The pressure of crafting many different marketing strategies could really push the wrong buttons for anyone; the pressure could really be overwhelming. Sometimes, it takes the passion away. If you wish to repossess your marketing charm and restore it to its previous form, then the following tips may help you how.

1. Focused Vision

When every business decision is made based on its relevance towards the realization of your business’ vision then things could really skyrocket towards growth. When you know exactly what your vision is, then it is much easier to navigate your business towards the path that you want it to tread. Without a focused vision, then your business may just flounder without really a definite idea where it is headed, and that definitely is detrimental to its growth.

2. Solid Marketing Plan

A well-thought marketing plan is a very good preparation for a successful endeavour of achieving your goals within the desirable time frame. The most ideal plan I believe is something within a timeframe of 6 months. It is an effective tool that I often see as responsible for successful marketing. A plan however does not necessarily hinder you from entertaining a spontaneous event. You do not say no to an opportunity simply because it is not included in the plan; you just have to be reasonably flexible especially if that opportunity is instrumental to your vision’s realization

3. Powerful Inspiration

Crafting creative marketing strategies could really be draining. It will certainly help to seek out different wholesome inspiration that could really kick start your creative juices. Not everything works for everyone, what makes someone inspired may solicit the opposite effect to others. Find your own source of inspiration, try new things, walk around and sniff some fresh air.

4. Tracking System

It is pointless to have come up with a costly and great strategic plan and strategy if you do not even have a way of tracking whether all those things indeed do work for your benefit. You have to have an effective tracking system to know whether those strategies are turning profits for you. You may start by tracking your Return on Investment every month.

5. Remarkable Patience

Rome was not built in a day. Every empire is a result of patience and hard work.  You do not sow today and then tomorrow you harvest; business does not grow that way and neither do plants. Successful businesses are a result of persistence and remarkable patience. There is no such thing as instant growth, everything happens in a gradual, sometimes painful process.

Your marketing charm may have gone cold, but you need not give up entirely. Take the time to evaluate and pull yourself back to your old successful form.

In any engagement, either it’s a speaking event or writing an article, it is of crucial value that you know the profile of your audience and their corresponding interest.

Wisdom dictates that before you even start crafting your activity for a certain event, take time first to know who exactly is in the room. What are their needs and requirements? What you are about to do, you’re doing it for them after all. Information nowadays is readily available. There is a deluge of marketing ideas that people are already saturated with so much information around. People do not already know which is which. They want relevant information; ones that speak directly to them and could actually give value to their hopes and causes. You need to come up with something else that gets the people to think that when they read your message it is well worth their while. All the other existing methods might work, yes for a while maybe, but may not give the utter essence that your target audience craves for the longest time already. Everything you publish has to be relevant even if it reaches only a few, as long as it truly makes a difference.

When we had an event, we invited a select few speakers, and as expected they engaged our audience in such a way that people are glued to their seats. How exactly to do this? It takes more than just mere chance; it takes a combination of focus and research. If you are asked to speak at an event, then take time to learn of your audience’s profile. If you are bound to write an article, know the specific readership details. If you wish to know your audience, you just need to exert a little bit of effort in digging a bit deeper than expected.

One of my failings actually is committing to an activity without even asking beforehand any relevant information about the audience. And more often than not, I learn my lessons the hard way. Imagine speaking on stage when you know exactly that your audience’s mind is somewhere else. All the experience I had of this sort made me realize the essence and the importance of really knowing who is in the same room as you.

Therefore, walk another mile every time you are about to execute an event, know them that hears you and you will find things to run smoothly.

For the past few decades, Marketing methods have evolved tremendously in a fluid manner. Below is a list with pieces of wisdom that could readily help you successfully adapt with these changes.

Your marketing ideas could face a surmounting challenge these days due to the advent of information technology, where information is readily available in the web. Let me tell you how you could possibly meet these challenges and walk away with profitable earnings from your marketing methods:

Simplify things

If you wish to lessen your spending and maximise your profits, make things simple as it is. Having an overwhelming amount of activities do not necessarily return hefty earnings; I suggest rather that you trim down your campaign activities and focus your resources to the select few to achieve your desired results.

