Thursday 3 November 2011
Mobile Text Message Marketing
Marketing is one of the most important things you can do as a business owner. Without a marketing strategy and targeted advertising, many businesses simply do not make it. Many business owners think that simply having a store front or running an ad in the yellow pages is all they need to do and soon realize, it's not that easy.
In today's world, businesses big or small are finding more and more challenges when it comes to traditional marketing strategies. Running an ad in a local publication or paying for a spot in the yellow pages, just doesn't produce the same results they once achieved and are very expensive.
The reason why this is happening is that we are in a rapid changing communication age. With the birth of the Internet and number of internet-ready cellphones expanding globally, the effects on marketing are tremendous and are taking the marketing challenges to a new level. International businesses large or small are facing the same challenges.
The technical requirements associated with setting up a website, understanding social media, creating campaigns that will promote brand and convert traffic into buyers, are all part of the requirements necessary to market a business in today's world. The problem is many business owners need to focus on running the business and do not have the time, can't manage, nor have all the skillset required to create and manage an effective marketing program.
One new marketing method that will have a tremendous impact on businesses globally has to do with mobile text marketing. Mobile text marketing targets cell phone users in a very unique way. Similar to the time when e-mail marketing was brand new, mobile text marketing has a much higher response rate. With response rates at 90% plus, business owners need pay attention and incorporate this strategy into the overall marketing strategy.
There are a lot of reasons for the high response rate in mobile text marketing. Here are a few:
* When a user receives a text message they almost never ignore it due to the alert features on cell phones.
* It's considered more personal than an e-mail because it is used primarily by personal friends and family. So, the user always responds to a new text.
* Most businesses have not yet utilized this strategy so; the opportunity is here right now to be on the cutting edge of this new marketing concept.
* Users do not ignore the messages when received.
* Messages are short and to the point.
* Newer cell phones display the message right on the front of the screen.
* Users almost always have their cell phone on them.
* Cell phones do not require internet access to receive a text..
* Almost every cell phone made today has text messaging built in.
The most important factor is that cell phone users out number internet users worldwide. With the rapid increase in internet-capable phones, there will also be a proportional increase in a business' ability to market to a cell phone user.
For those who don't know, here is how mobile text marketing works in general. Let's say you want to run a campaign to offer a discount for a product, service, or an event. As a business owner, you would target your existing customer base first. You would offer a coupon or discount, when a user sends a text message from their cell phone to your advertised campaign word. An example of this would look something like the following:
To receive a discount today, text "specialoffer" to 41242
What happens is the customer wants to receive a discount, so they text the word to the number. Then they immediately receive a response back with a promo code or message authorizing a discount. They are also informed they will receive future discount offers and can opt out anytime. Your customers are ok with this since they are already patrons of your business. This process all happens automatically.
Now, a month later you decide you want to have a sale or run a special on the weekend. If you didn't have a mobile marketing strategy, and in order to let your customers know you're having a sale, you would need to run an ad in the newspaper, pay for ads on TV, run an ad on the radio, send mail outs or some other means to let them know. This is expensive and takes time to plan and the customers response time may not coincide with time advertised was received.
But, as a smart business owner, you simply send out a text message to your existing customers and because you know they will read it, your sales are a success. You managed to increase business with the least amount of effort and greatest response.
With traditional marketing, the customer would need to read their junk mail, newspaper ads, or be in front of the TV at the exact time your ad ran. But with a cell phone in hand, your customer receives your promotion. You didn't need to pay for expensive ad materials or hope the customer was in the right place at the right time.
Did I say this was powerful, cutting edge stuff?
There is an added benefit to marketing this way. Consumers do not receive junk mail from you and you won't kill a tree to run an ad in the local paper.
Did I mention it is good for the environment?
In today's world, a customer will jump at the opportunity to do something good for the environment. This is especially true when it doesn't require much effort from them. I think most of us would be willing to receive a promo code to our cell phone in comparison to a bunch of junk mail at home that fills up our mailbox and usually gets tossed in the garbage and then finds its way to our landfills!
There is also another advantage over traditional advertising. I call it the on demand factor. This makes it a must strategy for restaurant owners or businesses that operate in a daily entertainment industry.
Here is an example of the on demand marketing factor. Let's say you own a restaurant. You expect the coming weekend lunch crowd to be slow due to an event in the area during that time of day. So, you have a message sent out to your mobile list letting them know they can get a free appetizer at lunch - but for this weekend only. You do this two hours before lunch to a hundred people on your list. Then an hour later you decide that the response wasn't enough to fill the seats up completely and you believe you will have a few open seats. So, you quickly have another message sent to another hundred people.
The result:
An hour later you have a small line at the door. You managed to let your customers know about your special for the weekend only. You also filled the seats and maximized your business without over promoting. You wouldn't want customers that would have come to your restaurant without a promo code to be turned away due to an extra-long wait.
On demand marketing lends itself to maximum flexibility in timing and number variations. There is no other marketing strategy that has this type of on demand capability. I wonder what happened to the other restaurants in the area that didn't have a mobile marketing strategy.
To this point we have only targeted existing customers. You can build your customer base in a more powerful way. All of the traditional marketing methods still work and can augment your mobile marketing strategy. It is important to not be tied to other marketing channels for all your marketing needs.
