Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not complex if you know the basics – that's true with anything by the way. Here are some tools that are brilliantly simple, and with them you won't have to join the ranks of failing businesses, but instead can prosper.
The more that your potential customers see your name in front of them, the more likely they are to call your number (and not someone else's) when they need the services you offer.
Many marketing efforts go unrewarded, not because they were off target, but simply because they weren't given enough of an opportunity to work. Showing your TV commercial one time, running an ad in the newspaper once, or doing one mailing of postcards won't be enough to grab and keep the audience's attention.
You should also know that taking the time to really see which pieces and messages will generate the response you want will pay off. Don't just totally give up when a response is low – persistence is vital.
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Get your name out there, do it on a regular basis and people will remember you when they need someone in your line of business. This particular piece of advice cannot be stressed enough – and failure to adhere to it is the number one reason new businesses fail in their first year. According to the SBA, over 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first year and 95 percent fail within the first five years.
Measure your return on investment in terms of actual money, not response rate.
An advertising vehicle is working when the money that it brings in has more value than the money and time that is spent on the marketing.
Don't fall into the trap of becoming discouraged by a small number of callers responding to a large number of pieces. If you spend several hundred dollars to be in the view of a few thousand possible leads, it may only take a few customers responding for you to make enough of a profit for this type of marketing to be valuable. The usefulness of any vehicle can only be determined after the amount of income generated by the promotion has been calculated. If you spend one-fifth of what you generate, or generate five times what you spend, your campaign was successful.
It is much easier to sell a prospect once you get them to call or come in to your store.
In Two-Step Marketing, step one is to get them interested; step two is having them speak to a representative to get all the details – and get closed by that representative.
Your design must be eye catching and informative, but don't try to close the sale by explaining all of the details in one piece of advertising. The details of a business transaction often take many more words to explain than the main concept of what is being sold. For example, if your company offers great prices depending on the quantity purchased, there is no need to list the prices for every quantity that you sell. Simply give examples of two or three different quantities and state somewhere in the advertisement that other discounts are available for other quantities. This will prompt them to call to get the rest of the details once you have gotten their interest.
Marketing can be as simple as one-two-three when you know the basics. By no means have I given you all the basics here, but by learning and implementing these three marketing fundamentals, you are already on your way to marketing success!
Joy Gendusa is the CEO of Clearwater, Fla.-based PostcardMania. For more information, visit www.postcardmania.com.
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