National Directory of Marketing, Advertising, PR & Social Media Marketing Experts » Marketing Tips http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com Register Your Marketing, Advertising, PR & Social Media Marketing Services Today And Be Found Tomorrow Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:22:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.40 Local Business Internet Marketing Plan: Schedule Your Time http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/local-business-internet-marketing-plan-schedule-your-time/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/local-business-internet-marketing-plan-schedule-your-time/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:58 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/local-business-internet-marketing-plan-schedule-your-time/ Setting a schedule and sticking to it is the first step to developing a local business Internet marketing plan. Most small business owners are very busy and kind of take a hit or miss approach to marketing their business on the internet.

Therefore it will be extremely important that you manage your time and have a schedule devoted strictly to Internet marketing.

Are you the type of person who works off a to do list? Many small business owners make lists to help them keep organized. I would suggest that you do the same thing when it comes to spending time marketing your business online.

The nice thing about most forms of Internet marketing today is you can automate them. This means you can schedule in advance things such as article marketing, email marketing, blogging, video marketing and so on.

Either you or someone in your company can spend time each week setting up an entire week or months worth of marketing online.

Beginning with the basics you must decide how you are going to organize your schedule. Are the type of person who likes to write everything out by hand on a piece of paper?

If you are, that is okay and you should keep your notebook handy to refer to. It can also be beneficial to look back at to determine things you have done.

If you or someone in you company is Computer oriented, you can use other things that help keep yourself organized. Microsoft Word or Works is a good way to set up files. A spreadsheet works just as well.

Spreadsheets are good because it gives you an overview and helps keep you organized. The benefit of typing your notes is anyone can read them. If you are like most of us hand written notes sometimes are hard to decipher.

When setting up your schedule here are the primary things you need to keep in mind.

1. Who is going to handle your local business marketing? If it’s you that is great, but you probably need some Internet education. You should plan on devoting some time every week to learning how to market on the Internet.

If you are going to hire someone for this important chore you need to find a high quality person to handle your Internet marketing. This takes you off the hook in terms of setting things up, but you should still monitor the results you are getting.

2. What day of the week are you going to devote to marketing online? After you get your Internet marketing campaigns up and running you may not need to devote as much time to this. However you should always be tracking your results and spending a little time looking at those.

3. What kind of Internet promotions are you going to do? We will spend more time on this in another article regarding specific forms of advertising online.

In summary when developing your local business Internet marketing plan it all starts with setting a schedule and sticking to it. If you are committed to building an online presence you must devote adequate time to making it happen.

If you enjoyed this article by Jeff Schuman on setting up a local business Internet marketing plan please visit our local business website today. Learn how you can uselocal business marketing to rank highly on search engines and get more traffic to your small business website.

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/local-business-internet-marketing-plan-schedule-your-time/feed/ 0 How to Create a Marketing Calendar http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/how-to-create-a-marketing-calendar/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/how-to-create-a-marketing-calendar/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:58 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/how-to-create-a-marketing-calendar/

How to Create a Marketing Calendar

Fast Marketing Plan works great to help you create your next marketing calendar.

Once you have selected the fast start plan to get your plan and calendar going fast, you should begin filling it in with holidays and important dates so that you can see how these will affect your marketing campaigns.

Once your important dates have been added to the calendar, you should begin adding specific marketing tactics.

Is one month consistently busier than another?

Do you offer an annual sales event?

Are there any upcoming training events?

These are the items that you should add to the marketing calendar next.

With some basics already added to the calendar, you can plan your marketing campaigns and find the best way to fit them onto the calendar.

You should block off your marketing campaigns.  Color coding works great for a marketing calendar and it’s built in by showing each category in a different color.

You should mark off the entire time frame of the marketing campaign and add campaign goals and important notes to the calendar.

How to Use Your New Marketing Calendar

Once your new calendar is filled in, you now have a powerful tool under your control.  You should first be using the calendar to make sure that you know what marketing strategies and tactics you should be working on.  There are also certain tasks that you should be completing on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis.

Weekly

Your Fast Marketing Plan Monday Morning Marketing Email Reminders will help you start your week of knowing what need to be done. Your calendar will tell you what marketing campaigns are happening which weeks.  Every week you should be checking the calendar to make sure that your campaigns are beginning and ending on schedule.  You should also be making sure to add the budget and actual expense of each campaign.

Monthly

On a monthly basis, you should be making sure that the funds needed for the marketing campaigns are available.  You should also look over the month and decide if you need to hire any additional support for the proper execution of your campaign.  By looking at this at the beginning of the month, you will be sure to have all the staff needed to support your marketing efforts.