One reason to not be handcuffed to traditional marketing channels is that they dictate to you the options and the cost for advertisements. Most of them can be expensive because of the media that must be designed for the ads. The biggest factor is that the consumers of a particular media channel belong to that media company. But as a mobile text marketer, you can place your mobile text campaign word on printed ads, radio ads, and TV ads. This will enable you to capture more leads. When the consumer opts in to your mobile marketing list, you can then market to them over and over without paying the original media company another dime.
Building a list is one of the most important business strategies you can have. A mobile marketing list is the most effective.
Mobile text marketing may not work for every business. There are a few businesses where this strategy is very exciting. Here is a list of some businesses that could benefit:
1. Restaurants
2. Salons & Spas
3. Bars & Night Clubs
4. Florist
5. Theaters
6. Vacation Rentals
7. Events and Nightly Entertainment
8. Department Stores
9. Any service that the consumer does regularly
10. Most business that advertises a lot.
As you can see there are a lot of businesses that could save money on their advertising expenses while increasing their ROI.
So, how does a business owner get started?
Well if your business is a big brand, you can lease your own short code for $500 to $1000 a month. A short code is the number the campaign word is texted to. You will also need to pay web programmer money to develop a campaign management system to receive and respond to opt-ins. This can cost thousands of dollars to develop.
Option two; you can contact a mobile marketing consultant such as Rapid Action Marketing or Mobile Helpers and they will help tailor a marketing strategy to the size of your company and manage your campaigns for you. Plus they help build your list and leaving you to run the business. When you want to send a special offer out to your mobile list, you simply call and they will take it from there. They also implement various techniques to help increase opt-ins for your campaigns.
There are also many mobile text marketing platforms available. Most are tailored towards the big boys of marketing and priced accordingly. There are two in particular that I have found that offer all the features in the expensive services but at a price starting around $15 a month and as much as $1000 plus per month.
For the mid-size business, I recommend option two as the text marketing firm can get your mobile marketing campaign started right. But, for the smaller business a self-management option maybe the only option.
They will help tailor a marketing strategy to the size of your company and manage your campaigns for you. Plus they help build your list and leaving you to run the business. When you want to send a special offer out to your mobile list, you simply call and they will take it from there. They also implement various techniques to help increase opt-ins for your campaigns.
There are also many mobile text marketing platforms available. Most are tailored towards the big boys of marketing and priced accordingly. There are two in particular that I have found that offer all the features in the expensive services but at a price starting around $15 a month and as much as $1000 plus per month.For the mid-size business, I recommend option two as the text marketing firm can get your mobile marketing campaign started right. But, for the smaller business a self-management option maybe the only option. See Author Bio for recommended services..
In today's world, businesses big or small are finding more and more challenges when it comes to traditional marketing strategies. Running an ad in a local publication or paying for a spot in the yellow pages, just doesn't produce the same results they once achieved and are very expensive.
The reason why this is happening is that we are in a rapid changing communication age. With the birth of the Internet and number of internet-ready cellphones expanding globally, the effects on marketing are tremendous and are taking the marketing challenges to a new level. International businesses large or small are facing the same challenges.
The technical requirements associated with setting up a website, understanding social media, creating campaigns that will promote brand and convert traffic into buyers, are all part of the requirements necessary to market a business in today's world. The problem is many business owners need to focus on running the business and do not have the time, can't manage, nor have all the skillset required to create and manage an effective marketing program.
One new marketing method that will have a tremendous impact on businesses globally has to do with mobile text marketing. Mobile text marketing targets cell phone users in a very unique way. Similar to the time when e-mail marketing was brand new, mobile text marketing has a much higher response rate. With response rates at 90% plus, business owners need pay attention and incorporate this strategy into the overall marketing strategy.
There are a lot of reasons for the high response rate in mobile text marketing. Here are a few:
* When a user receives a text message they almost never ignore it due to the alert features on cell phones.
* It's considered more personal than an e-mail because it is used primarily by personal friends and family. So, the user always responds to a new text.
* Most businesses have not yet utilized this strategy so; the opportunity is here right now to be on the cutting edge of this new marketing concept.
* Users do not ignore the messages when received.
* Messages are short and to the point.
* Newer cell phones display the message right on the front of the screen.
* Users almost always have their cell phone on them.
* Cell phones do not require internet access to receive a text..
* Almost every cell phone made today has text messaging built in.
The most important factor is that cell phone users out number internet users worldwide. With the rapid increase in internet-capable phones, there will also be a proportional increase in a business' ability to market to a cell phone user.
For those who don't know, here is how mobile text marketing works in general. Let's say you want to run a campaign to offer a discount for a product, service, or an event. As a business owner, you would target your existing customer base first. You would offer a coupon or discount, when a user sends a text message from their cell phone to your advertised campaign word. An example of this would look something like the following:
To receive a discount today, text "specialoffer" to 41242
What happens is the customer wants to receive a discount, so they text the word to the number. Then they immediately receive a response back with a promo code or message authorizing a discount. They are also informed they will receive future discount offers and can opt out anytime. Your customers are ok with this since they are already patrons of your business. This process all happens automatically.