Learn to do things or pay learned people to do things for you

With today’s ever growing medium for marketing, it is not that difficult anymore to readily interact with your target market. It is a very good tool but it may also pose the risk of putting up your money on something irrelevant that could cost you greatly. To address the issue, you could either start learning the ways and means of the market or you could just simply tap the expertise of a professional.

Focus on one social media at a time

You do not need to become a jack of all trades, learn first to be proficient with one social media before trying the next one. If for example your business is about social trending, then by all means choose Facebook as your channel. For anything else that is executive sounding businesses, you may choose linked in. Or you could any other medium; as long as you think it is the best one that will help you achieve your goals, then by all means go for it.

Track your Activities

You need to keep track of your activities from time to time. This is so you could properly measure your progress and your shortcomings. In the end, it could help you trim down the unprofitable activities and keep the ones that produce earnings.

Advertise at some point

You may not necessarily spend huge amount of hard cash to execute your marketing campaigns through advertising, but you need to understand that at some point, advertisements are an integral part of a successful marketing. So as to make efficient spending, you trim down or strictly specify your target audience so you may avoid wasting your resources.

Have you ever made adjustments with your marketing methods over the years? We will certainly be glad to hear your priceless ideas to add to our own.

Successful marketing do not necessarily be costly for it to work. Below are some of the best ways for a cost effective marketing.

1. Write an article

Writing an article will open for you a number of opportunities for which to make connections that may eventually pave the way for your business to grow. Moreover, all the relevant experience you will derive from writing articles will enhance your inherent skills that may also be generally beneficial for your business exposure. When you write an article, remember to include lots of practical tips and ways that your readers will find useful.

2. Form relevant strategic alliances

Partnering with other businesses is a great plus to your own. When you form alliances with people who markets products to the same audience as you do, you help strengthen your business venture because you could readily tap relevant information shared within your exclusive group. A baby photographer could enhance his business status when he chooses to associate and partner with baby clothes and baby toys businesses. This way you could exchange information and you pass referrals around your group.

3. Exchange newsletter with other businesses

After you have already made important strategic alliances, among other things you may also exchange newsletter spaces for a wider exposure. Just make sure that whatever it is you wish to offer, your partners will conceive it worthwhile for their database. All you need to do is make a proposal to other business and then the rest will follow. And to ensure that your relationship works in a fair ground, exchange newsletter spaces only with someone who has the same volume of subscribers that you have.

4. Do relevant press releases

Having press release is really a very cost effective marketing strategy that could make very profitable returns, that is if it is indeed news worthy, otherwise, the media will reject it out rightly and you will be left with nothing to show for it. When your products indeed has something worthy of the media’s attention then by all means mark a special day with your schedule and reserve it for your relevant press release.

5. Tap the resources of networking

Your success will come in time after you have established yourself as an authority in your field. Spend time offering your knowledge and experience to help people who are of the same field. This way, you are gradually making a name for yourself, strengthening you capacities and credibility. When people starts trusting you, believe me sales will start pouring as well.

These are just some of the most cost effective marketing strategies, and every one of them works in a given setting. Not everything may work for you, but one or two for sure will somehow produce the desirable results you are after.

There are several ways to entice new clients, but today, we will talk about using direct mail. Let’s discuss a few steps to make it work.

One day, I received a grandiose direct mail addressed specifically for me, and this article basically talks about that experience. The package really got me thrilled. I mean, I was thrilled with the fact that  a decent company took time to even bother to find out my name; I began thinking that I was about to learn a very important lesson about direct mailing which I might use for my own business. I thought I had a good vibe about the whole thing until I found out the truth that sent me back to my senses. I found out those big direct mail campaigns, even the ones that cost a lot of money could get awry along the way if some of the fundamentals are not given enough attention.

