Top 10 Tips

Forget those old text book marketing ideas that all your competitors are still using.

Throw your old marketing manual in the BIN and start using new ideas now that will leave your competition FAR BEHIND.

1) STOP ADVERTISING:

If it isn’t working, this applies to Newspapers, Radio, T.V. flyers and posters. Stating the obvious businesses advertise because their competitors do, unsure if the advertising they are doing even works. By the end of these tips you will be running really CLEVER adverts, producing really great RESULTS or spending your advertising budget elsewhere.

2) DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING:

Direct response and Brand advertising are the two main types of advertising used by Small to Medium sized businesses, KELLOGS, COCA COLA, and MERCEDES all use brand advertising to increase awareness of who they are!

Brand advertising can be very expensive and if you haven’t got a BIG POT OF CASH to throw at it you should try to avoid it, instead you should try Direct Response Advertising.

Direct Response Advertising can be used to produce an immediate response to a purchase or simply to get a potential customer to request more information, even a brochure.

With Direct Response Advertising you can tell immediately if your advertising is working or not working, it will either produce a response or it won’t.

Most small to Medium sized businesses however tend to use ineffective brand marketing with some Direct Response thrown in, this generally will not work.

Remember for small to Medium sized businesses ‘DIRECT RESPONSE IS KING.’

3) TRY AND SEE:

Don’t go all out on a full campaign just yet, try some Direct Response Advertising and see if it works, measuring your RESULTS checking all the time that your advertising is working.

We will need to monitor how many responses we had and how many sales we converted, from this we are able to see whether our advertising was profitable, and if it was then launch your campaign.

ABSOLOUTE MADNESS: If your business allocates a budget every year and you are not fully aware if your advertising works or not, STOP NOW. You can be using your budget on other forms of advertising that could bring you as much as 200 to 250% returns on your investment. Remember, choose advertising that you can test on a small scale, unlike T.V. or Radio which can be high risk and difficult to monitor. Remember to account for every enquiry then you can be sure to identify the type of response you get.

4) THE HEADLINE:

99% of getting people to read your advert is your headline, make sure you’re getting your customers attention every time, try changing your headline and monitor the response. It could produce as much as 100% extra business, even leaving the rest of your advert the same.

The biggest challenge is getting people to read your advert, which of these headlines would get your attention?

SMOKE ALARMS FITTED FOR £15
Or
DO YOU WANT TO SAVE THE LIFE OF YOUR LOVED ONE FOR LESS THAN £15

There are no rules to advertising USE WHAT WORKS.

5) IS MEDIA ADVERTISING ESSENTIAL:

If you are talking to a newspaper salesman, of course it is, but you may have guessed by now that I’m no great fan of small to medium sized businesses using their entire marketing budget trying to compete weekly with their competitors.

Media advertising is one of many options you can choose to promote your business and used properly the other options can take your business to a new level.

Leave your competition fighting over the usual customers that troll through all the media advertising available to them and take more advantage of the other options available to you.

6) FORMULA:

This formula is used by advertisers alike and is worth making a note of, it’s called AIDA. And stands for, Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Follow this formula and you WILL increase your success rate.

ATTENTION:

Using your headline be sure to grab your reader’s attention.

INTEREST:

Now you have got their attention, you will need to create an interest in the product or service you offer.

DESIRE:

Having an interest in something is completely different than having a desire for it. Convert your readers from having an interest to having a desire and you’re almost there.

ACTION:

It’s not quite enough to have a desire, that won’t make your customers say yes!

You need your readers to take action, YOU NEED A CALL TO ACTION.

Tell your potential customers exactly what to do in order for them to take that action.

Don’t get caught up in thinking that your competition are all having great success through their existing advertising and don’t be fooled into thinking that’s where you have to be with your advertising. Most of your competitors are there because their competitors are there and most of them will not have a clue if their marketing works or if it doesn’t.

Run your business your way and don’t be fooled into thinking that you have to follow your competition.

7) TAKE YOUR WEBSITE SERIOUSLY:

Do NOT let your website stagnate.  It is an incredibly powerful tool when utilised properly but you have to cater your site to your visitors and clients not to your own needs. A well presented and optimised website can be a stand alone leads generator if you allow it to promote your business in the correct fashion. A badly presented website may be the make or break of your next sale.

Ask yourself this:
“How many businesses do you check online when sourcing a new project, venture or service?”

The answer is, every single one of them.  If they do not satisfy you as a potential client for their service then think what message your website is communicating to your visitors and prospective clients.

8) INVEST YOUR TIME and MONEY ONLINE WISELY:

The number of avenues available to invest  both time  and money  are vast, indeed the task can seem daunting in some respects. It need not be so. Choosing the right areas to be involved in is exactly like choosing which business network to be a member of, which advertising is most effective and establishing WHERE YOUR CLIENTS CAN BE FOUND.

Be careful who’s advice you take. With so many so called “experts” on the internet each attempting to reach your business, make you a client and  offer so many options on your online business, deciding on the right choice can seem incredibly difficult.  IT IS NOT. Any service provider should be able to backup their claims, illustrate their ability and support these claims with client testimonials, direct client feedback or their portfolio. If they don’t, then simply walk away, no matter how attractive the offer and price seems to be.

9) INVEST IN YOUR TECHNOLOGY:

Every business uses some form of technology in its daily running and this can include mobile phones, desktop computers or even your flat screen TV. Proper awareness of this technology, what it has to offer and the way it can be utilized in your business in even the simplest practices of day to day operations can save a fortune with little initial outlay.  A fine example is the use of skype for internal communications with a company cutting phone bills to zero if run via an internet connection.

10) CLOSING THE DEAL:

Make sure that your sales staff are in a position to answer every objection and are able to turn that NO to a YES and win the business.

Good luck I hope these tips save you money on your existing advertising and produces that much needed sales profit.

Regards
Dave