Now, a month later you decide you want to have a sale or run a special on the weekend. If you didn't have a mobile marketing strategy, and in order to let your customers know you're having a sale, you would need to run an ad in the newspaper, pay for ads on TV, run an ad on the radio, send mail outs or some other means to let them know. This is expensive and takes time to plan and the customers response time may not coincide with time advertised was received.
But, as a smart business owner, you simply send out a text message to your existing customers and because you know they will read it, your sales are a success. You managed to increase business with the least amount of effort and greatest response.
With traditional marketing, the customer would need to read their junk mail, newspaper ads, or be in front of the TV at the exact time your ad ran. But with a cell phone in hand, your customer receives your promotion. You didn't need to pay for expensive ad materials or hope the customer was in the right place at the right time.
Did I say this was powerful, cutting edge stuff?
There is an added benefit to marketing this way. Consumers do not receive junk mail from you and you won't kill a tree to run an ad in the local paper.
Did I mention it is good for the environment?
In today's world, a customer will jump at the opportunity to do something good for the environment. This is especially true when it doesn't require much effort from them. I think most of us would be willing to receive a promo code to our cell phone in comparison to a bunch of junk mail at home that fills up our mailbox and usually gets tossed in the garbage and then finds its way to our landfills!
There is also another advantage over traditional advertising. I call it the on demand factor. This makes it a must strategy for restaurant owners or businesses that operate in a daily entertainment industry.
Here is an example of the on demand marketing factor. Let's say you own a restaurant. You expect the coming weekend lunch crowd to be slow due to an event in the area during that time of day. So, you have a message sent out to your mobile list letting them know they can get a free appetizer at lunch - but for this weekend only. You do this two hours before lunch to a hundred people on your list. Then an hour later you decide that the response wasn't enough to fill the seats up completely and you believe you will have a few open seats. So, you quickly have another message sent to another hundred people.
The result:
An hour later you have a small line at the door. You managed to let your customers know about your special for the weekend only. You also filled the seats and maximized your business without over promoting. You wouldn't want customers that would have come to your restaurant without a promo code to be turned away due to an extra-long wait.
On demand marketing lends itself to maximum flexibility in timing and number variations. There is no other marketing strategy that has this type of on demand capability. I wonder what happened to the other restaurants in the area that didn't have a mobile marketing strategy.
To this point we have only targeted existing customers. You can build your customer base in a more powerful way. All of the traditional marketing methods still work and can augment your mobile marketing strategy. It is important to not be tied to other marketing channels for all your marketing needs.
One reason to not be handcuffed to traditional marketing channels is that they dictate to you the options and the cost for advertisements. Most of them can be expensive because of the media that must be designed for the ads. The biggest factor is that the consumers of a particular media channel belong to that media company. But as a mobile text marketer, you can place your mobile text campaign word on printed ads, radio ads, and TV ads. This will enable you to capture more leads. When the consumer opts in to your mobile marketing list, you can then market to them over and over without paying the original media company another dime.
Building a list is one of the most important business strategies you can have. A mobile marketing list is the most effective.
Mobile text marketing may not work for every business. There are a few businesses where this strategy is very exciting. Here is a list of some businesses that could benefit:
1. Restaurants
2. Salons & Spas
3. Bars & Night Clubs
4. Florist
5. Theaters
6. Vacation Rentals
7. Events and Nightly Entertainment
8. Department Stores
9. Any service that the consumer does regularly
10. Most business that advertises a lot.
As you can see there are a lot of businesses that could save money on their advertising expenses while increasing their ROI.
So, how does a business owner get started?
Well if your business is a big brand, you can lease your own short code for $500 to $1000 a month. A short code is the number the campaign word is texted to. You will also need to pay web programmer money to develop a campaign management system to receive and respond to opt-ins. This can cost thousands of dollars to develop.
Option two; you can contact a mobile marketing consultant such as Rapid Action Marketing or Mobile Helpers and they will help tailor a marketing strategy to the size of your company and manage your campaigns for you. Plus they help build your list and leaving you to run the business. When you want to send a special offer out to your mobile list, you simply call and they will take it from there. They also implement various techniques to help increase opt-ins for your campaigns.
There are also many mobile text marketing platforms available. Most are tailored towards the big boys of marketing and priced accordingly. There are two in particular that I have found that offer all the features in the expensive services but at a price starting around $15 a month and as much as $1000 plus per month.
For the mid-size business, I recommend option two as the text marketing firm can get your mobile marketing campaign started right. But, for the smaller business a self-management option maybe the only option.
They will help tailor a marketing strategy to the size of your company and manage your campaigns for you. Plus they help build your list and leaving you to run the business. When you want to send a special offer out to your mobile list, you simply call and they will take it from there. They also implement various techniques to help increase opt-ins for your campaigns.
There are also many mobile text marketing platforms available. Most are tailored towards the big boys of marketing and priced accordingly. There are two in particular that I have found that offer all the features in the expensive services but at a price starting around $15 a month and as much as $1000 plus per month.For the mid-size business, I recommend option two as the text marketing firm can get your mobile marketing campaign started right. But, for the smaller business a self-management option maybe the only option. See Author Bio for recommended services..
