Marketing on a Tight Budget 320pm Marketing Ti… · •If your company is not listed or...
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Marketing on a Tight Budget Mary Ellen Sokalski, MAS, MASI The Scarlet Marketeer ©2017 The Scarlet Marketeer
Transcript of Marketing on a Tight Budget 320pm Marketing Ti… · •If your company is not listed or...
Marketing on a Tight Budget
Mary Ellen Sokalski, MAS, MASI
The Scarlet Marketeer
©2017 The Scarlet Marketeer
Just a few years dappling in Marketing
Was…HudickaPahlkaNicholsNow Sokalski
What we’re learning today:
• Why a marketing plan
• Identifying your best prospects
• Choosing the right message
• Lots of ways to spread it
• Practice sessions
• Meeting some new buddies
You must have a PLAN
The plan should include:
1. Where we are now• What we do better than any other company• Why people buy from us
2. Where do we want to be?3. What do we have to do to get there?
Must devote a portion of your day, week, month to market.
Who are your best prospects?
How do you thank or encourage current customers?
Referral Program
Ideas for Generating New Prospects
Your Message
• What symbolizes your message?
• How do you want the prospect to FEEL?
• What do you want them to do?
• What could you send that personifies that message/feeling?
Local Retail Furniture Store
• Known for high end indoor furniture and accessories
• Added a very profitable outdoor furniture line now outselling indoor
• What could you send that conveys, “We’re also cool, unique ideas in outdoor lifestyle furniture.”?
Emails
• Informational, helpful, or they become spam
• The more personal-sounding, the better
• Subject line is the key
• Remember what is relevant for your prospect
• It’s the new calling card
• You need to promote your site
• Continually update, refresh it
• Test your links
• Add blogs, events, social media links
• Make sure it can be read easily when in mobile format
• Designing a new site? Design it for mobile FIRST.
Direct Mail
• Mail only what you can follow-up
• Lumpy mail is most effective
• Creative packaging gets more opens
• The envelope or package is the window in your store
• Short & sweet copy
• The more interactive, the better
Questionnaires- They are GOLD!
- Use a cover letter, why it’s important, what you want them to do, what’s in it for them
- Make it look SHORT
- If to a prospect, ask what they have coming up at survey’s end
- Offer a gift or contest to increase response
Tele-Mining
• No time? College interns
• Update your database, confirm/get emails, new contacts and others who buy
• 20% change emails
• 20% change addresses
• 20% accounts change contacts
PR/PublicityEvents, news in your company
Open houses, customer days
Focus groups
Certifications
Awards won
Charities participated in
Boards served on
Develop list of Media Contacts at local papers, magazines
Promote news creatively!
“If it’s not a wow, it’s not a go.”
Ways to Touch Customers
Search EnginesAre you being found online?
FREE business listings. Do it!
Why do it?
Free business listing sites increase your company’s online exposure and help improve your local search ranking results in major search engines.
SEARCH ENGINES• If your company is not listed or up-to-date, people won’t seek
you out
• Many are free
• Need to be updated every time you make a change
• Check your own listings periodically
• Do searches on your company in each one
• Pictures attract, copy sells
• Use key words in your descriptions that buyers would use to typically find you
Social Media
• Object of the game is to build a community who invites you into their world
• Visuals and videos pull best
• How often do you post?
• Always have to be original?
• You have to work to build your community, gain LIKERS (not friends). Invite everyone you know to like your page.
• Future of Facebook?
The Facebook 5:
• Post exclusive specials, savings in advance of others
• Post tips, hints, trends that show your expertise
• Post share-ables your clients can easily repost
• Post behind-the-scenes peeks
• Engage your audience, asking for their feedback.
• Phrase your tweet to appeal to someone’s curiosity for self-improvement
• Tie-in with trends, and you’re better retweeted
• Add some personal tweets, not only marketing messages. (Social media.)
• Photos and videos boost retweets by up to 35%
• Try creating a Twitter contest.
• A pictorial bulletin board you can share with others.
• Distributors and suppliers… Post images of your projects and note how these ideas are used to achieve promotional objectives… it’s a great way to gain pins and re-pins.
• Case histories SELL! They show how our medium produces results, and that it’s not about the PRODUCT, but about the strategy!
• The millennial generation’s new photo online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service
• Enables users to take pictures and videos and share them on a variety of social network platforms.
• Named from “Instant Telegram”, photos are confined to a square Polaroid image shape matching mobile device cameras.
• Video max is 15 seconds.
• For your personal listing and your business listing. You should have BOTH.
• What does yours currently say?
• What SHOULD it say?
• Don’t update this too often.
• Add on links to boost your credibility
• Be sure to endorse others, and they will in kind
• Work it for leads at least once a week.
• Join groups and discussions that tie in with markets you’re interested in serving.
You tube
• We are in a video lovin’ world
• Digital Marketing Conference image example
• What percent increase will your posts achieve if a video is attached?
• Videos do not have to be slick productions
• Short and sweet work best
• Do a variety… product, personal, how-to’s behind-the-scenes
• Use a college film student intern to help you
BLOGS
• Can be short
• Make a single point
• Help people do something better, enlighten themselves
• Establishes you as the expert in your field
• Use different key words that people might use to search
• Feature it on your website, social media
• Try to get others you know to feature it too
• Not a great writer? Hire a college intern.
Social Media Exercise• Find a new friend
• Come up with 3 ideas on how you can use Social Media to promote what is happening with you attending this trade show this week
• You have 5 minutes
• Share the best idea
Personal Networking
My ultimate networking achievement!
Volunteering
The Woodcutters Story
The Woodcutters Story
Thanks for sharpening your skills with me!
