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Marketing Tip of the Week: Don’t Forget To Look Up

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Unless the name of your business is Wal-Mart, there are probably other companies in your market with higher annual sales. And that’s a good thing! After all, when it comes to marketing techniques and strategies, there’s nothing better than using one that’s already proven itself successful!

Learn From the Leaders

Those businesses that lead the way in your industry are there because they’ve already perfected the marketing techniques required to make money and pique the interest of customers. That makes them perfect models for you. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. You should be able to make a few small tweaks and simply adapt their plan to your own business.

Never be afraid to learn all you can from the leaders.

Identifying Your Models

But what makes a particular businesses marketing model viable for your business? The key is to look for similarities, not just in products you carry but also in markets you’re targeting.

For example: Wal-Mart is a large company that sells a variety of items. You are probably a bit more specific in the products that you carry, so their general marketing plan may not be the best model for your business. Even so, they have departments that most likely coincide with your own business, and seeing how they choose to use signage and marketing materials for those departments can be applied to your model.

You’re going to have to do more than a simple copy and paste, but using your industry leaders as marketing models is always a great idea!

Marketing Tip of the Week: The Ever Important Call-To-Action

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If you regularly read marketing blogs, you’ve already heard all about the call-to-action. It’s a phrase bandied about by all the greats in the business (the business of business?) that has been repeated so often, many no longer see a reason to explain its meaning.

Still, if you aren’t entirely sure what a call-to-action is or how to optimize its use, read on!

Defining the Call

A call-to-action is what you use to spur your customer to action. It can be a sentence at the end of your blog, a button on the bottom of your email, or a statement splashed across your latest ad. Whatever you choose to use, it needs to be clear and concise so the customer knows exactly what they’re supposed to do next. Simple, right?

Absolutely, but sometimes keeping it simple is the problem.

Don’t Over Think It

Your call-to-action doesn’t have to be a mind-blowing statement or even something your customer has never seen before. It’s just a cue to direct them to where you want them to go. It can simply be a button labeled “Buy Now!” a hyperlink that says “Click here to purchase!” or anything in between.

The goal is clarity of purpose. A confused customer is a customer that gives up and goes somewhere else. The call-to-action is like a road sign. It directs the customer where to go next.

You should be using a call-to-action in every piece of content that you write. Even if the post isn’t direct marketing for you business, you should still direct the customer to your products at the end.

Did you like this post? Follow FGmarket on Facebook or give us some of your ideas in the comments below!

Marketing Tip of the Week: Spice Up Your Images!

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Last week I discussed a free site perfect for creating short videos to wow your customer. This week we are going to cover another free site, only this time it focuses on image manipulation.

Let me introduce you to Canva!

The Importance of Images

It’s no secret that customers prefer images to text. Invariably, any post including either will get more views than one without. But although an image has the power to draw attention, they aren’t always able to do the whole job on their own. Clarification often requires a little additional text, and for optimal impact, the best text should be placed directly on the image itself.

But how many business owners are savvy enough on the computer to superimpose text on existing images?

That’s where Canva comes in. They are a free-to-use site that will allow you to modify images with ease adding texture, filters and text in a variety of fonts and colors. There is a pay option if you’d like to do more than the free options allow, but there is plenty of usability without paying a penny.

Create Informative Graphics

With Canva, you can upload an image of your stock or an item you want to showcase, and then place text boxes so you can write on the image itself! You can easily size the boxes and choose the font type and size you need to say exactly what you want to say. Wouldn’t announcing a sale on shoes work better if the image had a large 20% off emblazoned across the front?

But that’s not all Canva offers. You will also be able to create your own images and banners from scratch. That means you can make your social media or website look professional without breaking the bank to have someone come in and do it for you.

Good marketing is all about having the right tools, and free programs that do the work for you are never a bad idea. Have a favorite program of your own? Share it in the comments below!

Marketing Tip of the Week: It’s Okay To Alter The Plan

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You’ve put together a marketing plan, and you begin implementing your strategy. Before long you realize things aren’t going as you expected. You look at the data and evaluate the situation. You spot the problem, but changing it would result in revising everything. There’s still a chance your original plan will work, just perhaps not as well as you hoped. What do you do?

It’s Up To You

That’s a tough call and not one that anyone else can make. But if you choose to stay the course, make sure you’re not making that decision out of fear. Changing the plan isn’t always the best course of action, but there are plenty of times where it can be. Here are some guidelines to help you decide:

  1. How Far Off Course Are You? – The numbers being below your expectations is not an immediate call to change everything. How off are they? If you’re off by 10-15%, you may be able to make up the difference on another stage of the path. If you’re off by 35-40%, it might be time to revise.
  2. Is It Too Late – Sometimes the faux pas in a marketing strategy can’t be fixed. It’s been done, it’s out there and there’s no taking it back. If you’ve already made the misstep, it doesn’t mean that the rest of your plan is bad. Stick with it if you think there’s a chance of pulling things out. But if the rest of your strategy follows in that same vein, it’s time to pull the plug.
  3. How Critical Was The Error? – Is it the linchpin holding the rest of your strategy together? If so, it’s time for a new course. If not, evaluate the remaining steps and see if there’s a way to pull this thing out.