Annually

Annually, you will be reviewing the calendar for patterns and trends.  Never throw away a past marketing calendar.  It holds so much information about the upcoming year.  You will be able to gather a very accurate estimate of your current marketing costs.  You will also be able to combat cyclical income by reviewing your past marketing calendar.

Your task for this week is to set up your marketing calender, as you have seen above,  it is a simple and easy process and will keep you on track for the next twelve months.

There you have it. Now start creating your next marketing plan now while it’s fresh on you mind.

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/how-to-create-a-marketing-calendar/feed/ 0 5 Questions You MUST Ask Before Buying a Mailing List http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/5-questions-you-must-ask-before-buying-a-mailing-list/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/5-questions-you-must-ask-before-buying-a-mailing-list/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:58 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/5-questions-you-must-ask-before-buying-a-mailing-list/

How to Build Your List and Collect Email Addresses

Now that you have begun your email marketing campaign, you should take a look at the importance of building your email list. It’s definitely ok to start with a smaller list, but youmust make the effort to grow your list.

Each person you send your email to is a potential customer. If you’re not collecting email addresses in every way possible, you are missing out on valuable sales opportunities. The bigger your list is, the more your mailings will impact the growth of your business.

With so many places and ways to acquire email addresses, there is really no reason why you can’t build your list quickly.

Here’s six easy ways to capture emails and grow your email list!

  1. Your WebsiteYour website is often the first place people go when they want to find out more about your company. This is the most convenient and affordable way to capture their email addresses. Below are just a few simple ways to get people to sign up for your email list.

    Place an obvious sign-up form on your home page. Make this form prominent, so there is no way to miss it. They are there to find out more about your business, don’t miss this chance to establish a connection with them.

    Create a sign-up opportunity by offering a newsletter, industry articles, blog or other interesting content on your site. At the end of your article, you can put a call to action, for example, “Enjoy this article? Enjoy a new one every month! Sign up for our monthly article updates!” Another way to build your list fast is by giving readers an option that says, “Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.”

    Ask them to sign up when you offer content to download. Can you provide a free, valuable guide, white paper, report or other type of download? If your visitors are getting something for free, why not ask for their email? It’s a standard procedure most people are used to and it gives you free contacts.

    Offer an incentive. Giveaways, sweepstakes and exclusive online specials are always fun ways to entice visitors to sign up using their email address. It’s a win-win, you get their email and they receive what they signed up for when you send them an email.

  2. Printed Materials — Promote Online Sign-UpsWhether you’re sending a reminder card or a general business promotion, you can direct recipients to your website to sign up for your free newsletter. Most people will visit your website anyway and by giving them a place to start, you can capture their email — plus they learn more about your products or services. This is proven to generate a lot of response.

    You can add this one line call to action on almost all printed materials including:

    Direct Mail
    Letters/Stationery
    Postcards
    Brochures
    Business Cards

  3. EmailsYou probably send personal emails every day! Add a line to your email signature and everyone you email will see that you have an e-newsletter. It could say something like, “Get new tips every month! Click here to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.” This is easy and it’s free.
  4. In-Person Meet and GreetWhen you meet potential customers face-to-face at a tradeshow, networking event or business meeting, time may be limited to pitch your products or services. Even if you exchange business cards, a great way to educate them on what you can offer is to direct them to your website to sign up for a 30-day free trial, free e-newsletter or marketing article.

    This is also a great tool that your employees and sales associates can easily do over the phone as well.

  5. Presentations and SeminarsDo you ever give presentations or seminars? If so, we highly recommend dedicating your final presentation slide to your newsletter. Instead of listing only your name and company information, be sure to include your newsletter sign-up web address. Let them know they can find out more about what you offer by signing up for your free newsletter or 30-day free trial.
  6. Work Together with Other Businesses and OrganizationsFind a few credible businesses in your field, who aren’t competitors, and partner to promote each other’s services in your email campaigns. Mention them in your newsletter with a link to their sign-up page and ask them to do the same in return.

To quickly increase your email contacts (and potential leads), implement as many of the above suggestions as you can. Continue to look for additional ways to build your list — there’s always room to grow!

No matter what type of business you have, there are always opportunities to find qualified contacts and turn them into happy customers.

– – –

Joy Gendusa, Founder and CEO of PostcardMania, has grown PostcardMania into one of the nation’s largest and most effective marketing companies specializing in lead generation for small to large-sized businesses being recognized on the Inc. 500 and 5000 lists. She’s been named the Tampa Bay CEO of the Year as well as Business Woman of the Year in Tampa Bay, featured on MSNBC’s “Your Business” and has twice been an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/5-questions-you-must-ask-before-buying-a-mailing-list/feed/ 0 Nine Rules for Running a Good Marketing Test http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/nine-rules-for-running-a-good-marketing-test/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/nine-rules-for-running-a-good-marketing-test/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:58 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/nine-rules-for-running-a-good-marketing-test/ Nine Rules for Running a Good Marketing Test

Testing is the heart and soul of direct marketing.