I admit direct mail campaign could be a very potent cost efficient marketing strategy; if done correctly, it could greatly influence the growth of your business. Below are some of the fundamentals you should remember to cover and polish for your direct mail campaigns to achieve the desire result you aim for:

Impeccable Mailing List

Before you even start thinking of considering the myriad other details in undertaking a direct mail campaign, please make sure that your mailing list contains legitimate names or that it has all the correct details. The company that sent me direct mail that I got on that fateful day obviously forgot to apply this principle. The mail had my name misspelled, and I believe that by that alone, it is already a let-down. So before sending out your mail, have the time to check out the details in your database. It is better to have the mistakes rectified long before it could create more damage.

Right Timing

I believe right timing is crucial to the success of every campaign, right from its conceptualization to its implementation. The direct mail I got tried to make good use of this fundamental principle. It was a key sporting event promotion. The shortcoming of this whole thing was that the mail did not arrive on the right time. I received the mail long after the supposed event started, which made all their efforts to have no or less impact.

Accurate Target Market

It is completely devoid of sense to spend tremendous effort of sending a piece of direct mail to an audience who is obviously not your target market. It is a tremendous waste of resources. There is no point sending a direct mail to a car enthusiast anything about horses.

So before commencing with your campaign, have a focused group of audience. Spell and point out your most accurate target market

Appropriate Offer

Lastly, one thing that the company should have considered beforehand was gathering enough information about the appropriateness of any of their offers for a call to action. Sadly, The direct mail I got offered an NRL game pass as an enticement  which have I have no inclination anyway. Had they just made their assignment, they would have known that from a Melbournian like me, an AFL game pass would have worked successfully.

Again, extend an extra effort checking your database; details like these should have never escaped your notice.

Extensive checklist

To have a successful direct mail campaign, you have to consider a few more details to encompass the real need of your target audience. The checklist below will be a great help to you:

Secure impeccable mailing lists, and double check it for quality

• Make sure that you are sending the mail at the right time
• Send your mails specifically to your named identified target audience
• Make your offers appropriate and customized, this way you show that you really care
• Be original with everything that you send
• Be artistic with your designs
• Make use or prepaid reply envelopes to encourage responses

Economic crunch obviously slowed everything down, which gives you all the more reason to craft your most creative marketing methods. Below are so far the best cost effective marketing arsenals you may use to meet the challenges for hard times.

1. Write down your marketing plan

All the great people write their greatest idea. A written marketing plan makes it look more tangible than just a mere idea. It does not require anything hard or costly, you only need a pen and a piece of paper, just like that, and the returns are proven to be exceedingly great. Having a marketing plan is like having a powerful guide to achieving your purpose. It serves as your steering wheel that helps you reach your destination. According to research, there is a dramatic increase on the likelihood of achieving your goals when your write down what you have planned. However, when you write down your marketing plan, you do not need to make it complex.

2. Maximise the space in your business card

Your business card should speak more about what you do and why they would even bother to call you. Every business card has two sides, and you definitely could use up both spaces to boost your marketing impact. On the back of your card, you may write down all the benefits your prospective clients will supposedly get if they will patronise your services or products. This will not make much of an additional cost but sure the results could make such a difference.

3. Have an audience oriented website

Do not be caught up with the usual pitfall of having your website as if it’s your biography. What you do is important but you actually do not need to overemphasize the obvious. What your audience really need is whether you have what it takes to supply the needed answers for their queries. Your website should not sound like you are hard selling but one that carries a tone of care. You should be able to convey to your prospective clients that you are interested in them and about them, and that you could actually ease their fears and pain. You have to sound thoughtful, and you must mean every word of it.

4. Exceed expectations

Nothing beats in gaining the loyalty of your clients than exceeding their expectations. When you promised to do it in 3 days, then do it in 2. Just like this article, the heading says 3 all time best marketing arsenals, and yet what you actually got are four. When you over deliver, your only investment is the time you put into the project but certainly your benefits far outweigh any cost.

Nowadays, to convey the reliability of your own products, then you have to show you are using it yourself.

If there is someone who should be able to tell the strength and weaknesses of your products, it should be you. You should be the first one to tell if your product is either good or bad. You must be your first customer, if not the best.

