Marketing

Staying Visible.

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maptoon-250All marketing programs require an investment of money as well as time. Referral marketing programs often require more of the latter. Add to that tactics designed to keep you in touch with clients, associates and prospects and you could be looking for an eight-day week. So let’s choose wisely. Below are some handy tools to consider working into your everyday processes and some that will require more ongoing effort on your part. No matter what tools you use, keep these three thoughts in mind:

  1. Stay in front of your clients, associates and prospects.
  2. Stay relevant.
  3. And above all, make sure your clients are happy, otherwise—no referrals.

Printed Cards

In this age of e-everything, you can stand out from the competition by using printed cards. The trick is to just be speedy about it. Afterall, if you can get it there within 24 hours, you’ve beaten most emailed follow ups.

In addition to SendOutCards®, which we mentioned in the previous article as a quick and inexpensive tool, you should also keep corporate thank you cards handy and use them liberally after initial meetings, final project deliverables, and of course, in response to referrals. If you’re meeting a client or prospect out of town, take some cards with you, write a quick thank you and pop them in the mail before your plane takes off. If you wait until you get back to the office, you’re less likely to remember the little things that made the meeting great and worthy of a thank you.

Personalized letters are very effective too. But added levels of personalization can definitely improve your outcome. According to a study reported by Marketing Profs in which researchers sent a survey to busy doctors with three different cover letters, each produced a dramatically different result:

  • A printed letter generated a response rate of 36 percent.
  • A printed letter with a handwritten message on it raised response by one third to 48%.
  • A printed letter with a handwritten message on a Post-it® note increased the response rate to 75%.

Corporate Blogs

How frequently do you update your corporate website with timely and relevant information? Thought so. Your website is necessary, of course, but may not be the most powerful tool you can use to increase your online voice. Having an online voice that’s frequent and relevant allows your clients more options to refer folks to you.

And not only that, group blogs expand your network exponentially. Invite guest bloggers to post on your blog. Of course, their followers will follow them and in turn, discover you. Likewise, offer to write guest blog posts for your associates’ blogs. Just be sure y’all are linking back to each other’s blogs and websites.

Social Media

Microblogging tools like Twitter have become the defacto way many folks maintain conversation with friends and associates as well as meet new ones. It’s about being part of the overall conversation and that conversation is not always about personal interests. Many folks also join Twitter Groups to meet others with similar interests. For instance, did you know there is a business Twitter Group for every city in the US? So get out there, create your Twitter persona, and look for a Twitter Group with similar interests. Or create a Twitter Group for your specific niche.

And don’t forget LinkedIn. It has a built-in tool that allows others to recommend you.

Monthly Newsletters

Whether printed or emailed, monthly newsletters are always a great way to stay in touch, so long as you follow these simple tips:

  • Don’t skimp on quality writing and design.
  • Don’t skimp on valuable content.
  • Be relevant.
  • Your newsletter should be targeted to both customers and prospects—especially prospects whom you haven’t met and aren’t necessarily on your mail list.
  • Create an editorial plan but be flexible so you can take advantage of timely topics.
  • Include a Send to a Colleague link.

Also keep in mind emarketing fatigue is increasing. In order to keep readership up and expanding, you’ve got to maintain a high degree of interest.

Co-Branded Opportunities

In a carefully planned co-branded situation, both partners share the resource burden and expand their clients and prospects reach. Keep an eye out for marketing and promotional opportunities that would allow you and your partners to benefit. Just make sure you’re partnering with a company with the same or better level of customer service and quality as your own.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Co-Branded Blogs: You could always take a leadership role in developing a co-branded and topical blog that allows contributions from one or several of your best associates. This is different than a corporate blog.
  • Co-Branded Monthly Newsletters: Of course a newsletter can be created and implemented solely for just your company, and it is a very powerful way to stay in touch with clients, prospects and associates.
  • Co-Branded Webinars: Conducting co-branded webinars of interest to your contacts and your associates’ contacts provides a mechanism for pooling all the prospects.

You can also maintain your own corporate blog, newsletter and webinars. Co-branding may or may not work for you depending on your business. If you need help determining what tools would be most helpful in your niche, just give us a call.