As a direct marketer (that’s you) you must follow certain guidelines in order to get good results.

Here are the nn guidelines, rules and suggestions to get the most out of your direct mail marketing testing.

  1. Have goals for every test. What do you want to learn? What response would you like to achieve? Write down the questions you would like answered and run a test for each. Every test should answer one speci@257; c question.
  2. •Develop a hypothesis for every test. Each test you run should be a test of a speci@257; c idea. Every hypothesis should be based on a sound rationale. For example: “This is a test to see if adding a lift letter signed by a well-known doctor will lift response to our package. Our rationale is that since people respond to authority @257;gures, such as doctors, adding a lift letter will increase credibility and boost response.” Your test, then, will prove or disprove this hypothesis for a particular product marketed to a particular audience.
  3. Use hypotheses as a platform for creative work. Hypotheses can help you create genuinely different ideas for testing rather than retouched versions of your control. For example, if you have @257;ve hypotheses, you can test a series of @257;ve direct mail pieces, each incorporating one hypothesis.
  4. Test one element at a time. Testing more than one element will make it impossible for you to know what makes a difference in results. For example, if you’re testing price, change only the price. I call this the Evolutionary Testing Strategy.
  5. Test all-new direct mail pieces. There are some disadvantages to testing elements indi­vidually. It takes a long time and conditions change. So for some, it may be better to test totally different mail pieces against your control in hopes of a big breakthrough. I call this the Revolutionary Test Strategy.
  6. Track results meticulously. Keep detailed reports on the number of pieces mailed, the number of responses you get, response source, the conversion percentage, the income those responses generate, the average order, the percentage response, your income per thousand, your cost per order or cost per response, your net dollar return, returns, bad debt, and every other fact that you need to calculate speci@257;cally how your piece performs.
  7. Use your tests to determine strategy. Mathematical results are the best way to end de­bates on issues such as creative approaches, formats, and offers.
  8. Keep using your control until you beat it. Never shelve a control just because you’re tired of it. If it’s making money, keep using it. Until you have the @257;gures in black and white that conclusively demonstrate that you have a new control, keep that old one going.
  9. Keep testing. Testing is a long-term commitment. It’s not something you do once and forget about. It’s not something you do only when you have a little extra in your budget. Testing should be part of your routine. You want to follow what I call the Testing Loop:

To chunk it down to the very basics

  • Run a test
  • Analyze the results.
  • Act based on the results.
  • Repeat.

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/nine-rules-for-running-a-good-marketing-test/feed/ 0 The 4-Week Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Calendar http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/the-4-week-search-engine-marketing-sem-calendar/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/the-4-week-search-engine-marketing-sem-calendar/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:58 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/the-4-week-search-engine-marketing-sem-calendar/

Your Small and mid-size business owners can get a handle on their SEM activities-and improve the ROI of their marketing investment-by applying the same thoroughness they use in other critical business areas.

Here’s a proven way to kick-start a 4-week search engine marketing action calendar.

Week 1

Focus:  Keyword Optimization

1. Review your existing keyword list. Evaluate keyword effectiveness such as SER (search engine result) rankings.

2. Cull various sources for keyword ideas, including long-tail ideas.

3. Analyze competitor websites and content for new keyword ideas.

4. Search social media sites, including groups, and identify terms that appear more frequently or stimulate comments.

5. Implement new keywords in existing content, plan new content around new keywords, or test the pull of various keyword options.

Week 2

Focus:  On-Page Optimization

1. Optimize landing pages and plan new ones as needed. Ensure that the best performing keywords are included.

2. Optimize forms. Learn about what attracts data gathering.

3. Optimize Thank You response pages. Keep enticing the visitor closer by offering new material that draws the visitor deeper into the sales funnel.

4. Expand your use of visuals. Optimize photos with alt tags, add voice-over to your PowerPoint presentations, and examine video options.

5. Optimize your call to action (CTA) buttons. Use color to attract attention.

Week 3

Focus:  Off-Page Optimization

1. Update track link quantity and quality.

2. Identify and reach out for new in-bound links with established authority.

3. Analyze competitor links for opportunities.

4. Identify high traffic pages and plan to expand. Identify low traffic pages and decide whether or not to improve.

5. Gather content and link ideas by surveying social media conversations on relevant sites.

Week 4

Focus:  Content

1. Expand website content pages using keyword ideas, competitive analysis, and in-bound link targets.

2. Blog. Blog. And blog again. In all fairness, this is an every-week activity.

3. Evaluate your offers-what you trade for lead information. Continually experiment to create increasingly powerful offers.

