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11 Powerful Marketing Tips
Each of these 11 marketing tips is based on a marketing strategy or tactic proven to boost sales. How many are you using? Tip 1: Your customers buy your product or service to feel a certain way after their purchase. Keep this in mind as you ...
A Look at the Marketing Potential of Booklet Printing
Need to advertise your products? Want to communicate your latest
services? Businesses often look for ways to advertise their
product in the most inexpensive means. Booklet printing is one
of the answers to the high cost of brochure printing. Full...
Dynamic Marketing: Seven High-Powered Success Strategies
Marketing is about results. It's about using all your acquired skills and knowledge to create a desired outcome. Key to achieving a desired outcome is your ability to be adaptive and forward-thinking -- involved in a process that lets you evolve...
Marketing Your Home Business With Minisites
If you are trying to make money online with a home based business and are interested in marketing and selling your product, but don't have a lot of money to invest in a professionally created Web site, then you should consider setting up minisites...
Where Would You Be Without Marketing?
Marketing is a broad business subject that encompasses a range of activities including advertising, public relations, sales, and promotions. Generally, you will find that people often confuse sales with marketing, when in fact the two are quite...
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What Marketing Can't Do For You
I thought I would clear up some misconceptions about marketing
in this two-part series: What Marketing Can Do For You and What
Marketing Can't Do For You. This issue is about what marketing
can't do.
While there's no question a solid marketing program can increase
your business, it can't fix everything. Below are 5 things
marketing can't do for you:
1. Marketing can't make you an overnight success. Just because
you start a marketing program doesn't mean you're immediately
going to see your business explode. Marketing is about getting
your name in front of your target market on a regular basis
until they finally decide to give you a try.
On that note, if you're in trouble right now - sales are down, a
new business isn't getting off the ground like you planned --
depending on how bad the trouble is a marketing program may not
be enough to save you. A successful marketing program needs time
to work and more likely than not, a little money as well. If
you're panicked about one (or more likely both) you may need to
start looking at other options.
2. Marketing is not about doing something once and forgetting
about it. The very best marketers test. And test. And test.
For instance, maybe your Web site isn't converting visitors to
customers as well as it should be. You could hire a copywriter
to tweak it for you. You could test the different elements to
see what raises your conversion level. That's one way to use
testing. You can also test different headlines, different
offers, etc.
3. Marketing can't fix a bad experience. This is a big one. If
your customers have a lousy experience with your products or
services or with your customer service reps or sales people,
etc., that's it. Worse yet, not only have you lost a customer
for good, that customer will probably tell others about their
bad experience. So now you've lost more potential customers as
well.
Marketing can get people in the door, but it can't ensure
they'll have an experience they'll want to repeat. Before
assuming more marketing is what you need, take a moment and make
sure your current customers are truly satisfied with your
business.
4. Marketing can't fix a flawed business. Much like tip number
3, marketing can't fix cash flow issues or staff problems.
Okay, I can hear all of you saying "Of course, marketing can't
fix cash flow problems. Do you think we're stupid?" My answer is
no, I don't think you're stupid at all. I think what happens is
sometimes you
get so caught up in the day-to-day challenges of
running a business you can't see the forest for the trees.
Let me explain. Let's say you have a business that's struggling
with cash flow. The first thing that springs to mind may be
revving up marketing. After all, the idea behind marketing is to
increase revenue. On the surface that makes sense. However, if
you look a little closer, what you might find are expenses that
are out of whack or not getting invoices out in a timely manner.
So what you should be fixing is your accounting problems rather
than changing your marketing.
5. Marketing can't make people buy things they either don't want
or can't afford. It doesn't matter how great your product or
service is, if you're selling to people who either don't have
the interest or the means to buy it, then your marketing is
going to fail no matter how brilliant it may be.
So basically it all boils down to this, before you decide you
need more marketing, take a few moments and make sure marketing
is really the right solution for your business.
Creativity Exercise -- Reality Check
Before you launch into a new marketing program, take some time
to analyze what's really happening in your business. Do you
really need a marketing program or is your problem:
* You aren't able to close the leads you have * You aren't
invoicing in a timely manner or following up with unpaid
accounts * Your customers aren't happy with the product or
service * Your customers are having a bad experience with
technical support or something else in the process isn't working
* Your target market isn't right * You aren't passionate about
what you're doing anymore * Your business has way too many
expenses
And so on. Basically I just want you to make sure marketing
really is your problem before you start fiddling with it.
If you want to grow your business, then you should be
consistently marketing your business. But if you're using
marketing as a bandaid for some other problem, then you could be
headed for trouble.
About the author:
Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash Your
Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free e-zines
that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting
marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful
at attracting new clients, selling products and services and
boosting business. She can be reached at
http://www.TheArtistSoul.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza
Wacek
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Marketing.org - Home of the Business Marketing Association |
Serves the professional, educational and career development needs of business-to-business marketers. |
www.marketing.org |
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Welcome - American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com |
Dedicated to serving the educational and professional needs of marketing executives. |
www.marketingpower.com |
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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 |
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Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing (Canada) |
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. |
www.marketingmag.ca |
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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 |
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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 |
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Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
www.marketingjobs.com |
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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 |
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Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
See all blog posts tagged with marketing on Technorati. |
www.technorati.com |
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Marketing Profs - Marketing Concepts and Strategies: Expert ... |
Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
www.marketingprofs.com |
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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 |
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Business Marketing - Small Business Marketing |
Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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