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Marketing Tip Of The Week: Email Marketing

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Have you ever gotten an email and you didn’t really understand the point of it? There was no real clear call to action and it just wasn’t appealing. On the other hand, you may get an email that has a beautiful design and great information, but you don’t understand the call to action. What did the sender want you to do? Email marketing is a very important step in your marketing strategy. Everyone is online now, so your marketing strategies have to be precise. So, this week’s marketing tip is all about email marketing.

First off, why do you want to send an email? What is your reasoning for sending out an email? Also, what do you want to gain from email marketing? Ask yourself these questions before diving right into email marketing. You must figure out the answers before even creating an email so you get the best possible result.

Your Purpose
Marketing Tip Of The Week

Emails have many purposes like, showing off new products, new services, specials & discounts or to tell customers about in-store promotions. Emails get customers into your store, if you it’s done right. Send out weekly emails that feature your new inventory. Customers should feel as if they benefit from receiving your emails.

Design & Layout

Once you figure out your goals, decide what you want the email to contain. Write out the text, pick out the pictures and then figure out what design will fit best for the email. You may like one design, but it doesn’t get your message across. So, set it up, take a step back and see what you think. Also, let others take a look at it. Show your loyal customers, tell them the purpose and see if they get what you’re trying to get across.

Now, the design should truly be appealing. It should feature your store’s name, logo and represent the feeling of your store. Represent the season throughout your emails or if it’s a theme of an in-store special you have going on, it should match that. Everything should be cohesive and represent your store perfectly.

Call To Action

Customers want to know the purpose of this email. So, if you’re featuring new products in your store, make it known. They need to look at your email and see the message you are trying to convey. It can Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Email Marketing” »

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: 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” »

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: Window Displays

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People like to window shop. It’s nothing new, especially with the economy. So, how do you get those customers into your shop who are just window shopping? You must be creative and have a store window that can’t be passed up. It should lure the customers in. When they see your store window, they should stop dead in their tracks and want to come in immediately. However, are you stuck in your tracks trying to figure out what to do with that shop window? This week, FGmarket’s marketing tip is here to help dress up those shop windows that will have customers stopping in their tracks.

Well, why do you want to take that extra time and resources decorating your store window? Do you think no one notices? They do and that extra time is worth all of it. If customers are window shopping, they’re just looking. However, everyone once in awhile, they’ll see something that catches their eye. Maybe a movement, but most of the time it’s a beautiful pop of color, unique accent or a fun product catches their eye.

Marketing Tip Of The Week

With everyone leading more hectic lives these days, give them some pure satisfaction and a moment of relief with your store display. Walking down the street to find a refreshing store that will provide them a moment of bliss is what they need today. Where do you start? What is appealing to customers? Here are a few tips, as well as a few from Gifts And Decorative Accents February issue that they had to share.

Tell A Story: Take a step back, look at your products and see what goes together well. Let your window paint a picture for your customer’s imagination. Let it create a story for them. Finding products that go well together will help create that beautiful story. Pair products together, look at them and see if they convey a story to you. Your customers will see your window display and see what other products you have to offer.

Provide Nature Appeal: Nature is always appealing to one’s eye. So, use the products you have and create a nature scene around them. You may have porcelain birds or garden products, therefore, you should incorporate them. This is great around warmer weather when customers are in the mindset of being outdoors. Incorporating you products in a serene nature setting will truly be memorable to those consumers.

Cuteness: Allure potential customers in with an overwhelming amount of cuteness, or maybe their kids. Take a product that is unique, fun and adorable and place it in your window. Tell a story with it, place variety of that product in your store window so your customers can get the full effect.

Usefulness: When displaying a product, your customers may see it one way and that’s the only way they see it. They may only think of one way on how that product can be incorporated into their home. Maybe you are wanting to display  particular plant in your window. Well, place it in various vases and use different flowers to pair it with. Displaying different ways that the customer will be able to use that particular product will Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Window Displays” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: Integrated Marketing

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This week’s marketing tip may be going back to the basics for some, yet it never hurts to refresh memories. Basics are the fundamentals. They are what everything else is built around. So, this week’s marketing tip is focused on integrated marketing. Reverting back to the fundamentals will help refresh the minds and build a more solid marketing strategy.

Integrated Marketing

Marketing Tip Of The Week
What is integrated marketing? Well, it is the integration of all forms of marketing. It’s a strategy that helps unify different marketing methods, makes sure they are effective and you are allocating your dollars where they need to be going. Advertising, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing should all work together to create a unified force.

When focusing on integrated marketing, you might want to create an online/offline approach. Our world today is based around the world wide web and social media. Store owners are trying to determine who they should market to and where they need to be marketing at. A lot of their consumers are online, however, some still like to see advertisements on billboards or in print. This is where integrated marketing comes into play.

The Benefits

When using integrated marketing, your product will be able to be advertised through various channels. Internet, radio, television or print can be integrated into your strategy. You’ll be able to reach all types of customers that shop in your store. When first starting out, integrate your marketing into all channels. This way, you’ll be able to measure which ones work the best and which ones don’t, for future reference. You’ll be able to measure, do away with and invest more money into the ones that truly work. In the end, you’ll see an improvement on your return on investment.

How To Integrate

First, come into this approach with an open mind and clean slate. Be ready to think outside the box. You must be willing to change the marketing culture of your business, embrace emerging technologies, track the effectiveness of each marketing tactics, create cohesive marketing and have open communication with all your employers.

Create an advertisement and marketing strategy for your company. Make sure it has a cohesive design that will be able to go out through all Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: Integrated Marketing” »

Marketing Tip Of The Week: What Do Kids Want?

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You spend all your resources trying to get customers into your store. Yes, you want to increase sales and create long term customers. You know who your target market is and all about their demographics. One question to ask yourself, how young is to young to start marketing to customers? That’s right, we’re talking about marketing to kids. You may be scratching your head and saying to yourself, “really”. Why should we market to kids? There are plenty of reasons. So, this week’s marketing tip is why and how you can start marketing towards kids.

Now, before you go into a frenzy thinking you may have to allocate resources to kids you won’t have to. There are plenty of marketing tactics that you can do yourself to market towards kids. You can implement these marketing strategies in your store for employees and for you to use. How is marketing to kids beneficial? It will keep them coming back to your store.

Marketing Tip Of The Week

Remember, children are the pride and joy of their parent’s lives. If the kid remembers how awesome your store was, they’ll keep asking their parents to take them back to YOUR store. Eventually the parents will give in, especially if they enjoy your store as much as their kids. Plus, you’ll make an early impression on them. You’ll start building that relationship at a younger age and it will carry on into adulthood for them. Which then carries onto their children and their children. How do you market towards children?

Be A Kid’s Friend – Treat them as an actual customer. However, you have to mean it. They don’t like to be talked down to like they are kids. Show them that you truly appreciate them and love that they come into your store. Implement this in your store through your employees. Make sure they show kids respect whenever they walk through your doors. If you do this, it will be a beautiful beginning to a long term customer.

Walk In Their Shoes –Remember, children view things differently as adults. They view the look of your store differently and also cannot see certain things due to their height. Place items on shelves that are catered towards their heights. Make sure it’s in eye view and they can reach it. Target signage and advertisements towards them and MAKE SURE THEY CAN SEE IT! That’s the most important thing to remember.

Advertise –Create eye-catching advertisements towards kids. You want them to see it, so put it on their eye level where it will catch their attention. Advertise towards children. It doesn’t have to be much, just maybe a paper advertisement or candy. Just something that is catered Continue reading “Marketing Tip Of The Week: What Do Kids Want?” »