1. Marketing Strategy & Planning
The goal of Marketing Strategy & Planning is to generate leads for customers, clients and patients. To do this you should be using a variety of marketing methods so that if you have a bad month with one of your methods, you will still be generating leads through your other methods which might be any of several methods including your attempts at FREE Public Relations (PR) to get your business mentioned in magazines, newspapers, newsletters, internet websites or membership emails etc.
You might use a dominant method of marketing but you should have many processes in place to bring in leads, which hopefully turn into customers, clients and patients. However, if you rely too much upon a single strategy you are left more exposed to seasonality and outside forces… In other words, don't rely too heavily on only one method of marketing.
In order to work out what methods are best for you and your situation, you need to have a clearly defined marketing strategy and a plan of action.
The first thing you should do is to formulate a marketing strategy and try to gain a better understanding of your customers and their needs.
The ability to satisfy your customers' needs better than your competitors will help you to build customer loyalty and increase sales.
You should also take into consideration any changes, opportunities or any threats that currently face your industry or may face your industry in the future.
Once armed with your customers needs and desires you can create a whole marketing plan around them, targetting niche groups with products and services that will solve their problems and cater to their needs.
MKL can help you select the most appropriate marketing methods to reach your targeted segments at the right cost.
Contact MKL Business Services at: 855-343-5544 or email: expert@MKLbizConsulting.com.
2. Public Relations (PR)
Public Relations (PR) and Advertising are almost identical in some ways, since you get some exposure about your business, yourself or your services and in return the readers receive something of interest to them… however, the major difference between PR and advertising is that PR is FREE!
Yes, I said FREE, but FREE doesn’t mean easy… so be ready to work at it.
PR allows you to build more credibility for your company or service than you would through advertising as people know you bought an advertisement but an article written about you or your business gives you instant credibility!
Why?
Well, to get published means that you have gone through several editors who have chosen you above everyone else. It must mean that an article about you or your business is newsworthy.
Please also remember that you can pretty much write what you like in an advertisement so the general public might be more skeptical to your claims.
Articles, on the other hand are not seen as a self promotion tool but as news… and if you’re in the news you get respect.
In order to get articles published for FREE about your company, you need to have something of interest for the publications readership but first of all you need to grab the editors attention….
How Do You Make Your PR Stand Out Over Others?
Just imagine for a moment that you are an editor of a newspaper or magazine.
There you are, working hard out everyday with tight deadlines to meet and lots of proposed articles to choose from since you are not the only one trying to get their company noticed and into print!
Editors have a tough job because they want their publication to excel in their market niche… so they want to pick wisely and they only have room for a few…
Therefore, your job is to make it as easy for them as possible.
In order to be a success using PR you need to start thinking like an editor. This will really help you and by thinking like an editor you will soon figure out what stories are newsworthy and what aren’t.
It will save both the editor and yourself a lot of time!
MKL can help you to think like an editor!
Contact MKL Business Services at: 855-343-5544 or email: expert@MKLbizConsulting.com.
3. Advertising
Many businesses waste their assets on ineffective advertising because they don’t know any better… They think its simply a matter of paying the price, but not all advertising is effective advertising that will pay for itself and bring you profits… why should you be expected to know how to write and place an advertisement that will work in an advertising vehicle that will give you your best Return On Investment (ROI) when you are busy trying to run your business?
Some experts in the Marketing field say that in today’s world for small and medium size businesses that "Most advertising does not work" but what they really mean is that "Most advertising does not work because people do not know how to do it correctly!"
So try this …
Determine THE PURPOSE OF YOUR AD?
This may seem obvious but deciding what the purpose of your ad should be is not always as simple as it sounds? Do you want to generate a lead, a sale, an enquiry, or a request for a free report?
Once you know what the purpose of your ad is, make sure that every word within your ad is geared around this and make sure there is a… “CALL TO ACTION” in your ad!
You must tell the reader what you want them to do with your ad…
- Do you want them to Call you?
- Do you want them to Email you?
- Do you want them to Write to you?
- If you don’t tell the reader of your ad what to do… they will ignore you.
Tips on… writing an ad for your business or service that will greatly increase your success rate:
- You must: GRAB THE ATTENTION OF THE READER by creating a Headline:
The headline is the hook that will get the readers to read on so you should spend a lot of time on getting it right. Make sure that it creates curiosity.
- You must: TALK ABOUT THEM NOT YOU… what are the benefits?:
Make sure that your ad copy stresses the benefits to your readers. Make sure the ad talks about them and not you.
- Tell the reader “What can you do for them”.
- Tell the reader “How your product or service will help them (simply what's in it for them).
- MEASURE YOUR ADS… Keep track of how your ads perform so you can weed out underperforming ads:
Track the results of your ads or ad pieces to see which ones are working and which ones should you stop running. These are the things you should have on your mind at all times and the only way to work this out is through effective measurements.
Determine the:
- Cost per lead?
- Cost per sale?
- Cost per call?
- Sale per lead?
- TEST, TEST, TEST
You should always be testing your ads and making small adjustments to see which ones out perform the others.
Test out different headings, the opening line of your ad, your call to action, the design and so on.
No one really has the right to say what will work and what doesn't - only the results will tell you!
- WHICH PUBLICATIONS TO USE?
Do your homework and make sure that your readership is targeted.
Spend time before placing your ad to make sure that the intended target audience is the right audience for your business or service.
Don't advertise in a publication just because your competition does unless you know the results they are getting!
Make sure that if at all possible your ad is not on the left hand side of the page. This is one of the oldest marketing tips in the book but many business owners do not know this. The natural tendency for people is for them to look on the right hand page of publications and newspapers so make sure your ad is there to maximize it's pulling potential.
Contact MKL Business Services at: 855-343-5544 or email: expert@MKLbizConsulting.com
4. Copywriting
All of the copy that you write should follow the same approach, no matter if it’s on a website, in a sales letter, postcard, brochure or in an email. Your prospect will decide to read it or not within the first 5 seconds of looking at it!
There is a formula called AIDA that you should use when constructing your copy that is made up of the following four (4) words:
A ttention
I nterest
D esire
A ction
The AIDA formula is most commonly used when creating sales orientated communications.
Let’s take a look at what it means…
A ttention
As soon as the letter, postcard of email is opened you will want to grab the attention of the reader.
This is best done by having a headline at the start of your copy.
I nterest
In your sales letters you will want to arouse the interest of the reader for them to read on and on and on.
One sure-fire way of doing this is by describing the problem or challenge that they are facing right up-front after the headline.
This is sure to get them interested!
Talk about their situation as though you know EXACTLY what they are going through and write the letter as though you are having a conversation with the prospect.
D esire
You need to create some desire for what is offered to the prospect.
The best way for you to do this is to create a vision of what the prospects situation would be like if they had all of the information and techniques that they needed to get back to work at their fingertips.
This is sometimes referred to as future pacing.
A ction
And finally you need to ask the reader to take some action or else what is the point of the sales letter!
Saying “This product will do XYZ” if sine but it also needs to have a “That means that you will save around 2 hours per day that frees yourself up for more family time”
You need to express the benefits to the prospect of what your product or service will do for them
Remember… “Are you telling or are you selling?”
Make sure that you are selling the benefits!
Also in any copy your write, don’t forget to include a PS.
The majority of people will read your PS so it is a very vital piece of information.
MKL can help you write effective copy!
Contact MKL Business Services at: 855-343-5544 or email: expert@MKLbizConsulting.com |