4. Begin to develop video content. Start simply.

5. Expand the depth, variety, and reach of your presentations. Place them on your website, in blogs, and on social media.

Getting the most out of your marketing investment involves the regular disciplines described above. Modify this schedule to fit your particular business needs.

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/the-4-week-search-engine-marketing-sem-calendar/feed/ 0 Top Ten Fast Internet Marketing Tips for 2010 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/top-ten-fast-internet-marketing-tips-for-2010/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/top-ten-fast-internet-marketing-tips-for-2010/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/top-ten-fast-internet-marketing-tips-for-2010/ Top Ten Fast Internet Marketing Tips for 2010

It’s been another fast-paced year on the Internet. Just when we though it was safe to venture out with our marketing plan, Google introduces Google Wave, Microsoft launches Bing and tells us it’s joining forces with Yahoo.

So to clear our minds, we came up with Ten Easy Internet Marketing Tips we know to be true, so it doesn’t matter how you choose to go about it, you’ve got some facts to go on:

  • SEO is important, but there are many things you can do yourself before you decide to blow the budget on a specialist. Think well-written content, regular updating and getting people to link to you.
  • Email newsletters work if you divide up your target audiences (where possible), check the statistics and include a “call to action”. Overall, finding new ways to communicate with your customers is a good thing as long as your copywriting is good. If it isn’t, find some help here.
  • Blog, but only if you’re an expert! You probably have it in you if you’re passionate about your subject. Blogs are unique and give followers the opportunity to get a feel for you, your business and the way you work.
  • Statistics. The brilliant thing about Internet marketing is that everything is trackable. If you don’t do it already, get Google Analytics on your website, it’s free.
  • Get your business on Google Local Business Centre.
  • Introduce video into your websites, blogs and emails. The search engines love rich content like video and it’s very low cost to do. Use YouTube to get started and link back to your website.
  • Venture into social networking. It’s not going away and as more of us “sit” in our social network of choice, be it Facebook, Twitter or one you’ve created – they’re a whole new channel to market to. You can set up a Facebook Business Page, which is public (so Google will find it), and promote what you do to gain “fans”. Remember to add a “Find Us on Facebook” (or whichever social networks you’re using) button on your website.
  • Offer information that people want to read, not just what you want to sell to them. We’ve got many writing tools at our disposal now and the Internet has made it possible to share more information (for free) than ever before.
  • Other free giveaways are a hit and remarkably easy to do. Can you provide articles about your product/services/subject that people sign up to receive? Can you create a free download or other value added content?
  • Remember that any PR you do “off” line can be tweaked and used online too. Add a press release into a news section on your website, tweet about your event or update your wall on Facebook to tell fans what’s new.
]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/top-ten-fast-internet-marketing-tips-for-2010/feed/ 0 Top 10 Marketing Books To Jump Start Your Business http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/top-10-marketing-books-to-jump-start-your-business/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/top-10-marketing-books-to-jump-start-your-business/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/top-10-marketing-books-to-jump-start-your-business/ 1) How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab (Wilshire Book
Company, 1962). A common-sense course in how to write advertising
copy that gets people to buy your product or service, written by
a plain-speaking veteran mail order copywriter in 1960.