Outdoor signage is a useful marketing tool
Outdoor Signage is an effective marketing tool. It is effective in the sense that it attracts the attention of the people in large number. It helps to attract the potential audience. The most important thing about this sign is that it has to be placed in the right place and also in the right manner. Either for indoor marketing or for outdoor marketing it should be placed in the right manner for catching the attention of the people. This signage is almost similar as the channel letters. The channel letters are generally used for the advertising purpose. Similarly this is also used for the advertisement purpose. The advertisement is done through this way. Now the graphic designs are also used in this marketing tool for making it more effective. The best signage is prepared by the expert group who used to make this signage.
Outdoor signage is also used to provide the led sign. This led sign is the advanced technique that is being developed in recent days. In all business houses the advertisement is always being a vital part and for that the companies have to put extra effort for the advertisement. And for that this advertising tool has been invented so that the companies can do their advertisement more efficiently and effectively. These advertisement tools help the advertisement process of the company. This signage is especially designed in keeping in mind the changing needs of the people. The demands of the people are changing all the time. In that case it tries to provide the facility to the people.
Generally the outdoor signages which are used by the business house are generally very much attractive and stylish. Moreover there are different pattern of outdoor signage can be found in the in the companies. The various patterns of the outdoor signs can also be found in the internet. The internet gives the detail repot on that. These signs are also used in various advertisement projects. Not only in advertisement project but also in the printing works. In printing works too, these types of signs are used.
Outdoor Signage is most widely used for the advertisement purpose. The advertisement is done through this way. Now the graphic designs are also used in this marketing tool for making it more effective. The best signage is prepared by the e
Outdoor signage is also used to provide the led sign. This led sign is the advanced technique that is being developed in recent days. In all business houses the advertisement is always being a vital part and for that the companies have to put extra effort for the advertisement. And for that this advertising tool has been invented so that the companies can do their advertisement more efficiently and effectively. These advertisement tools help the advertisement process of the company. This signage is especially designed in keeping in mind the changing needs of the people. The demands of the people are changing all the time. In that case it tries to provide the facility to the people.
Generally the outdoor signages which are used by the business house are generally very much attractive and stylish. Moreover there are different pattern of outdoor signage can be found in the in the companies. The various patterns of the outdoor signs can also be found in the internet. The internet gives the detail repot on that. These signs are also used in various advertisement projects. Not only in advertisement project but also in the printing works. In printing works too, these types of signs are used.
Outdoor Signage is most widely used for the advertisement purpose. The advertisement is done through this way. Now the graphic designs are also used in this marketing tool for making it more effective. The best signage is prepared by the e
The Competitive Battle Plan For Flyer Marketing
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You will undoubtedly have tough competition in flyer marketing. Thus, it is important to have a good and competitive battle plan for its deployment.
The objective here is to make each piece count so that the investment i will be well worth it, with all color flyers eliciting some kind of response from the market. Let me help you out with this by giving you my basic competitive battle plan. Use this as your guide to ensure more success for each piece of color flyer.
1. Do your oculars – The ocular inspection or actually looking at the different areas for deployment is important for a competitive battle plan. You will not only want to know if the place has people. You will also want to know if the places you are going for have the right people. Your key target markets should be there and you should know exactly the right times where they pass by or arrive in those places. Knowing all these should help you make your efforts more effective and efficient so make sure you do this ocular data gathering.
2. Do your consumer research – Next, you should also do your consumer research. As with most marketing tasks, knowing your consumer helps you gain insights on how exactly to deliver your marketing tool. For example if your consumers typically shop in certain days on certain places, then deploying precisely at those days and places should be ideal. Along with the ocular data above, you should be able to figure out the best locations where the environment and the people combine to give you the ideal climate.
3. Identify opportune times for distribution in the near future – Also, you should consider the public holidays and seasons that are opportune for distribution. Shopping holidays like black Fridays or Christmas holidays for examples are the most obvious times for good flyer distribution. Start of the season celebrations are also good for marketing as changing environments typically have people scrambling for new products.
4. Identify where your competitors are distributing – Of course, you should also be aware of the places where your competitors are distributing. This can be a threat to your marketing efforts. By knowing where they are, you will know which locations where you should double your efforts, so that you can be more competitive and beat them on those areas. Of course, if you see them having too much of a dominant stake in an area, you might also want to raise the white flag and leave it to them. You do not want to waste money on areas where you actually can gain no benefit at all.
5. Creating the ideal plan – Once you have all the data described above, you should then be able to create the ideal plan for a competitive deployment strategy. You should go deploy your flyers at the best places and the best times where your target markets or consumers are. Make sure that you take into account any competitor activity in those ideal areas and double your efforts if there is an increased threat. That is how you can maximize your efforts and succeed competitively.
Now you have a battle plan. Just go through each step above and there can be no doubt about your marketing campaign success.
Why Bother With Twitter In The First Place?
Why bother with Twitter? Twitter is a system of communication that can help your business engage with potential customers. Its one part press release, one part customer service line, and one part Frat party. There are countless ways you can connect with others using Twitter. There are also countless ways to waste time on twitter. The key is to be focused on connecting with those that have interests in line with your business. People often complain or ask for help on Twitter. This is a real opportunity. The press release concept is also a powerful way to get exposure if you don’t over do it.
