept in marketing that refers to a product or idea that ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Marketing - Marketing Strategy - Marketing Plan - Marketing ... |
Learn about marketing careers, the stages of developing a marketing plan, how to begin marketing research, create a marketing strategy, and how to market ... |
marketing.about.com |
  |
Marketing.org - Home of the Business Marketing Association |
Serves the professional, educational and career development needs of business-to-business marketers. |
www.marketing.org |
  |
Welcome - American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com |
Dedicated to serving the educational and professional needs of marketing executives. |
www.marketingpower.com |
  |
Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR News - Brand Republic |
Find the latest Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news from Brand Republic, the online resource for up to the minute advertising and marketing news and ... |
www.brandrepublic.com |
  |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
www.brandrepublic.com |
  |
Marketing (Canada) |
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. |
www.marketingmag.ca |
  |
BidVertiser - Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice. |
Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. |
www.bidvertiser.com |
  |
Online Behavioral Contextual Advertising and Marketing. |
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
www.clicksor.com |
  |
Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
www.marketingjobs.com |
  |
The Chartered Institute of Marketing |
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world's largest international marketing professional body and helps with career support and information ... |
www.cim.co.uk |
  |
Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
See all blog posts tagged with marketing on Technorati. |
www.technorati.com |
  |
Marketing Profs - Marketing Concepts and Strategies: Expert ... |
Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
www.marketingprofs.com |
  |
Guerrilla Marketing Online - The Official Site |
Guerrilla Marketing Online is anonline magazine for small business, entrepreneurs, sales people and marketers of all kinds. |
www.gmarketing.com |
  |
Business Marketing - Small Business Marketing |
Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
  |
All About Marketing |
Adapted from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation ... Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out: ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
  |
Pages tagged with "marketing" on del.icio.us |
USA Network Announces a NASHVILLE STAR Marketing Partnership With ... - Yahoo! ... Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing ... |
del.icio.us |
  |
ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
www.clickz.com |
  |
Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing |
Trade association for users and suppliers in the direct, database and interactive marketing fields, offering seminars and resources, and lobbying for ... |
www.the-dma.org |
  |
|