Best part: 100 “archetypal” headlines that people are still using
in various forms today to create new controls (e.g., “When
Doctors Feel Rotten, This is What They Do”).
Availability: Still in print (Wilshire Publishing) and available
on amazon.com.
2) Taken At The Flood: The Story of Albert D. Lasker by John Gunther
(Harper & Brothers, 1960). Albert Lasker (1880-1952) was a prominent advertising executive during the first half of the 20th century. During his 40-year tenure with the Chicago-based Lord and Thomas, Lasker built the company into the largest advertising agency in the United States. Through his innovation and leadership, he helped to usher in the new age of modern advertising.
Lasker had an inquiring mind about what advertising was and how it worked. In 1904 he met John E. Kennedy who had been a Canadian mounted policemen and who now promised him to tell him what advertising was. Lasker believed that advertising was news, but Kennedy said to him that, “news is a technique of presentation, but advertising is a very simple thing. I can give it to you in three words, it is “salesmanship in print.”
Great read about the history of american advertising with techniques on testing, testing and more testing until you proved that your marketing will be profitable.
Availability: Out of print and difficult to find. Try www.bookfinder.com
3) The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier. While Schwab
and Sackheim concentrate on space ads, Collier focuses on the art
of writing sales letters, of which he is a master. You learn how
to write persuasive sales letters in a friendly, natural,
conversational style.
Best part: While some of the letters may seem old-fashioned and
dated, Collier’s timeless principles still apply.
Availability:  Comes in and out of print. Somewhat difficult to
get.
4) Reality in Advertising by Rosser Reeves (Alfred A. Knopf,
1961). The book in which Reeves introduced the now-famous concept
of USP (the Unique Selling Proposition).
Best part: The idea that every successful ad must (a) offer a
benefit, (b) the benefit must differentiate your product from the
competition, and (c) the benefit must be big enough to motivate
buyers to purchase your product instead of others.
Availability: Out of print and difficult to get.
I got lucky. Was in an Ann Arbor, Michigan books store and this book saw sitting there with a $9.00 price tag on it. This one book has the most underlines and border notes than any of my marketing books. A classic and worth seeking out.
5) Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. A copywriting
guide by one of the greatest direct-response copywriters of the
20th century.
Best part: The notion that advertising does not create desires;
rather, it focuses already existing desires onto your product.
Availability:  Available from Boardroom Books.
6) Tested Advertising Methods, Fifth Edition by John Caples,
revised by Fred Hahn (Prentice-Hall, 1997). An updated version of
John Caples’ classic book on the principles of persuasion as
proven through A/B split tests.
Best part: The A/B split headline tests with the results (e.g.,
for an air conditioner, “How to have a cool, quiet bedroom – even
on hot nights” pulled 2 ½ times the response of “Get rid of that
humidity with a new room cooler that also dries the air”).
Availability:  In print. Available in bookstores and online.
7) Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy (Atheneum).
Charming autobiography of legendary ad man David Ogilvy, packed
with useful advice on how to create effective advertising.
Best part: Chapter 6 on “How to Write Potent Copy.”
Availability:  Out of print and difficult to get.
8) Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (Bell Publishing,
1920). A book on the philosophy that advertising’s purpose is to
sell, not entertain or win creative awards – and how to apply
this philosophy to create winning ads.
Best part: His observation that “specifics sell; superlatives
roll off the human understanding like water off a duck’s back.”
Availability:  Since the copyright has expired, this book is now
in the public domain and is available as a free downloadable
e-book on several Web sites.You can also buy it as a paperback on
amazon.com.
You can download it right now by simply right clicking the link below
and saving to your hard drive:
9) Method Marketing by Denny Hatch (Bonus Books, 1999). A book on
how to write successful direct response copy by putting yourself
in the customer’s shoes. Packed with case histories of modern
direct response success stories, including Bill Bonner of Agora
Publishing, and Martin Edelston of Boardroom.
Best part: The introduction of the concept of method marketing,
which states: “You cannot write copy without getting inside the
head of the person to whom you are communicating and becoming
that person.”
Availability:  In print and available on amazon.com; also on
Denny’s Web site www.methodmarketing.com.
10) Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joseph Sugarman
(DelStar, 1998). How to write successful advertising copy by a
modern master of the space ad.
Best part: The 24 psychological triggers that get people to buy.
Availability:  In print and available on amazon.com.
Did I leave out any of your favorities? (I know I left out a
dozen or so of mine!)
P.S. Id be a bad marketer if I didn’t include my book:
97 Marketing Secrets To Make More Money: Your Secrets Guide To Growing Your Business Right.
]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/top-10-marketing-books-to-jump-start-your-business/feed/ 0 10 must-haves for your marketing plan http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/10-must-haves-for-your-marketing-plan/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/10-must-haves-for-your-marketing-plan/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/10-must-haves-for-your-marketing-plan/ eta charset=”utf-8″ />

10 must-haves for your marketing plan

AS the list of ways to promote your business grows, working out the most effective way to spruik your business can be half the battle. That’s why it’s vital that small-and medium-sized businesses put a solid marketing strategy in place and make sure they don’t deviate from the plan.

Here are 10 things your plan must do.

1. Define your customer base

It sounds easy, but so few companies actually include a detailed synopsis of their target market in their marketing plan, rendering them powerless to make the most of potential sales.

Your customer base can change dramatically from one year to the next and if you’re not watching carefully, sales can drop as a result. Even in the last few years, customer behaviour has changed dramatically thanks to the growth in the number of people using the internet to research and compare prices before hitting the shops. Consumers are also sharing brand experiences via social networking sites and could well be naming your business personally; and not all comments are necessarily positive.

Jetty van Kooij, Sydney based marketing consultant, says first and foremost a business should get back to basics and define its ideal customer.

“As a start, a business should consider what its unique selling proposition or so-called point of difference is, and always be sure to talk about your business’s benefits rather than its features.”

2. Don’t look at marketing channels in isolation

It’s so old-hat to list your expected expenditure on television, print and digital for the year ahead in your marketing plan. These days, smart marketers know that all these mediums have a significant influence on each other and should be considered collectively.