Twitter is a very contagious trend. Asking, “Why bother with Twitter?” may come as a surprise to many business owners. Truly, there is no question Twitter can improve your business’ popularity in the online world as all the aspects of social networking can be found in Twitter.
Twitter lets you get in touch with virtually anyone: from your closest friends to people from all around the world. In fact, using the services of this social networking site could bring you the following benefits:
• You can get as many followers as you want and ask them to interact with you – as they say; communicating with your clients is one good way to keep them hooked to your business. For one, you can focus on your customers more as you connect with them on a more personal level and you can get them to send you their opinion easier.
• In just one post, you can let everyone know what your business is currently up to. You can update your followers with what you are doing with your business, and what they can expect from it. You can link to your site or Facebook page.
• It gets your message across fast. It takes little time for you to post and is very easy for followers to retweet or pass on your message. This is very powerful when followers resend your message to all of their followers, especially if there is a link to your site or Facebook page.
While using Twitter, there are a few things that you must remember. Below are some of the things that you must take note of to make sure your posts are effective:
• Make it short and simple – the whole point in using Twitter is giving your customers an overview of what you want them to know. It makes it easier to capture their attention if they can see it and understand it at once.
• Use URL shorteners to take advantage of the posting capability – you know that you are limited to only 140 characters, so how do you put your long URLs? This is where URL shorteners come in; such shorteners like bit.ly will definitely make you put your message in a more convenient manner.
• Take time to put new content – refresh your tweets regularly. Making sure that your posts are updated would eventually strike your customers’ curiosity.
What’s best about this is that you get all your publicity free of charge, but be careful not to over do it. Followers will quickly tire of you beating them over the head with product information. In the end, answering the question “Why bother with Twitter?” can be summed up by understanding this: Twitter is something that you can harness to connect with those people that you can help. Further it allows you to offer helpful information to followers. Finally, you can keep followers up to date on your offering and your products. This can all be done quickly and efficiently by consistent tweets and links to your company properties. Your mindset needs to be one of giving and not taking.
Twitter is a very contagious trend. Asking, “Why bother with Twitter?” may come as a surprise to many business owners. Truly, there is no question Twitter can improve your business’ popularity in the online world as all the aspects of social networking can be found in Twitter.
Twitter lets you get in touch with virtually anyone: from your closest friends to people from all around the world. In fact, using the services of this social networking site could bring you the following benefits:
• You can get as many followers as you want and ask them to interact with you – as they say; communicating with your clients is one good way to keep them hooked to your business. For one, you can focus on your customers more as you connect with them on a more personal level and you can get them to send you their opinion easier.
• In just one post, you can let everyone know what your business is currently up to. You can update your followers with what you are doing with your business, and what they can expect from it. You can link to your site or Facebook page.
• It gets your message across fast. It takes little time for you to post and is very easy for followers to retweet or pass on your message. This is very powerful when followers resend your message to all of their followers, especially if there is a link to your site or Facebook page.
While using Twitter, there are a few things that you must remember. Below are some of the things that you must take note of to make sure your posts are effective:
• Make it short and simple – the whole point in using Twitter is giving your customers an overview of what you want them to know. It makes it easier to capture their attention if they can see it and understand it at once.
• Use URL shorteners to take advantage of the posting capability – you know that you are limited to only 140 characters, so how do you put your long URLs? This is where URL shorteners come in; such shorteners like bit.ly will definitely make you put your message in a more convenient manner.
• Take time to put new content – refresh your tweets regularly. Making sure that your posts are updated would eventually strike your customers’ curiosity.
What’s best about this is that you get all your publicity free of charge, but be careful not to over do it. Followers will quickly tire of you beating them over the head with product information. In the end, answering the question “Why bother with Twitter?” can be summed up by understanding this: Twitter is something that you can harness to connect with those people that you can help. Further it allows you to offer helpful information to followers. Finally, you can keep followers up to date on your offering and your products. This can all be done quickly and efficiently by consistent tweets and links to your company properties. Your mindset needs to be one of giving and not taking.
Fight The Bad Economy With Basic Advertising Posters
Don’t just stand there! Fight the sluggish and bad economy with cheap posters! That is right! If you have a business that is having difficulty in today’s market environment you should try and think of going for the basics again when it comes to advertising and marketing locally. Full color posters can be your key to more local visibility as well as your chance to actually foster a nice local following for your products and services. So here are my tips in using some creative color posters to help fight the bad economy and succeed with your business.
1. Do some good old market research – First step to this fight is to do some intelligence work. You have to base your poster design decisions on good clear hard facts of course. So you will want to do some initial surveys of your posters competitors, the situation of your target markets and the overall trends in advertising poster design and deployment. Knowing this allows you to be better with your posters as you start designing them to fight this struggling economy and win with your business.
2. Develop market-targeted poster designs – Once you have the facts ready, it should be a lot more easy for you to develop market targeted poster designs. Just make sure that you take into account the current trends in posters, along with the competitive factors of other kinds of poster rivals.
It is of course important to always provide what the reader needs and wants to see in your posters to be able to engage them and hopefully market to those readers more effectively. Take your time in this and make sure all the elements are defined well.
