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Marketing Tip Of The Week: Relationship Marketing

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When marketing your business, keep in mind all the options you have to get your business name out there. Sure, you want to get your name out there to customers, but have you ever thought of communicating with your fellow friends in the business world. Business members are respected throughout the community by their customers, so developing a marketing relationship with them never hurts anything. So, this week’s marketing tip will focus on developing that marketing relationship to make your company name even stronger.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
First off, we will not be talking about your relationships with your customers. You know well enough that you need to have a good relationship with your customers to keep them coming back. However, we will be discussing the importance of building relationships with your fellow businessmen and business women.

No, you don’t have to build a strong relationship with your competitors, but stores outside of that would be a great thing to implement into your marketing strategy. How does this help you? They offer great word-of-mouth and referrals to your company.

Their Mind Frame

Now, how can you start doing this? First, step away from the mind from of “what do I need” and put yourself in their mind with “what do they need”. Treat this business relationship as you would a customer, step away from thinking about yourself and put the focus on them. If you reach out to them, make sure and focus on what services or products they offer. See how your business would make an ideal compliment to theirs.

A True Expert

Also, don’t forget to be recognized as an expert in your field. This shows that you are truly knowledgeable and can offer true assistance for your customers and potential customers. You need to be known for your expertise. Consumers want to walk into your store and know that they will get everything that they need and thoroughly understand their product or your service. Other businesses want to feel confident when they send their customers to your store.

Stay In Touch

Once you have established yourself with other businesses, don’t forget to stay in touch. You want to stay fresh on their minds and let them know that you haven’t forgotten about them. Keep up-to-date on all their products or new services and do the same for them. You may both get new products in that compliment each other perfectly.

The Benefits

Now, are you asking yourself, why would I go to all this trouble to establish a great relationship with other businesses? If they hear one of their Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Relationship Marketing” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Your Logo

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Do you ever wonder why a competitor’s business gets more attention than yours? Have you ever noticed a business getting a great deal of attention and wondered how? The answer may just be how attractive the company is and how well they have branded. Therefore, do you know what branding is and what it can do for your company? Well, this week’s marketing tip is about branding and creating an attractive logo that your customers won’t soon forget.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
First off, a basic review. Branding helps predefine what a company stands for. It’s what potential customers see first. It’s like their first impression of your store. Your customers may be running errands around town and are reminded that they need to buy a gift.

Maybe your store comes to mind or maybe your competitor’s store comes to mind, but why? Well, the first thing customers notice is your logo and your tag line. Therefore, it should be catching! A few tips when creating your logo and phrase is,

  • A logo should have a strong image that is straight the point, minus the clutter
  • Distinctive & bold, making your logo truly eye-catching
  • Design should be appropriate – Should look appropriate and work well with your store
  • Easy to read & communicates your message correctly
  • Create something memorable that ties back to your business

All of these elements combined will leave you with a great visual design. Don’t forget to represent your store throughout your logo. You don’t want it to be misleading and your customers should truly get the feel of your store from it. The next thing you need to think about is what will be your phrase that represents your store? Here are a few tips to keep in mind when coming up with a creative phrase.

Your store’s tag line should be 3 to 7 words long. Keep it short and simple, but memorable. It should represent your company’s beliefs and what you want your customer to remember about your company. Be creative, be eye-catching and your logo should be well designed. Take a step back and think of the things that you like and that you find appealing. Find ways to incorporate those items into your store. Also, ask your customers what they find attractive. They are your number one resource.

So, having an appealing logo and phrase is a must for your business. A great logo creates a visual for your company and for your customers to Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Your Logo” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: 5 Simple Marketing Tips

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Marketing is such an important aspect to implement into your store. It gets your name out there and attracts potential customers. However, the way you market your store depends on a lot of different factors. Not every store uses marketing in the same way or does it the same way. One thing that you have to do is change up your marketing strategy for the seasons, as well as your products. So, this week’s marketing tip will focus on changing up your strategy for the seasons.

Marketing Tip Of The Week

Get Feedback –One of the most important things you can do for your store is get your customer’s feedback. You listen and you learn to what they have to say to make your store better. They will tell you, they want their opinion heard. Plus, it makes them feel like they are apart of your store.

You may have some trouble with customers getting to speak up, but you can encourage this by giving rewards within your store. Maybe give them a discount for the next time they come in your store. This is a great idea if it’s a dissatisfied customer, that way the next time they come into your store you can change what they didn’t like and they will see that.

