It is a challenging game of choosing which avenues will work best for your business but as a general rule of thumb, do not put all your eggs in one basket. Marketing should be an integrated mix of efforts that will eventually increase your brand recognition and customer awareness. There are many ways to approach marketing. For example, you could use RangeMe to market your brand to top retailers such as Target, and appeal to buyers. To learn more, click target partners online.
The 7 touch theory states that your consumer should hear or see your marketing efforts at least 7 times before they make a purchasing decision. This means that your marketing message should be consistent and repetitive across all your chosen platforms. Here are 7 suggested touches to keep in touch with your audience.
Direct Mail campaigns: make your content engaging and most importantly, relevant to your customer. It is a complete waste of time to construct an email full of content to have it go straight into spam.
Email Campaigns: keep in touch with regular newsletters with what is going on with your business and news from your industry. Let your customers know that you are knowledgeable and trustworthy. And as a best practice tip, create a simple call-to-action. Do you want your customer to call, sign-up, download, or come in? Do not be afraid to ask for what you want!
Social media: research and find out where your customers are online. It is also a game of fine-tuning what works best for your business. For example, Facebook and LinkedIn are platforms that are information oriented and article driven. On the other hand, Instagram is all about dreamy pictures and visually strong images that quickly capture the attention of your audience. So, if your business is selling medical equipment, using Instagram is a platform. Don’t forget to use catchy hashtags too (you can learn more about the power of a hashtag in this article!)
Telephone follow-up: Cold calling is one hard task to check off. Often times, people do not answer the phone, you are mostly spending your time talking to a voicemail, or you are getting a straight up hang up. Give context to your prospects. They are more than likely to respond to your calls when they know what you are talking about or can recall your brand! Sending them literature via e-mail, or handing out marketing materials at events are great actions to take before going straight to the phone. Also, if your business relies on telephone systems to secure sales, you might be interested to learn that switching sip trunk providers could save your business money. If your business uses VoIP technology it can be all too tempting to stay with the same SIP Trunking company year after year. However, there is always a chance that you could be entitled to a cheaper deal and therefore researching your options is almost always worthwhile.
Community Outreach: get out there, build connections and get noticed! Sponsor a local baseball game, organize a beach clean up, or host a networking event with other strong and like minded organizations in your area.
Speaking engagements: speaking at workshops or industry related events builds credibility and trust with your customers.
Print Materials – build on top of your face-to-face contact within your community and leave a stronger impression by giving them take away content. Whether it is a brochure or a simple business card, your prospects can refer to these later on when they need more information. You can hand these out at local fairs, expos, and business/industry events.
For the full 2016 Comprehensive Checklist, visit here.