Jen Storey, founder of Brisbane-based strategy, marketing and communications firm Outside Insights says many companies still treat online marketing separately to more traditional mediums like print and radio, when in reality the two must be integrated.

“I’m often called on to do the online marketing plan, and my action is always to review the traditional marketing plan and explain how and why advertising mediums can’t be thought of as separate entities.”

“A fragmented plan will provide fragmented results, and yet this is still how many marketing plans are developed.”

3. Try something new

All businesses need to push the boundaries from time to time, and marketing is an area of your business in which you should look to extend yourself. If you’re still using the same advertising mediums that you were using two years ago, then it’s time to try something new. Consider dabbling in email marketing, or maybe PR might suit you better. Either way, make a decision and detail it in your marketing plan.

For a small business, a marketing plan might only be a few pages long, but larger businesses often require a plan that details exactly where their marketing dollars will be spent and how.

The plan needs to be revisited monthly – or, at the very least, quarterly, according to Cecelia Haddad, director of Sydney marketing and PR firm, Marketing Elements.

“Businesses need to realise that marketing isn’t an expense, it’s a legitimate business building activity,” Haddad says.

4. Make a real social media push

Social media engagement also deserves a mention in your marketing plan given Australians are now among the world’s most active social networkers.

Mark Allison of customer intelligence company Webtrends says social media outlets give businesses the ability to engage directly with consumers, creating a database of potential customers to market to.

Social media can also provide businesses with valuable, cost-free insights when you’re bringing a new product or service to market.

“It’s free to set up a fan page on Facebook or a Twitter profile to engage with customers and if you launch something new into the market, engage with your community and see what they think of it,” Allison says.

5. Improve your marketing measures

Depending on how much money you’re willing to dedicate to measuring your return on investment, there are a range of measurement tools available to businesses which can give you real insight into whether your marketing dollars are being spent wisely.

And with the growth in the number of measurement tools in the market, half the battle is wading your way through the tools on offer and finding one that best suits your needs.

So what tools are available to a business wanting to measure how effective its online marketing activity has been? Many in business agree that one of the first ports of call should be Google, which offers a range of products to help measure online return on investment without charging a cent.

Kate Conroy, ad words strategist at Google says Google Insights is publicly available for free and enables small businesses to plan its marketing activity during seasonal events such as Christmas or Easter.

“This service can tell a business when is the optimum time to spend their marketing budget, which can help you plan your expenditure well in advance,” Conroy says.

6. Utilise email marketing

Email marketing continues to be a favourite marketing medium for companies given it’s one of the cheapest and most measurable forms of self-promotion around. But there are some hard and fast rules that businesses should stick to when it comes to email marketing.

The experts say you should make sure that each campaign focuses on a single message that’s delivered succinctly, manage your database carefully and always include an unsubscribe link.

Megan Hales, head of digital and senior planner of Sydney advertising agency The Campaign Palace says email is a hot topic because it’s finally reached maturity as a digital marketing medium. And a growing number of businesses have grown their email databases to a size that enables them to reach the masses with the click of a mouse.

“Email marketing has come of age, and is becoming one of the more preferred methods of contact for consumers engaging with businesses,” Hales says.

7. Include expected results in your plan

Your marketing plan shouldn’t simply list the promotions you intend on doing for the coming year, but also include expected results, otherwise known as Return on Investment.

Kylie Watson, marketing communications lecturer at the University of Canberra, says the key to any successful marketing plan is to know your average dollar sale and to work out whether any of the integrated tools you use are achieving a dollar return.

Whether a business utilises personal selling, PR, advertising, sales promotions or other forms of marketing, knowing your Return on Investment is key, she says.

“For example, if you place an ad for $450, you need to know how many products you have to sell to get the money back and then to make a profit.”

“Branding is fine for the big guys, but SMEs need to be sure they’re making a direct return on their marketing spend.”

8. At least do the free stuff

There are things you can do to market your business that doesn’t cost a cent, so make sure you consider including marketing approaches that are free in your marketing plan.

For example, gain some momentum by engaging the local media by distributing press releases and newsletters about your business.

Carolyn Loton, director of Sydney’s Juntos Marketing says a business should think about how it can start, develop and maintain meaningful relationships with people within its target market, with social networking another free option.

“If you’re unfamiliar with social media or online marketing tools, the best approach is to get onto the internet and actually try them. Just make sure you start small and build your presence as you feel more comfortable.”

9. Be the brand

Smart companies are putting themselves front and centre of their branding, often with great results.

At the big end of town, Gerry Harvey from Harvey Norman or Richard Branson from Virgin have both fronted their brands with outstanding results, but this can also work for smaller operators.