Seasonal – Along the the different seasons, there are different products that you have in your store. However, have you ever thought about keeping some of the out-of-season items in your store and getting creative with it? Maybe you’re a landscaper, well reevaluate your company in the winter and come up with creative ways that your customers can use you during the cooler months. Find a product that compliments your main seller. You can’t use the same marketing strategy all year round, therefore, change it up with the seasons to keep your store fresh and exciting.

Be The Expert – If you’re the shop owner, you have to portray yourself as the expert. These are your product lines that you are featuring in your store to your customers. Therefore, you must be knowledgeable. You are the key person to your shop that people trust. Therefore, you must be the expert in all things so you can handle them as smoothly as possible. Know everything inside and out.

Be Giving – Everyone once in awhile, don’t forget about specials and promotions. They can truly help your business out. A lot of consumers are only bargain shoppers, so if you have a sale, you’ll be attracting customers that don’t normally come in and buy. Especially if the economy is tough out there for your consumers, a discount never hurt anyone or your store.

Social Media – You must get connected with your customers. A variety of consumers are getting connected through social media. Therefore, Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: 5 Simple Marketing Tips” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Communicating Your Message Clearly

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All stores have target markets. You have certain customers that come into your store that represent a demographic. Therefore, you should be advertising to your target market. It is so important to reach the correct customers that come into your store, especially in the proper way. You may know your target market, but are you conveying your message to them clearly? This week’s marketing tip offers a few ideas on making sure you are communicating your message effectively.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
Optimize Your Presentation Of Facts – Make sure that your facts displayed through your advertising are correct and convey your message concisely. You want to make sure that everything can be understood well and you are conveying the message you want.

Choose Your Words – What’s the main thing customers see in your advertisements? Words. Make sure you are using the correct words that your target market uses. Yes, each target market can refer to things differently than others. Therefore, you must make sure you are using the correct ones to get your message across.

Informal – You want your message to be personable. Therefore, choose an informal tone with your advertisement. Choosing a formal tone might scare some customers away, but if you are friendly and use a personable tone; customers will be able to relate better.

Be Eye Catching –Make sure you’re appealing to your target market. Create an eye-catching opener and closer. That is the first and last thing customers see. So, you want it to be appealing to them. If it’s boring whenever they first see it, they won’t pay attention. If it’s a dull ending, they won’t remember. Therefore, you must have an exciting opener and closer that’s geared toward your target market.

Know Your Audience – The most important thing to remember is who your audience is and what’s the best way to reach them. You don’t want to advertise through the radio on a station that your target market doesn’t listen to. Even on television, you don’t want to advertise on a certain Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Communicating Your Message Clearly” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Don’t Take NO For An Answer

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So many times we tell customers about a product and they say, “no”. Our response? We all just walk away and are fine with it. However, that needs to change. You need to understand why consumers say no to you and learn how to respond. So, this week’s marketing tip is all about not taking no for an answer. There are just a few tips that you need to follow that will help your customer’s remember your business, even after they’ve said no.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
Why should you keep going if the consumer has already said no? Well, there can be many factors for them saying no to you. They may not be in the market for that particular item just yet or the timing just isn’t right for them. Maybe they don’t need it at all, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll someday want it.

If you still continue your salesmanship even after they’ve said no, they’ll remember your name whenever they are ready to make a purchase. Of course, we’re not saying keep on them until they never want to come back into your store. There is a stopping point for that. However, you can still keep telling them about the amazing benefits of your service or product even after they’ve said no. Just not too far.

Keep In Touch –One of the most important things you can do is keep in touch with potential clients. Get your potential customer to sign up for your newsletter or tell them about your social media page. This way, your company’s name is always on their mind. It may have not been the right time to purchase your services or product, however, that doesn’t mean the right time isn’t in the near future. Send out a thank you card or Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Don’t Take NO For An Answer” »

Marketing Tip of The Week: Setting A Budget

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Every store needs to have some sort of marketing strategy implemented within their store. No matter how big or how small it is, it needs to be in place and effective. Marketing is the key to getting your store’s name out there. It lets everyone know how great your store is, what products you offer and it helps reach potential customers. Marketing is truly so important to your store. However, the one question that is on everyone’s mind is, how do you set your budget accordingly? So, this week’s marketing tip is all about your marketing budget.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
First off, if you’re new to marketing, you need to test different marketing strategies. Figure out who your target market is and try out different marketing strategies to see what best suits them. You may use one tactic and it work extremely well, however, you may try out another one and it’s a big flop. Therefore, you must experiment and eliminate or experiment and implement.