A marketing strategy gone awry is no reason to panic. In fact, it’s the worst possible time to do so. Keeping a clear head and evaluating the situation thoroughly is always your best chance to pull success from failure!

Marketing Tip of the Week: Customer Surveys, Yes or No?

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Are customer surveys important to your business? Well, to find the answer to that, you should ask yourself three very important questions:

  1. Do I own a business?
  2. Do I have customers?
  3. Do I want them to buy more from me?

If the answer to each of those questions is yes, then customer surveys are definitely for you!

Setting It Up

Now that you know you should be doing customer surveys, how exactly does that work? Customer surveys are useful for everything from finding out what content your customers want to see on your blog to judging the success of a marketing campaign, but there are no right or wrong questions or formats. The only thing you really need is the question or questions you want to ask. The real difference is made in choosing your medium.

Choosing Your Audience

If you choose to do a survey on Facebook, you will mostly only get replies from your followers on Facebook. If you have your employees ask a question at the register, you’ll only get replies from walk-ins. If you send out an email question, you’ll get replies from your email list. If it’s on your blog, you’ll get people who read your site.

It’s true that some of those customers may overlap, but most likely you will have many that you’ll only get access to through one area. And that may be exactly what you want. Perhaps the question pertains to Facebook or email or the blog? But if you are looking for as well-rounded a response as possible, remember that you’ll need to post through all these mediums.

So go out there and find the information you really want to know about your customers and their buying habits. All you have to do is ask!

 

Marketing Tip of the Week: How to Handle Those Idea Dry Spells

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Content marketing relies almost exclusively on your ideas. After all, you can’t wow your customers with impressive content if you don’t actually have new content. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll have an idea exactly when you need one. Creative dry spells come so make sure you take advantage of days when the ideas flow.

Don’t Limit Yourself

When you sit down to think up your next marketing idea, your brain doesn’t always limit itself to only one. Often, you’ll come up with several different options, though not all are workable. But what then? Do you choose the best and leave the others behind? Why limit yourself to only one successful idea at a time?

Having a deep bench is a personnel staple, but it applies to marketing ideas just as strongly. Not every idea is equal, but all of them have merit. Writing them down, even the ones that feel weak, can have a lot of future value. You may reject an idea today, but when you are struggling to find something for your next post, a list of previous ideas can not only give you decent fodder but can also offer a base to spark you toward your next big idea. Even if you would never use the idea as it sits on your notepad, never underestimate its ability to lead you to the next one you would use.

Use Your People

Okay, so that takes care of future dry spells, but what if you need an idea now?

Involve your staff! Nobody understands the day-to-day customer like the people you employ to serve them. Bringing those folks into your brainstorm sessions can bring a new and potentially exciting perspective. And just like your discarded ideas, even if you don’t get an idea that is workable as is, you may find one that pushes you toward new concepts that you can use.

It’s true that our minds may not always cooperate with our creative needs, but surviving those idea dry spells is a simple task when we use a little forethought.

Marketing Tip of the Day

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Last week’s marketing tip focused on building relationships with your customers through the use of social media. This tool allows you to connect with hundreds and thousands of your current and potential customers. I also stressed the importance of identifying your customer’s needs and anticipating the future. Other than surveys, how can you receive feedback from your customers while also nurturing that relationship? Below are a few key points about using Facebook.

  • You can learn more about your customers, as well as their likes/dislikes, by participating in discussions on Facebook, reading their posts, notes, and giving your feedback. By showing an interest in your customer, you are showing you care about them!
  • Provide your customers insight into who you really are by posting your own comments, discussions, thoughts, etc. By being active on Facebook, you have figured out a way to directly reach your customer and how to cultivate that relationship.
  • Allow your customers who follow you on Facebook to participate in contests, give-a-way’s, etc or give them previews of upcoming products. These type of strategies will keep your business fresh in their minds and will also ideally improve your reputation with the clients

By learning more about your customers, you will be better equipped to anticipate their future needs. By building these relationships with your customers, you will be building a personal connection that will bring their business back to your company and creating value in your products.

Marketing is kind of like a balancing act, while it is essential to maintain and enhance the relationships you have with existing customers, you cannot ignore the world full of potential clients! Online marketing is a great way to spread the word about your company in a means that is efficient with your budget. However, in order to expand your business you cannot rely solely on online marketing and social media platforms. Every business is going to have various marketing needs; you should analyze your company, what products/services you offer, and your existing/potential customers. Plan a marketing campaign around those factors in order to gain the most exposure and potential leads.

Next week, we are going to refer back to the basics with a 4-step guide to evaluate your companies “marketing mix.”

As always, let me know what you think! Until next week… check out the various awesome vendors of FG Market at https://www.fgmarket.com

Danial

Was this tip helpful? Read Last Week’s Tip of the Day!