3. Print cheap coverage posters – Now with your main design ready, it is time to print and deploy. First, you may want to print your coverage posters. These are your workhorse posters that will be deployed everywhere. It is good to be a bit cheap about this poster and even make it a bit smaller.
This helps you print a lot more pieces of this poster and fit them into more important areas as possible for marketing. So try to decide on a specific cost efficient printing configuration for your poster design and print them as your marketing coverage posters.
4. Print decent feature posters – You should also print more decent feature posters. These are the prints that are meant to impress people. You will deploy these at key high concentration areas where you are sure that your target markets always pass by. It is crucial that you use the best paper and inks possible in this kind of poster so make sure you set your choices for poster printing well.
5. Deployment – Finally of course you deploy according to your plans. It is best to post up those feature posters first in those more highly concentrated areas of people. Afterwards, deploy those coverage posters further and further from those concentrated areas.
Make sure of course that people are always passing by or hanging out in those locations, and of course ask permission if needed to post in those areas. Try to spread as much as you can in the widest area possible for the best and most effective impact with your color posters.
With these steps, you should have a good poster marketing campaign going. As long as you do your design right, you should get the best local opportunities possible for your business, helping you fight this ailing economy a lot more. Good Luck!
1. Do some good old market research – First step to this fight is to do some intelligence work. You have to base your poster design decisions on good clear hard facts of course. So you will want to do some initial surveys of your posters competitors, the situation of your target markets and the overall trends in advertising poster design and deployment. Knowing this allows you to be better with your posters as you start designing them to fight this struggling economy and win with your business.
2. Develop market-targeted poster designs – Once you have the facts ready, it should be a lot more easy for you to develop market targeted poster designs. Just make sure that you take into account the current trends in posters, along with the competitive factors of other kinds of poster rivals.
It is of course important to always provide what the reader needs and wants to see in your posters to be able to engage them and hopefully market to those readers more effectively. Take your time in this and make sure all the elements are defined well.
3. Print cheap coverage posters – Now with your main design ready, it is time to print and deploy. First, you may want to print your coverage posters. These are your workhorse posters that will be deployed everywhere. It is good to be a bit cheap about this poster and even make it a bit smaller.
This helps you print a lot more pieces of this poster and fit them into more important areas as possible for marketing. So try to decide on a specific cost efficient printing configuration for your poster design and print them as your marketing coverage posters.
4. Print decent feature posters – You should also print more decent feature posters. These are the prints that are meant to impress people. You will deploy these at key high concentration areas where you are sure that your target markets always pass by. It is crucial that you use the best paper and inks possible in this kind of poster so make sure you set your choices for poster printing well.
5. Deployment – Finally of course you deploy according to your plans. It is best to post up those feature posters first in those more highly concentrated areas of people. Afterwards, deploy those coverage posters further and further from those concentrated areas.
Make sure of course that people are always passing by or hanging out in those locations, and of course ask permission if needed to post in those areas. Try to spread as much as you can in the widest area possible for the best and most effective impact with your color posters.
With these steps, you should have a good poster marketing campaign going. As long as you do your design right, you should get the best local opportunities possible for your business, helping you fight this ailing economy a lot more. Good Luck!
Social Media Principle 6 – Be Open and Be Human
Social marketing earns, not buys attention so have an opinion, be true to what you say, be of value, be open - above all be human.
"Ask not what your customers can do for you; ask what you can do for your customers" Stan Rapp
As 'markets become conversations' customer relationships and advertising models are changing for good. Passive consumption becomes active interaction. Monologue becomes dialogue. Control becomes collaboration. Customers are empowered, well informed, connected. Companies are becoming more transparent whether they like it or not.
It's an environment in which the balance of effective communication shifts from being less about interruption to more about participation, less about delivering a message to more about being part of a conversation, less about what you say to people and more about what people are saying about you.
It's an environment, which operates to social principles - creating not subtracting value, serving a larger purpose than your own, being useful, facilitating.
It's an environment in which the more human elements matter - having a point of view, being true to yourself and what you say, being open, honest, transparent. Ford use social media to (in the words of Scott Monty) "humanize the Ford brand and put consumers in touch with Ford employees", and regularly reach out to bloggers for feedback and to encourage the spread of positive word of mouth.
Zappos believe that their "culture is their brand" and use social media to create touch points throughout every area of their business and ensure customer service isn't just a department, it’s the entire company. Authenticity is the currency that encourages trust, involvement, and engagement. Authenticity is what turns an audience into a following.
"Ask not what your customers can do for you; ask what you can do for your customers" Stan Rapp
As 'markets become conversations' customer relationships and advertising models are changing for good. Passive consumption becomes active interaction. Monologue becomes dialogue. Control becomes collaboration. Customers are empowered, well informed, connected. Companies are becoming more transparent whether they like it or not.
It's an environment in which the balance of effective communication shifts from being less about interruption to more about participation, less about delivering a message to more about being part of a conversation, less about what you say to people and more about what people are saying about you.
It's an environment, which operates to social principles - creating not subtracting value, serving a larger purpose than your own, being useful, facilitating.
It's an environment in which the more human elements matter - having a point of view, being true to yourself and what you say, being open, honest, transparent. Ford use social media to (in the words of Scott Monty) "humanize the Ford brand and put consumers in touch with Ford employees", and regularly reach out to bloggers for feedback and to encourage the spread of positive word of mouth.