How do you determine your marketing budget? It varies, depending on what industry and how big or small your business may be. Another good question is how much and how fast you want your company to grow. Sit down and figure out the answers to these questions. Then, you can set a reasonable budget that is within your limits. The key here is to spend your money wisely.

The next step in setting your marketing budget is determine your revenue. Again, you must take into consideration what industry and what size Continue reading “Marketing Tip of The Week: Setting A Budget” »

6 Gourmet Food Marketing Strategies For Success

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Updated on 10/6/17

As a shop owner, you wear many hats; but sometimes it is hard to be the shop owner, public relations contact, promotion coordinator, and advertising specialist. Yet, every shop owner wants to be successful, and to do this you must effectively promote your products. By utilizing one or more of these marketing strategies, you can taste greater sales success within your gourmet food lines.

Bring in a Chef

If you have a local foodie that writes for your newspaper, ask them to do an in-store demonstration on one of your select gourmet food items. You can negotiate advertising with the newspaper or blog for a percentage off coupon that is exclusive to their paper only. The newspaper also has the opportunity to do cross-promotion for their columnist as well.

Hold a Contest

Hold a recipe contest with the main ingredient being one of your gourmet food items. You can use coffee, Barbeque spice/rubs/sauces or jellies. The winning recipe can be judged in store by your customers. Offer up gift certificates as a prize for the winning submission and runners-up.

Use TV shows to promote your gourmet foods

Send out a postcard mentioning that you’ve got a great snack food that fits in with the healthy lifestyle of The Biggest Loser show, a recipe for Buzzfeed’s Tasty Videos, or something similar. You can also send out postcards for new gourmet products related to cooking shows.

Gadgets and Gourmet Foods

Pair up your gourmet cheese items with a jalapeno cooker for the grill.  Nothing makes your mouth water like a freshly-grilled jalapeno cheese popper!  Look for unique gourmet food gadgets to sell along with your gourmet foods.  Most gourmet foodies can’t resist a gourmet gadget.

Pre-packaged Gourmet Food Baskets For The Holidays

A few key holidays are Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, Boss’s Day, Administrative Professionals’/Secretaries Day. For all of these holidays, a gourmet food basket makes a really great gift!  Don’t forget about gourmet food baskets created on the spot for birthdays or housewarming gifts.  Make sure you have enough supplies on hand to whip up a delectable gourmet gift basket.

Don’t forget other specialty niche gourmet food market items

Gluten-free lifestyles are very popular these days. Elisabeth Hasselbeck from The View, Gwyneth Paltrow, and other celebrities strongly tout gluten-free lifestyles. Because celebrities are bringing forth gluten allergy issues, gluten-free products are becoming highly sought items. Gluten-free products come in a variety of common food items, such as pasta, pizza dough, and bread mix. Always be on the lookout for the hot new trends in gourmet food items, and promote them heavily!

An Introduction Is All It Takes

Consumers are always willing to try a new tasty treat. Gourmet foods are one of the few products that most consumers are willing to try and take home on the spot. An introduction is all they need to be receptive to a new product. By using any one of these marketing strategies alone or in a combination, you can introduce your willing customers to your gourmet food items.

With the right introduction and product displays, customers won’t be able to resist the gourmet foods in your store.

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Implementing Branding

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This week’s marketing tip we will continue our talk on brand marketing. Last week, we learned all about what branding is and how you can start integrating it into your marketing plan. So, this week we are going to discuss how you can implement branding into your store and make it work. Branding is so important because you want to be known for a good brand. Your store is your brand and represents you. Therefore, you want to have a good representation of who you are and what your store stands for.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
Develop Your Brand Strategy –This is the most important step within this process. This is where you create your brand identity, which will be communicated throughout the entirety of your store.

Within this process, you must determine your target market, figure out your competition, define your product mix and service and come up with a unique selling proposition. This is your beginning and will carry throughout your entire business. Therefore, it has to be efficient and correct.