One way to do this is to use your name in your business name or logo, which Nick Bowditch, founder of social engagement agency The Bowditch Group has done. His marketing plan includes points on how he can stretch his personal ‘brand’ into his business brand and vice versa.

“Using your own name as your company name certainly helps people find you via a Google search.”

He also makes sure every photo he uses on his social networking sites is the same, making him easily identifiable.

“Some people don’t think a business owner should appear in their own ad as it can look like you’re a backyard operation, but I disagree. I believe it can give that personal touch. If you try and be a faceless entity as a business then I think you’re really missing out.”

10. Never forget SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategies straddle the marketing plan and the IT plan and should be considered crucial to both parts of the business.

SEO simply means using key words and search phrases to get your website to rank highly in search engines.

Not surprisingly, this means that more than ever, content is king, with experts continually urging SMEs to adopt quality content on their website.

Mark Baartse, consulting director for Sydney marketing company First Rate, says the search engine’s ultimate goal is to show the most relevant result for each search phrase.

“If you can’t honestly say your site is relevant and useful to consumers, then you’re fighting an uphill battle,” he says.

“But if you have a genuinely useful, high quality site which users find valuable, then you’ll rank well, although it might take awhile. Blogging on your site is one good way to achieve this.”

Also consider offsite optimisation, which refers to who is linked to your site. Baartse says most major search engines see someone linking to you as a vote of confidence, therefore ranking you higher in a search.

“However, if you have a really good quality site, you’ll tend to attract a lot of links naturally.”

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/10-must-haves-for-your-marketing-plan/feed/ 0 How to write a marketing plan with five questions http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/how-to-write-a-marketing-plan-with-five-questions/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/how-to-write-a-marketing-plan-with-five-questions/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/how-to-write-a-marketing-plan-with-five-questions/ How to write a marketing plan with five questions

Ask 20 marketers how to write a marketing plan, and you’ll get 20 different answers. Some have more strategy than tactics, some get tactical immediately without a strategic foundation.

But the biggest problem most marketing plans have is that they’re cleint-centric. They’re written from your point of view, based on what you want from the market, and they fail to reflect or take into account your customer’s perspective.

The same is true for the sales process most companies use today. It’s easy to define the process you want your sales team to go through in working leads into opportunities and, eventually, closed business. A more valuable exercise may be to map the buying process. How do your customers buy, what stages do they go through, what triggers or accelerators drive them closer to making a decision?

So for your marketing plan, take that same customer-centric approach and apply it to five questions.

  1. What/who are your targets?
  2. What do they care about? What outcome are they seeking?
  3. Where do you find them?
  4. What or who influences them?
  5. How do they want to engage and (eventually) buy?

These five questions are the foundation of your plan. The answers should give you a blueprint for what to do, where to do it, what to say, and how to match your marketing and messaging to the way your customer already thinks and operates.

]]> http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/how-to-write-a-marketing-plan-with-five-questions/feed/ 0 200 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/200-guerrilla-marketing-weapons/ http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/200-guerrilla-marketing-weapons/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:06:57 +0000 http://nationalmarketingdirectory.com/2010/11/200-guerrilla-marketing-weapons/

This is a list of the  200 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons written by my friend Jay Conrad Lewinson. Use these guerrilla marketing weapons for marketing your product, service, practice or idea both online and  offline.

Notice how more than half of them are free.R32;

As you know, your marketing arsenal can be much more potent than it is right now, and it won’t even require much of an investment.

Ask the average business owner what marketing is and you’ll be told that it’s advertising.

Guerrillas know that this is nonsense.

Advertising is only one weapon of marketing.

How many weapons are most business owners aware of? Maybe five or ten. How many do they use? Possibly three.

But guerrilla marketers are aware of a full 200 guerrilla marketing weapons and make use of about 40 of them. More than half of the weapons are free! Here, because this course wants you to be as lethal as possible, are ALL 200 weapons.

These guerrilla marketing tactics are presented in no particular rank or order because there’s a 200-way tie for first place. Still, you will come across a few marketing ideas that deserve red neon asterisks inside your head.

Your job now as a business owner is to do what you can to use as many weapons as possible. Okay?