— by Julia Moran Martz

2009’s Top Ten Marketing Resolutions

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  1. 10resolutions-4blog1Get out more—develop a social media plan. It’s relatively inexpensive and moves you into a fast developing marketing arena. To get up to speed, check out “Integrating Social Media”.
  2. Lose weight fast—clean your marketing database. If there were ever an incentive to improve accuracy and reduce excess pounds in your database, this is the year. And don’t forget about your email database, which can really pack on the pounds quickly.
  3. Reduce stress—get your brand’s assets organized. A study conducted a few years ago asserted that marketers spent approximately 30% of their time finding “stuff” — images, copy, documents, etc. There’s really no excuse with the wide range of asset management tools available.
  4. Reunite with old friends—spend more time with clients. We all know that the best source of new business is from existing customers, yet most companies continue to devote the largest share of marketing dollars to prospecting. This is the year to break bad habits.
  5. Quit smoking—smoke your competition instead. Nothing will get you further than developing true competitive differentiation. Commit to breaking free from “me too” products, services and marketing campaigns.
  6. Improve your finances—increase your marketing ROI. Justify your marketing expenditures with a measurable return on investment. Prove to your company’s executive management team that your marketing campaigns more than pay their own way.
  7. Help the environment—green your marketing program. Here’s the good news: You’ll likely save money in the process. Be sure to consider the entire marketing supply chain and make key vendors part of your environmental team.
  8. Serve others—develop a unique and timely product/service. There is opportunity in any market. Now is the time to show your ingenuity with a product or service that’s right for the times. Not launching anything new? Focus on showing how your products/services are clearly the best investment over the longer haul.
  9. Try something new—launch an innovative campaign. You need to break through the clutter more than ever, especially if you’re products/services fall into the discretionary spending category. Anyone can market through the good times when money is flowing, but next year presents an opportunity for you to separate yourself from the ordinary marketing folks.
  10. Save money—allocate your marketing budget more strategically. This approach is the opposite of being penny wise and pound foolish, which often happens during lean economic times. Spend more money where you can get the greatest return on your investment (like more dollars for a better booth space or page position) and cut the marginal stuff, even if it’s a personal favorite.

Looking for a Support Group?

Sticking to your marketing resolutions can be a tough, lonely road. MondoVox® Creative Group can provide all the strategic, tactical, creative and moral support you need to turn over a new marketing leaf. For more information, email Julia Moran Martz. Then relax, turn off the digital devices and enjoy a wonderful holiday season.

— by Larry Bauer

Should You Bother With Trade Shows at All?

By in Blog Posts, Marketing, Trade Shows No Comments Tags: ,

bricobrac-250If you feel lukewarm about trade shows, then you’ll likely fail. Trade show success is about passion, preparation and commitment. Showing up isn’t enough. You need enthusiasm and know how to get the most from your investment.

Trade shows aren’t easy. But they do present a unique opportunity to gain face-to-face exposure with a target audience. That’s important considering how removed most marketers are from the actual buyer as we:

  • Depend on websites and email.
  • Make fewer onsite sales calls.
  • Outsource customer service to foreign countries.
  • Install automated call handling and other screens.
  • Migrate toward self-service.

Exhibiting provides a good reality check. People don’t stop if you have nothing to say. And a show provides a rare opportunity to get feedback that will help you improve your business. So if you’re feeling a little out of touch, trade shows are a great opportunity to connect with customers.

Have Realistic Expectations.

Most marketers would say their goal is to generate business from trade shows, and I would agree. But for many organizations, particularly those selling big-ticket items or anything with a long selling cycle, a trade show might be just one point in the sales process.

So I suggest that your number one goal should be to establish market presence. Buyers need to understand that you’re a serious player, and trade shows can help accomplish that. With so many market sub-segments and specialized services—to say nothing of mergers and acquisitions—targets are often less aware of your company than you think.

Forget Your Preconceived Notions.

Be professional, but don’t stereotype customers when planning events and promotions. For instance, a major printer of children’s books wanted to promote its enhanced color printing capabilities. The company created a promotional campaign that included custom illustrations of storybook characters and incorporated the illustrations into its trade show booth.

As an in-booth promotion, visitors could have their picture taken with a life-size replica of one of the illustrated characters, which happened to be a very friendly bear. Although book publishers aren’t usually described as wild and crazy, the booth had long lines of publishing execs waiting for their photo shoot.

So don’t hesitate to be a little creative or to provide some harmless fun. And if you can tie the promotions to your product offering like the printer did, so much the better.

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish.

Trade shows are expensive. You not only have the costs of a booth, exhibit fees, hotel rooms and transportation, but also the hidden expense of removing staff from the field. Rather than cutting every corner after making the initial investment, go the extra mile to deliver maximum ROI.

That doesn’t mean abandoning all budget concerns. It does mean making strategic spending decisions. For example, maybe it’s better to use a non-custom, pop-up style booth, which can be as much as 70% cheaper than custom built, and:

  • Take 20′ of space instead of 10′.
  • Purchase a premium location.
  • Stage a customer entertainment event.
  • Create an attention-demanding, in-booth promotion.

Success Is All In the Follow Through.

Unless you’re in a market where you write orders at the show, your results will be disappointing without a good follow-up program. That begins with having a good lead qualification system that encourages visitors to trade their information for yours. Note: Collecting cards in a fish bowl is not a lead qualification system.

Decide ahead of time how you’ll respond to leads. And don’t assign follow up to sales reps thinking your job is over. Sales reps are notorious for chasing hot leads and losing patience with longer-term prospects. The ideal approach is:

  • Rate the leads based on desirability and immediacy of need.
  • Deliver follow-up related to their value.
  • Nurture them until they’re ready for sales interaction.

Marketing might collaborate with sales on the follow-up program, but you’ll likely regret putting the task entirely in the hands of your company’s sales team.

Want Expert Advice?

MondoVox® Creative Group can help you develop a winning trade show strategy as well as deliver creative execution excellence. We can develop your lead qualification system, create your booth, prepare your literature, handle your pre-show promotion and expertly manage special events. For more information, email Julia Moran Martz. To see examples of our trade show work, visit our website.

— by Larry Bauer

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