8 Essential Rules in Maximizing Marketing Dollars
Year after year, businesses spend millions of dollars to market to their consumers—that’s just to get the new products in front of consumers. They spend additional money in closing the sale and delivering the actual products. Small businesses don’t have the same marketing money as big businesses, thus, marketing to them is a pain in the pocket. From creating their website to producing billboards and business card and brochure templates, the staggering cost is beyond their means.
Nonetheless, there are simple ways that can be applied to help get more out of the marketing dollars.
1. Define your goals. Goals should be challenging but realistic and achievable. Do you intend to increase your customer base, enter a new niche, generate more foot traffic, or perhaps improve market share? Be specific with your goals and make sure it is measurable.
2. Research. Getting the right information about your customers will require a comprehensive research. There are two types of research you can do: qualitative and quantitative. The former deals with customer behaviors and the latter deals with numbers and prices.
3. Resist the “shotgun” approach. Generating new customers can be a very cost-effective endeavor if the right strategy is used. A direct mail campaign will basically cost little and help get the message delivered to the right customers. It’s best to do the rifle approach rather than the shotgun approach so good results will be generated. Use the information you have at hand to identify people who are ready to buy.
4. Provide irresistible offers. Understanding what your customers need will help you provide offers that they can’t resist. In some instances, you will be required to created products that are tailored to your target niche. This can be a bit expensive but the effort will be all worth in once the results come in.
5. Improve over time. Don’t stick with just one marketing approach. It’s best to take advantage of all marketing avenues to get people to respond to your campaign. For instance, aside from investing in custom brochure printing, the material can be complemented with a website. Both these materials can work together in driving sales and profits to the business. It’s best to learn from the mistakes of the past and create new and better strategies that will lead the business to success.
6. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Determine what your strengths are and use them to gain competitive advantage. Also, figure out where your weak points are and transform that into an advantage.
7. Promote customer loyalty. Generating new customers is more expensive than retaining the current ones. As such, focus should be put on building loyalty. This will greatly help gain a steady flow of sales and profits into the business. But remember that not all customers are worth keeping, so be careful with who you retain and let go.
8. Measure the campaign. Tracking the results of the campaign lays the groundwork for future campaigns. This will help determine what strategies need to be changed and what can be retained. Tracking can also help get people’s perception of the business.
Big companies follow these strategies to help them gain positive return on investment and competitive advantage. Consider integrating them on your next campaign to get more out of your investment.
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