How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing
How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing
1- Make sure you really understand your market and your distribution channels.
Sounds simple, doesn't it! For example, one client had developed an information product for small businesses. They had some assistance from another agency to check the market and confirm how they should present the product. Based on that information they printed marketing materials and ramped up to distribute through professional advisors such as accountants.
Nine months later they came to me. Nothing was happening. Not one sale. Even worse, their distribution channel was not discussing the product with clients. Why the lack of activity?
After a few sessions with my client, and some inexpensive (but very effective) research, we came to understand two things:
1) The target audience of owners of small-medium sized businesses were not interested in using this type of product, even though they needed it.
2) The chosen distribution channel was not well placed to encourage their small business clients to be proactive and use my clients product.
Unfortunately, the 'research' conducted by the original agency was flawed. My client was not entirely happy with it at the time, and for good reason.
However, based on our fresh insights we developed more suitable approaches for my client to distribute their product.
In summary...
Before you spend lots of money (and time) pursuing a particular market segment, developing new products, or simply producing new marketing material, do some homework to ensure you are on the right track.
Get reliable advice from a professional who can explain things without confusing you with jargon. Take a bit of time to really check it out. It's cheaper to do this at the start, rather than after you have invested heavily in it.
2 - Know where to find your customers, and promote your business there.
This is another so-obvious factor that is often overlooked. Most businesses want more customers or clients. Sometimes it's tempting to advertise very broadly to improve awareness of your firm. But beware! Who are you really promoting your business to?
If you have a close look at whom your customers (or prospects) are, you should be able to narrow down the most suitable ways to promote your business to them. If your customers are other businesses, maybe direct mail would be best, or advertising in a relevant trade publication, or using personal sales visits, or simply by participating in industry events and getting known. If in doubt, ask your clients and prospects where they usually go for information on new vendors.
If your customers are from the general public, then it's a bit harder to identify them individually. Print media can often provide great potential to reach prospects, but before you pay big money to advertise in a publication with broad distribution think about how you can narrow down the field.
Firstly, are you better considering a media option that is focussed on your target audience? It might cost more in terms of dollars per centimetre of space, but the results may be far higher than with a general-purpose publication. Look for publications that address your audience, and look for suitable sections or features in larger publications.
When you do this, be selective, and don't be seduced by claims of large readership or "cheap" advertising offers. Ask for a current reader profile from the publisher. Distinguish 'circulation' from 'readership'. Know who your prospects are and make sure you are reaching them with an appropriate message.
Don't forget to look at all your options. For example, have you got your web site functioning properly? Maybe that's a better tool to sharpen than simply reprinting last years brochures. Be open to different ideas.
I haven't yet seen a marketing budget that is "big enough", no matter what the actual size. So plan your expenditure carefully.
Remember to measure the results of your marketing activities, and over time you can improve your marketing choices.
In summary...
Try to be rational in your choice of marketing activities. Your decision to spend money should be based on a sound assessment of your opportunities to get your message to your desired audience. Take time to make the best decision. Sometimes you may want to get an experienced 'external opinion' to help you decide on the most appropriate options.
How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling's Website.
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Marketing can be expensive. It doesn't have to be, but sometimes you will spend more than you should. Usually you'll realise this after you've done it. But here are two tips that can save you thousands of dollars.
1- Make sure you really understand your market and your distribution channels.
Sounds simple, doesn't it! For example, one client had developed an information product for small businesses. They had some assistance from another agency to check the market and confirm how they should present the product. Based on that information they printed marketing materials and ramped up to distribute through professional advisors such as accountants.
Nine months later they came to me. Nothing was happening. Not one sale. Even worse, their distribution channel was not discussing the product with clients. Why the lack of activity?
After a few sessions with my client, and some inexpensive (but very effective) research, we came to understand two things:
1) The target audience of owners of small-medium sized businesses were not interested in using this type of product, even though they needed it.
2) The chosen distribution channel was not well placed to encourage their small business clients to be proactive and use my clients product.
Unfortunately, the 'research' conducted by the original agency was flawed. My client was not entirely happy with it at the time, and for good reason.
However, based on our fresh insights we developed more suitable approaches for my client to distribute their product.
In summary...
Before you spend lots of money (and time) pursuing a particular market segment, developing new products, or simply producing new marketing material, do some homework to ensure you are on the right track.
Get reliable advice from a professional who can explain things without confusing you with jargon. Take a bit of time to really check it out. It's cheaper to do this at the start, rather than after you have invested heavily in it.
2 - Know where to find your customers, and promote your business there.
This is another so-obvious factor that is often overlooked. Most businesses want more customers or clients. Sometimes it's tempting to advertise very broadly to improve awareness of your firm. But beware! Who are you really promoting your business to?
If you have a close look at whom your customers (or prospects) are, you should be able to narrow down the most suitable ways to promote your business to them. If your customers are other businesses, maybe direct mail would be best, or advertising in a relevant trade publication, or using personal sales visits, or simply by participating in industry events and getting known. If in doubt, ask your clients and prospects where they usually go for information on new vendors.
If your customers are from the general public, then it's a bit harder to identify them individually. Print media can often provide great potential to reach prospects, but before you pay big money to advertise in a publication with broad distribution think about how you can narrow down the field.
Firstly, are you better considering a media option that is focussed on your target audience? It might cost more in terms of dollars per centimetre of space, but the results may be far higher than with a general-purpose publication. Look for publications that address your audience, and look for suitable sections or features in larger publications.
When you do this, be selective, and don't be seduced by claims of large readership or "cheap" advertising offers. Ask for a current reader profile from the publisher. Distinguish 'circulation' from 'readership'. Know who your prospects are and make sure you are reaching them with an appropriate message.
Don't forget to look at all your options. For example, have you got your web site functioning properly? Maybe that's a better tool to sharpen than simply reprinting last years brochures. Be open to different ideas.
I haven't yet seen a marketing budget that is "big enough", no matter what the actual size. So plan your expenditure carefully.
Remember to measure the results of your marketing activities, and over time you can improve your marketing choices.
In summary...
Try to be rational in your choice of marketing activities. Your decision to spend money should be based on a sound assessment of your opportunities to get your message to your desired audience. Take time to make the best decision. Sometimes you may want to get an experienced 'external opinion' to help you decide on the most appropriate options.
How to Save Thousands on Your Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Stuart Ayling's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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