Zappos believe that their "culture is their brand" and use social media to create touch points throughout every area of their business and ensure customer service isn't just a department, it’s the entire company. Authenticity is the currency that encourages trust, involvement, and engagement. Authenticity is what turns an audience into a following.
Developing A Strategy For Real Estate Mobile Marketing
Realtors are constantly seeking new ways to control business costs, in a slow market. Placing print advertisements, and printing up fliers to leave at listings, may eat a sizable portion of a realtor's budget. Fortunately, real estate mobile marketing, as part of an overall digital strategy, provides a no-paper, low-cost avenue for reaching potential clients. This type of marketing also helps realtors to be more proactive with advertising, rather than reactive.
Mobile marketing is defined as communicating with customers via a mobile device. This capability appeals to a clientele that is rapidly growing more technologically sophisticated. Realtors who have mobile capability may assist buyers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This availability gives the realtor a competitive advantage, in the recruitment and retention of clients.
Realtors are set back in a reactive position with print ads, and even with websites. In both cases, realtors have to wait for clients to contact them about the property. Even fliers will never be picked up unless a client actually sets up a property showing. Ideally, realtors should be able to proactively market their listings to potential clients. Mobile capability will give realtors a platform in which to be more assertive, while, at the same time, saving money.
Digital advertising may be realized in a number of ways. When realtors list a new property, for instance, they may choose to send the information to clients, using text messaging. Or, when an open house is about to begin, realtors could sent a text message to interested clients in their database.
Realtors should also take advantage of SMS. For instance, realtors could establish a service, in which clients could text a keyword to a specific number, and then receive property listing information, right on their smart phone. SMS would replace the hassle of printing and carrying fliers to every property site, producing a savings of both time and money, while still delivering a valuable service.
Advertising is only one aspect of an overall digital strategy. Many clients use their phones to look at property information online. For this reason, realtors should ensure that their websites are easily navigated with a smart phone, and that they do not publish too much Flash content. Additionally, good visuals on a website are important, and realtors may even consider adding a video element to their pages.
Of course, there are even less expensive alternatives for digital strategy. One idea is for realtors to list homes on real estate websites, like Zillow or Trulia. Both of these websites feature high-quality mobile applications, and are rich in visual features. Another idea is for realtors to use social media to communicate with their client base.
Real estate mobile marketing gives realtors new, fresh ways to reach out to potential clients. Web and phone-based services offer convenience to clients, at a low cost to realtors, thus helping them to recruit and retain more prospective buyers. Utilizing all of the capabilities of computers and smart phones allows realtors to match their services to the technological savvy of their client base.
Mobile marketing is defined as communicating with customers via a mobile device. This capability appeals to a clientele that is rapidly growing more technologically sophisticated. Realtors who have mobile capability may assist buyers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This availability gives the realtor a competitive advantage, in the recruitment and retention of clients.
Realtors are set back in a reactive position with print ads, and even with websites. In both cases, realtors have to wait for clients to contact them about the property. Even fliers will never be picked up unless a client actually sets up a property showing. Ideally, realtors should be able to proactively market their listings to potential clients. Mobile capability will give realtors a platform in which to be more assertive, while, at the same time, saving money.
Digital advertising may be realized in a number of ways. When realtors list a new property, for instance, they may choose to send the information to clients, using text messaging. Or, when an open house is about to begin, realtors could sent a text message to interested clients in their database.
Realtors should also take advantage of SMS. For instance, realtors could establish a service, in which clients could text a keyword to a specific number, and then receive property listing information, right on their smart phone. SMS would replace the hassle of printing and carrying fliers to every property site, producing a savings of both time and money, while still delivering a valuable service.
Advertising is only one aspect of an overall digital strategy. Many clients use their phones to look at property information online. For this reason, realtors should ensure that their websites are easily navigated with a smart phone, and that they do not publish too much Flash content. Additionally, good visuals on a website are important, and realtors may even consider adding a video element to their pages.
Of course, there are even less expensive alternatives for digital strategy. One idea is for realtors to list homes on real estate websites, like Zillow or Trulia. Both of these websites feature high-quality mobile applications, and are rich in visual features. Another idea is for realtors to use social media to communicate with their client base.
Real estate mobile marketing gives realtors new, fresh ways to reach out to potential clients. Web and phone-based services offer convenience to clients, at a low cost to realtors, thus helping them to recruit and retain more prospective buyers. Utilizing all of the capabilities of computers and smart phones allows realtors to match their services to the technological savvy of their client base.
How to Handle a Large Volume of Customer Inquiries and Sales with Style and Ease
The telephone is not just another household device. Today, most of the businesses around the globe have at least one phone within reach to handle a multitude of purposes. From simple customer inquiries to order taking and processing, businesses give their phone numbers to their customers to provide them with ease of access to their needs whenever possible. This is to allow consumers or clients to be given a sense of relief in contacting the company if they needed something. Customers no longer have to drive all the way to the establishment or even purchase airline tickets (for some) just to talk to a representative.
The telephone is there to give convenience to the business' consumers and clientèle. But how about if we look at it in the business' end?
