Don't market more, market smart! Throw a wider net!
There's a "lot of fish in the sea" but how do you catch your market share when marketing is expensive and competition is high? One option is to find businesses with a target market similar to yours then combine your marketing efforts! Throw a wider net!!
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Employ strategies that will
make the most of every marketing dollar to maximize on your
Return-on-Investment (ROI). You therefore end up paying less for each
new customer that comes into your business. |
1) Define your best target market. Even if you can market your product
or service "to everybody", refine your definition by pinpointing:
- Who is your best market? Demographically define their age bracket,
income bracket, business or residential area. etc.
- What they are looking for? Value, solutions, trends? Are
they even aware that your product or services exist and understand the
value?
- What is their "hot button"? What would motivate
them to buy? Give them something they desire or resolve a problem they have...
- Where are they looking? Depending on the market, they may
be searching the Internet, driving by your storefront signage, or browsing
ads.
- Why would they choose you? What is you WOW factor? How do
you distinguish yourself from your competition?
2) Find businesses with a similar target market. In other words, what
businesses might be servicing or looking for the same target market as you? Some
examples of such aggregates are:
- landscape contractors, landscape designers, fencing companies, pool
companies, masons...
- beauty salons, hair stylists, cosmetics reps, skin care professionals,
nail salons, image consultants, clothing & accessories...
- office supplies, office furniture, office organizers, computer support,
business services...
3) Combine your marketing efforts. Aggregate your marketing so you
benefit from the team effort: referred to as co-op marketing. Some strategies
are:
- If they see one, they see them all! Instead of buying
individual ads in a paper or magazine, combine your dollars and buy a page, then
group your ads together under an eye catching, memorable headline. This
works well for flyers as well: they may not be ready for your services
(yet) but something on the flyer might interest then. Get remembered by
association PLUS share the cost of printing. Directed target marketing will
get you better results than a scattergun approach more often than not.
- "Would you like fries with that?" An
astounding number of fries were sold just by asking this simple question.
Best part is, it took 2 seconds and cost $0! Once you connect with
someone interested in your services or purchasing from you, refer them to
your coop group. In person, hand them the coop flyer or a brochure variation.
(2 seconds!) On the internet, link your page to the pages of your
coop members. ($0) You link to them, they link to you. Win-Win-Win!
Win for you, Win for them and Win for your customer! It's proactive referral
marketing make easy. I call this "Oh, by the way..." marketing.
- Create a BUZZ. Recently in the news, a business couldn't
afford a 30-second Superbowl commercial at $1M+ so he proposed buying 2
seconds. They laughed at him. He said he is going to try the coop approach
next year but meantime, he got 1 full minute of coverage in the national
news for FREE. I think that's BRILLIANT!! Catchy taglines, press
releases, events, BUZZ!! Buzz is what Urban Legends are mad of!
Maximize your Return-on-Investment (ROI) with any or all of these ideas.
It will SAVE you money because you are sharing expenses and contacts, as well as
getting more exposure for a little extra effort. XLeration Services has just
launched a webpage network based on this concept.
CLICK HERE to learn more!
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