Kapersky Lab, in case you have not heard of it, is a hip business in internet security, but just recently, they have been a victim of hacking. This is an unfortunate example of irony, and what could be a greater irony than this? It is apparent that they may not have used their extensive resources fighting off hackers with their own website. It is understandable if clients who used to approach Kapersky’s for their website’s security will no longer return for another year of service. What would you expect from a company who supposedly could diffuse hackers but had been hacked themselves? Businesses are based on reputation, and once it gets damaged by something that could have been long prevented, it might be on its way down hill.

The importance of being a client of your own business

The common loophole of patronising your own product is you could get overly critical. You could almost see every shortcoming without recognizing its advantages. This perfectionist attitude may be a bit detrimental but it is necessary as far as business is concern, especially if you are using the very product you sell. Among its many benefits are:

1. You will be able to pre-empt your clients. You could easily rectify whatever mistake there is before it contributes irreparable damage all because you already saw it long before the clients do.

2. You gain first hand idea of your product’s features.

3. The fact that you use your own product only shows the level of trust you have of its performance and reliability. And it will be such an effective marketing tool.

How exactly to patronize your own products

Basically, you simply use whatever it is you are selling. You should also be able to show what it really does by setting yourself as an example. If you are selling a slimming tea, you should be able to establish the fact that you are using it and you managed to lose 5 kilos in a month. Would not that be a wonderful testimonial for your business?

Below are simple steps to follow if you wish to use your own products:

1. Place yourself in your client’s shoe.

2. Never forget of documenting your goals and aspirations. Crystallize your ideas by putting them into writing. If you write your thoughts, it gains momentum which you might need in the long run.

3. Plan everything you think you need to accomplish. Leave nothing out. Be specific with what you want to achieve

4. The next best thing of course is to put all things into action. Gradually slash out the items in your checklist as you progress along.

5. One you should never forget is to place an independent minded person to evaluate the whole process for you. He must be someone, a friend, who knows how to think objectively and could really tell you honestly his most honest evaluation. This definitely works, who could resist such a marketing tool. If you are using your own product, and you say it is good, who would even dare contest what you said?

Green marketing is the new kid on the block, and it is making such buzz. It is getting popular; everyday, its popularity grows but most don’t really know what it really entails for what it is.

If your marketing strategy is geared towards sustainability and your business practices include some efforts of limiting environmental brunt, then indeed you are already becoming a practitioner of green marketing. Green marketing is basically a marketing practice that involves environmental concern by reducing destructive waste and patronizing clean energy resources among other things.

A shoe shop business owner who wishes to try green marketing might just change all his light bulbs with the one with compact fluorescent features, he might as well change his car with a hybrid power Japanese made automobile and secure for his household a water efficient dispensing system. That’s a way to go green! The next best thing that the shoe shop business owner will do is to convey his environmental stand to everyone he ever had contact with. This way, you are already performing an effective green marketing and communications method. A customer who happens to be an environmental activist at the same time may choose your own shop-produced shoes over someone else’s. She could already be prejudiced in your favour because you share his values. As a business owner, you could even further widen the coverage of your commitment to go green by resorting to having your shoes from recycled materials only or even making your enterprise carbon free. The greater the extent of your involvement to your environmental cause, all the more that you should be more vocal about your convictions. Speak about it loudly in your marketing campaigns so that people will notice your sustaining credibility. As an apparent result, you might draw more environment conscious clients to patronize your products.

It is imperative however to maintain the high quality that you have for your products. People may patronize you for your convictions, but you will gain their trust further if you are not compromising your quality standards. While you gain success on this endeavour, being loyal to your convictions, you should not however be petty in all the rest of the things. Moderation still is the key to everything. Green marketing could greatly influence any kinds of business, especially that these days, people are fast becoming environmentally conscious.

Have you ever, in any way, been influenced by today’s escalating environmental issues? Then let us know your experience and your stand on green marketing.

Every time you publish content, you establish yourself as being knowledgeable in what you do. However, your marketing strategy must really make sense otherwise you will just render all your efforts meaningless.