Determine Your Objective –After you’ve determined your audience, figure out what you want to achieve with branding. Your brand will represent your company’s core values, personality and characteristics. Consumers will use these words to describe what your company is all about.

First, you need to ask yourself questions like, what do you want your brand to do for your company or what would you like others to say about your brand. After you’ve done that, determine your objectives. Do you want to be recognized for a specific award, gaining a specific amount of new clientele or positioning your company among the top? Those are your objectives and goals that your company needs to strive for through branding.

Target – One of the most important factors in implementing this is to make sure you reach YOUR target market. You don’t want to advertise towards the wrong crowd. If you do, your brand marketing can go to waste. Sure, it may attract some, but it will attract more consumers if you’re targeting the right crowd. Your target market are the ones who are going to want to come into your store and actually buy things. So, target them and get your great brand out there.

Knocking Down Barriers – Something that you will always have an encounter with are barriers. Therefore, you must be prepared. Maybe your barriers are your location, competition, financing or lack of demand. Well, be prepared. Sit down and write out any possible barriers you Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Implementing Branding” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Branding

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What is one of the most important things that you can do to help your store? You can help brand your store.  It is very important that you give your company a strong name and get it recognized to all your potential customers. This week’s marketing tip is focusing on branding. We will begin with the basics of what is branding and how you can do it. If you’ve gotten in a lull of things, refresh your memory. Start branding your store again. Or if you’re just starting out, branding is one of the first steps you can do in creating a better business. So start!

What Is Branding?
Marketing Tip Of The Week

Brand marketing basically means that you are getting your company’s image out to all potential customers. You want to have a strong brand awareness out there for everyone to see. You want to be known as a great company, amazing customer service and to be known for always thinking of your customers. If you have a weak brand image, customers will not want to come into your store. Do you want to be known for lacking in the customer service department and not selling exceptional products? No, of course not. Therefore, you need to start thinking about your store and building an awesome store name for yourself.

Why Is It Important?

Well, why should you incorporate brand marketing into your marketing plan? With all the competition out there, isn’t it better for your store to have a strong brand name? Yes! It’s important for you to spend time researching and investing your time into branding. Your company’s image is the first thing that comes to mind when costumers think of you.

How Do I Start?

Well, the first think you need to do when you start brand marketing is research. Figure out your target audience. You need to know who they are, what they like and what is the best way to market towards them. Once you have figured that out, you need to ask yourself, “How do I want to be seen by my target audience?”. Do you want to be seen trendy and up-to-date, always offering amazing customer service or traditional? You need Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Branding” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Getting Creative

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You’ve researched marketing till you can research no more. You’ve implemented new ideas and have created a marketing plan that you know is working. However, have you reached a plateau in your marketing strategy? Do you want to get somewhat creative and implement something new into it, but want to stay within your budget? Well, this week’s marketing tip helps you get creative within your marketing strategy. We have a few tips that will help you change things up that your customers will be excited by.

You may have a great marketing plan, however, you get tired of doing the same things over and over again. You want to switch things up a bit to keep your customers on their toes. So, we have compiled a list of marketing ideas that will help you get out of the same routine.

Marketing Tip Of The Week
  • Let customers take your name home with them – Print calenders, recycled totes, plastic cups or anything that your customers can actually take home with them and use. When they use it, they’ll see your business name and think of you.
  • Keep customers informed – When passing out business cards or brochures, make sure you include your services and type of products that will fill them in on your store.
  • Feature a drawing – Feature a drawing in your store for your customers to win a discount or coupons. Not only will you be drawing more customers in, but you will be collecting important information about your customers. You can find out who your target market is and their information to send them specials in the mail or through email.
  • Conduct special programs – Keep your customers informed on your latest products by conduct special programs on your newest product. Show them what it can do and tell them the great benefits of it.
  • Fill customers in – Keep your customers up-to-date on all the latest products you have in your store through your company’s website or social media page.
  • Promote yourself – Get your name out there. Write articles to promote yourself as an expert in the newspaper or trade journals, network at town meetings.
  • Be remembered – This may sound cheesy, but get a 1-800 number that is memorable to your customers.
  • Place ads in unique locations – Place ads on benches around parks, the city, eye-catching billboards, Saturday’s paper or on a bus. Make sure you reach all of your customers in an eye-catching manner.

These 8 creative marketing tips are just great ways to switch up your routine so you’re not in a lull of things. Whenever you do something Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Getting Creative” »