Everyone knows that when the phone rings, chances are a person will answer it most of the time if the telephone is within reach. Simply put, if the device is allowed to ring for long people will get annoyed by the constant ringing and answer the call anyway. Again, when the device rings someone has to answer to cater to the needs of the customer or the prospect. For the representative, they have to stop all their tasks just to cater to one client.
A business works like a clock; if one cog will not function right then the entire timepiece will not work at all. Therefore, if one employee stops working just to cater to one client or prospect then the whole business itself might as well stop for that moment.
But what if there are a lot of customers calling at the same time?
Here lies the problem and challenge for many. To better resolve all known issues with regards to catering the needs of clients and customers over the phone, businesses may as well outsource to professional contact centers.
The services of contact center are always available whenever the need arises. Their aid is highly appropriate for those that cater to a large volume of calls per day through overflow call solutions. SMEs and even large business corporations would do well in acquiring these services.
For one thing, they no longer have to deal with the large volume of calls everyday while still being able to manage handling all the needs of the business' soon-to-be and existing purchasers. Calls can be redirected to a number of agents working in the contact center or inbound call center so that the client will not be placed on queue for a very long time.
These professionals are trained to help customers in their time of need for as long as their need is related to the business and nothing else. Inbound call centers make sure that their live operators treat each and every customer that call with due respect no matter how rude or how skeptic the purchaser may seem.
If the caller is a potential buyer, then the live operator can deal with the sale accordingly to the processes of the business. If the caller is already an existing customer, the live operator will then cater to his or her needs with utmost professionalism.
To outsource to these inbound call centers means the acquisition of a service that is trustworthy and fruitful for the business' end.
The telephone is there to give convenience to the business' consumers and clientèle. But how about if we look at it in the business' end?
Everyone knows that when the phone rings, chances are a person will answer it most of the time if the telephone is within reach. Simply put, if the device is allowed to ring for long people will get annoyed by the constant ringing and answer the call anyway. Again, when the device rings someone has to answer to cater to the needs of the customer or the prospect. For the representative, they have to stop all their tasks just to cater to one client.
A business works like a clock; if one cog will not function right then the entire timepiece will not work at all. Therefore, if one employee stops working just to cater to one client or prospect then the whole business itself might as well stop for that moment.
But what if there are a lot of customers calling at the same time?
Here lies the problem and challenge for many. To better resolve all known issues with regards to catering the needs of clients and customers over the phone, businesses may as well outsource to professional contact centers.
The services of contact center are always available whenever the need arises. Their aid is highly appropriate for those that cater to a large volume of calls per day through overflow call solutions. SMEs and even large business corporations would do well in acquiring these services.
For one thing, they no longer have to deal with the large volume of calls everyday while still being able to manage handling all the needs of the business' soon-to-be and existing purchasers. Calls can be redirected to a number of agents working in the contact center or inbound call center so that the client will not be placed on queue for a very long time.
These professionals are trained to help customers in their time of need for as long as their need is related to the business and nothing else. Inbound call centers make sure that their live operators treat each and every customer that call with due respect no matter how rude or how skeptic the purchaser may seem.
If the caller is a potential buyer, then the live operator can deal with the sale accordingly to the processes of the business. If the caller is already an existing customer, the live operator will then cater to his or her needs with utmost professionalism.
To outsource to these inbound call centers means the acquisition of a service that is trustworthy and fruitful for the business' end.
How To Make Your Online Business Progressive
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This article is all about internet marketing, using the power of internet, a business owner can gain profits and be ahead of the competitors. Internet marketing is used to increase income and promote your own product in different sites. Internet marketing involves selling your product through email messages, as long as you have your own computer with an internet connection you can start working on your business. Negotiating with different clients via email is much easier, faster and hassle free. As an internet marketer, you must know on how to convince those who visited your website and your target audience. Show the advantages of the product, encourage the viewers to try on the product and tell them why they need it.
Internet marketing helps in increasing your sales, this is considered as the best strategy in order to make your product popular. Online marketer helps in increasing your sales, instead of hiring an advertising company which charges way too high prices for ads, lame commercials and billboards why not hire an online marketer? You’ll save more cash and the results are faster, expect to have increase of sales within a shorter span of time.
There are people who are expert in this field, they do know that taking your business online is not enough. The main goal of putting your business on the internet is to make it global, reach more people and make money online. You will need an online marketer who will make things easier for you. They provide virtual office, complete with the tools, training, technical support and other resources that your business needs. There are also mentors who will guide you in your business, these people are professional, backed up with vast knowledge and have a wide experience when it comes to business. Taking advises from these mentors is the key to become successful.
There are companies that help those who are in need of online marketers. A potential client must be referred, this is limited for qualified applicants only. Those who have potential are accepted. Not everyone can be accepted because the company wants to protect their integrity.
If you have an online business and you are selling a product or service, you must keep in touch with your visitors. Online marketers helps in communicating with your visitors by sending letters, emails regarding the benefits of the product and why they must acquire the product. Without follow – up, your business might be forgotten by the visitors, which only means you lose a client. As the owner you are too busy to handle all of these. Outsourcing will make things easier, let online marketers take some weight off your shoulders. All you have to do is count your profits and watch the sky rocketing sales of your product. Now that’s a way to have a successful online business
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