MINI- MEDIA

1. Marketing Plan

2. Marketing Calendar

3. Identity

4. Business Cards

5. Stationary

6. Personal Letters

7. Telephone Marketing

8. Toll- Free Number

9. Vanity Phone Number

10. Yellow Pages

11. Postcards

12. Post Card Deck

13. Classified Ads

14. Per Order/ Inquiry Advertising

15. Free Ads in Shoppers

16. Circulars

17. Community Bulletin Boards

18. Movie Ads

19. Outside Signs

20. Street Banners

21. Window Display

22. Inside Signs

23. Posters

24. Canvassing

25. Door Hangers

26. Elevator Pitch

27. Value Story

28. Backends

29. Letters of Recommendation

30. Attendance at Trade Shows

MAXI- MEDIA

31. Advertising

32. Direct Mail

33. Newspaper Ads

34. Radio Spots

35. Magazine Ads

36. Billboards

37. Television Commercials

E- MEDIA

38. Computer

39. Printer/ Fax Machine

40. Chat Rooms

41. Forums Boards

42. Internet Bulletin Boards

43. List-building

44. Personalized Email

45. Email Signature Mktg.

46. Canned Email

47. Bulk Email

48. Audio/Video postcards

49. Domain Name

50. Website

51. Landing Page

52. Merchant Account

53. Shopping cart

54. Auto-Responders

55. Search Engine Ranking (Alexa)

56. Electronic Brochures

57. RSS Feeds

58. Blogs

59. Podcasting

60. Publish own E-zine

61. Ads in other E-zines

62. Write Ebooks

63. Provide Content- Other Sites

64. Produce Webinars

65. Joint ventures

66. Word-of-mouse

67. Viral Marketing

68. E-Bay / Auction Sites

69. Click Analyzers

70. Pay Per Click Ads

71. Search Engine Keywords

72. Google Adwords

73. Sponsored Links

74. Reciprocal Link Exchange

75. Banner Exchanges

76. Web Conversion Rate

INFO- MEDIA

77. Knowledge of your Market

78. Research Studies

79. Specific Customer Data

80. Case Studies

81. Sharing

82. Brochures

83. Catalog

84. Business Directory

85. Public Service Announcements

86. Newsletter

87. A Speech

88. Free Consultations

89. Free Demonstrations

90. Free Seminars

91. Publish Article

92. Publish Column

93. Author a Book

94. Publishing-on-Demand

95. Speaker at Clubs

96. Teleseminars

97. Infomercials

98. Constant Learning

HUMAN- MEDIA

99. Marketing Insight

100. Yourself

101. Your Employees and Reps

102. Designated Guerrilla

103. Employee Attire

104. Social Demeanor

105. Target Audiences

106. Your Own Circle of Influence

107. Contact Time with Customers

108. How you say Hello and Goodbye

109. Teaching Ability

110. Stories

111. Sales Training

112. Use of Downtime

113. Networking

114. Professional Title

115. Affiliate Marketing

116. Media Contacts

117. e­Mail List Customers

118. Core Story- Solution to Problem

119. Create a Sense of Urgency

120. Offer Limited Items/ Time

121. Call to Action

122. Satisfied Customers

NON- MEDIA

123. Benefits List

124. Competitive Advantages

125. Gifts

126. Service

127. Public Relations

128. Fusion Marketing

129. Barter

130. Word-of-Mouth

131. Buzz

132. Community Involvement

133. Club and Assn Memberships

134. Free Directory Listings

135. Trade Show Booth

136. Special Events

137. Name Tags at Events

138. Luxury Box at Events

139. Gift Certificates

140. Audio-Visual Aids

141. Flipcharts

142. Reprints and Blowups

143. Coupons

144. Free Trial Offer

145. Guarantee

146. Contests and Sweepstakes

147. Baking/ Craft Ability

148. Lead Buying

149. Follow-Up

150. Tracking Plan

151. Marketing-on-Hold

152. Branded Entertainment

153. Product Placement

154. Radio Talk Show Guest

155. TV Talk Show Guest

156. Subliminal Marketing

COMPANY ATTRIBUTES

157. Proper View of Marketing

158. Brand Name Awareness

159. Positioning

160. Name

161. Meme

162. Theme Line

163. Writing Ability

164. Copywriting Ability

165. Headline Copy

166. Location

167. Hours of Operation

168. Days of Operation

169. Credit Cards Accepted

170. Financing Available

171. Credibility

172. Reputation

173. Efficiency

174. Quality

175. Service

176. Selection

177. Price

178. Opportunities to Upgrade

179. Referral Program

180. Spying

181. Testimonials

182. Extra Value

183. Adopt Noble Cause

COMPANY ATTITUDES

184. Easy To Do Business With

185. Honest Interest in People

186. Telephone Demeanor

187. Passion & Enthusiasm

188. Sensitivity

189. Patience

190. Flexibility

191. Generosity

192. Self Confidence

193. Neatness

194. Aggressiveness

195. Competitiveness

196. High Energy

197. Speed

198. Maintains Focus

199. Attention to Details

200. Takes Action

Thanks Jay for this amazing list.
Use it and change your life.
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