tips on building an effective marketing campaign
• Join forces with a charity; find one that is in line with your personal and corporate philosophy as well as aggressive and visible with its promotional activities. • Stay in touch with your customers and get them used to buying from you through package inserts, regular mailings and special offers. • Show your enthusiasm when introducing or presenting your product or service. • Use original and creative promotional tools. • Become a guest speaker on radio or a TV show. • Develop a press kit or news release. • Never delegate 100% of your marketing to an outsider. • Use marketing means that can be tracked – known as direct response marketing. • Don’t settle into interacting with only the people who are the easiest to access. Reach outside your comfort zone and there you will find a wealth of new connections that will bring you great success. • If you meet a lot of people and they don’t remember you once they leave the room, you have a serious problem. • Consider how you sound on the phone and how you greet people at meetings or events. Think about your thirty second introductory speech. • The trait of natural promoters is repetition. Successful self-promoters say it as many times as they need to until they get the response they want. • Put together a press release for your company. The press release should be relevant to your target market and address consumer interest, not just announce your business. • Compact your press release to include one hook and one angle. Choose the press release that creates the most attention to make sure the media will be interested in releasing it. • Send your press release to all television and radio stations, local and national newspapers, industry magazines, and any other media that reaches your target market. • Research potential customers, buyers, competitors, and their preferred methods of distribution. • Meet with your customers in person whenever possible. This shows you respect them and that you take your time to learn their needs and expectations. • Develop follow up procedures and customer service standards to keep lines of communication open and to build strong relationships with your customers. • Always offer your current customers the best deals and guarantees you have. • Use good business practices and simply uphold your integrity, dignity and honesty.
Entrepreneur Anchor Magazine
Feb/Mar 2011 15