Getting to know content marketing

Content marketing is an opportunity to make a living by giving out relevant content to the subscribers with an ultimate intent of truly helping them with their endeavours. This might require factual creativity on your part but its sum result is gratifying in a general sense. You might confuse content marketing with advertisement; they are totally two different things. An ad entices the readers to positively react and act on their impulses at an instant, while content marketing works differently. Content marketing is generally more subtle that an ad, but it gains the trust of the readers.

Getting to know content

When you craft and post blogs, those things is content. When you tweet or make a comment, it is another form of content. Every time you publish anything, you are publishing content, no matter the context.

Getting to know the end goals of your marketing strategy

You may take things gradually; your goals may not be necessarily be flamboyant all of a sudden. You can always start small then build from it until it grows stronger and bigger.

If for example your goal is that by the end of the fiscal year, you already would have made profitable earnings from your DIY web design e-book.  With enough information about the complexity of the product, you may already start by June. By being specific as to your timeframe, it could give you a better perspective as to how you will effectively play your strategy. In the first two weeks, you might spend the time creating blog reviews on the best DIY web design tools or perform any other things that greatly utilize the marketing power of the web. The next two weeks could be spent on crafting methodologies that is a follow up of what you did in the first week. Then on your own, you may add a few more things depending on the need and style. Whatever you do, publish only a good half of the information. Keep the other half for the benefit of selling.

Making sure your strategy is working on the given time frame

If you wish to track the performance of your strategy and whether it is keeping up with the schedule, secure for yourself a content marketing calendar. It helps you put things in order and will guide you the things you need to prioritize at any given moment. If you practice tracking your strategy, it keeps you from deviating from your end goals.

Getting to know the final part of the strategy

The above mentioned strategies are just a prelude of the achievement of your strategy. This means that to complete your process of strategizing, you still need regular yet very good sales pages. If you only know how to take advantage of fully using your content, you will realize your goals in no time.

Simple things more often than not are a lot more effective than anything else. In running your small business, you may simplify your marketing strategies as well.

A marketing strategy could bring your business to new heights; phases of growth that would never have been possible without any marketing strategy in place. Marketing strategies do not need to be complex for it to work, below are the simplest marketing strategies for your fledgling business:

1. Familiarize your clients’ profile

You must understand your target audience. You should be able to tell their tendencies and propensities in order for you to know their underlying reasons on their buying trends. When you do this, you could very well directly communicate with them. You could readily offer them the possible options for their needs and dilemmas. As a business owner, it really helps a lot to know what motivates your target audience to buy what they buy.

2. Be uniquely the best

You have to remember that you are not the only business owner who offers a certain service or product. Even with small businesses, competition abounds. There is a great possibility that what you are offering is just one of the many, and might not get the attention of buyers. Therefore, you have to innovate and think out of the box, you have to come up with an idea that really gets the attention of your prospects. Make your products or services inherently unique among the rest, and make it noteworthy. If all the others a selling basically the same things, then tweak it a bit and offer something uniquely beautiful yet answers the same need. When you do this, you become the only choice out there, your competitors will have to stand back and watch you soar in your industry.

3. Have a plan

Make plans, do your preparations ahead. Have a concrete time frame for which your goals will to materialize. Ideally, make an annual plan, a year-long well developed plan towards growth. You need to lay down all the needed activities for everything else to work. Include in your plan a system for which you could be able to gauge your progress.

4. Itemize your plan and evaluate it regularly

You should be able to itemize your plan, break it down into smaller pieces so you could make it a lot more manageable. This way, it is easier for you to track your progress and the efficacy of your strategy. Take some time to perform objective evaluation of you itemized progress, evaluate your performance, evaluate your next steps, and evaluate the overall behaviour of your activities. This strategy helps your business become well versed to adapt to new environment. Changes, even the unexpected ones, become a lot easier to navigate if you have made the mentioned preparations. It also allows you make spontaneous decisions if it is called for at short notice.

If you have your own small business marketing strategy, please let us hear how you got about it.