Posts filed under 'Advertising'
“The traditional business definition of marketing is identifying and fulfilling customer needs. There’s no mention of your business. Marketing is all about the customer.” Heidi Richards Mooney
Do you remember the “WIIFM” formula when designing your promotional tools? You know, the “what’s in it for me?” The “me” in this case is not about you, your company, your product or business, rather it is about the customer, the prospect, the reader, the person you are trying to get to take action regarding your product or service.
How many times have you picked up a brochure about a company to find out what they can do for you only to find it filled with stuff about them? And have little or no idea what they can do for you? Your customers and prospects could be asking the same question.
One of the biggest mistakes companies make is to talk about themselves and their products rather than talking about the CUSTOMER and what he/she will gain by doing business with them. “The traditional business definition of marketing is “identifying and fulfilling customer needs.” There’s no mention of your business. Marketing is all about the customer.”
Identify and focus on the benefits. Prospects want to know how what you offer will benefit them. You MUST make it clear what benefits the prospect will receive from doing business with you, otherwise then there is no reason for that prospect to do so. You MUST focus on what the prospect is going to GAIN by using your product or service.
In order to articulate the “what’s in it for them,” you must first understand the difference between a feature and a benefit. A feature is something that your product does or has (for example, a shirt can be 100% cotton). A benefit to 100% cotton could be durability, easy-care or even wrinkle resistant. Now you’ve given them the WIIFM. Why the prospect might want to purchase the shirt.
Count how many times you refer to you – that includes the “I,” the “WE” and your “company name.” Take a second look and count how many times you refer to the “YOU,” the “prospect/customer” or “she/he.” If your copy has more than 50% “I,” etc. take a look at how you can reword it to tip the scales in favor of the prospect. Good copy should be at least 60-75% prospect focused and only 25-40% focused on who you are, (such as the awards you have, the color of your building, the type of equipment you have, etc.).
To change things around in your marketing message whether it is in your proposal writing, brochures or your website (any advertising), you must identify the goals, objectives and obstacles of your prospect. Then you show your prospects how you can help them reach their goals and overcome their obstacles.
Once you know how your business benefits your customers, and you begin to focus on the how the customer benefits formula, you can write copy that will increase prospect response. You will begin seeing a greater response to your marketing messages and your bottom line!
(There are 42 “You’s” in this article and only 2 “I’s.” Did it get your attention?)
Redhead Marketing specializes in creating copy that makes you stand out. Need a print ad for a publication? Need a flyer in a hurry? Let Redhead Marketing create it for you. Special Holiday pricing starts at just $50. Call 954-625-6606 or email heidi (at) redhead marketing dot com (no spaces) Today!
November 18th, 2009
Have in common?
They all mark special ”celebrations” on the calendar. For instance September 13th is National Grandparent’s Day – acknowledge your favorite grandparents with flowers or volunteer for or create an adopt-a-grandparent association. Honor those who honor children (of all ages) in a special way. Have a grandparent’s day sale or special offering. Visit a nursing home or assisted living facility and read to or just talk to some of the residents.
September 13th is also Bald is Beautiful Day – if you are a barber you could host a “bald is beautiful contest” and have prizes for the roundest head, the shiniest head, the most interesting head … – In May 2001 Harrisburg Senators partnered with the American Cancer Society (ACS) for a special fundraiser at Commerce Bank Park. The Senators raised money for the ACS Hope Lodge in Hershey, a place where cancer patients and their families can stay free of charge while patients are receiving treatment at Hershey Medical Center. Bald is Beautiful Day consisted of players and employees offering to shave their heads if their fundraising goal is met.
September 13th is also Fortune Cookie Day – Give everyone a fortune cookie today – you can buy them at a Chinese restaurant or you can special order them online and include your own messages – go to http://www.fancyfortunecookies.com/ or www.goodfortunes.com to create yours or make your own with this recipe at http://www.redheadmarketingblog.com/fortune-cookie-recipe-for-business-success/.
September 13th is also International Chocolate Day – another great day to do a chocolate promotion – carry around gold chocolate coins wherever you go and hand them out with your business card (I use those glue dots to attach the chocolate to my business card and use this as another way to spread the word about my company in a delectable way. A chocolatiere in Florida makes chocolate coins and gives them to prospects wherever he goes, a great way to allow others to offer a sample and promote his business.
For more Weird Holiday Marketing Ideas check out Quirky Marketing ~ 365 Ways to Promote Your Business Using Zany & Non-traditional Holidays!
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September 13th, 2009
The whole point of advertising is to get noticed. With all the noise these days both online and off, it is difficult at best to get seen…
That’s why I recommend publicity over advertising. Do things like createingan event or a stunt that will get you noticed in your niche. Get busy on social networking sites where your customers and clients hang out, including the top 3 Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Having said that, there are reasons and places to advertise online that will pay off without spending a fortune.
Here are some tips to “advertise”:
List your online business in free directories such as Google (http://www.google.com/local/add), Yahoo (http://www.listings.local.yahoo.com) and Bing (http://ssl.bing.com/listings), DMOZ, The Open Directory Project (http://www.dmoz.org/) and ZoomInfo (http://www.zoominfo.com/). By the way, if you do list your site in these directories be sure and only list once because you could get banned for multiple listings of the same company. You can also show videos and photos which can be added to your listings.
In addition, list your business in LOCAL Directories such as YellowPages http://listings.yellowpages.com, City Search http://myaccount.citiysearch.com, AOL Local Search http://localsearch.aol.com, Local.com at http://register.local.com and Merchant Circle at http://merchantcircle.com.
When you list your business above, use keywords to describe what you do using benefit words (eg. “24 hour turnaround” or “loose weight or you don’t pay”) rather than vanity words (like BEST, AWARD WINNING) – people don’t believe that anymore and they don’t search for businesses that way.
This will take you less than an hour to set up and about 10-15 minutes a month to maintain.
Find sites that sell to your audience that compliment what you do and see if they will either sell you space on their site, list you in their links or if they have a newsletter that goes out to your target audience see if they do ads. Most of the time these ads are innexpensive and you can test for very little money. BTW, one insert is not a test. You need to create a campaign and keep your ad in for a minimum of 5-6 issues to see if it is going to work. Remember that it takes that many impressions before people begin to recongize your company. It also builds credibitly.
And remember to add social networking to your marketing plan. I know so many people who just hang out on SN Sites but don’t really know how to effectively use them to get attention for their businesses. Before you waste a lot time check out what those you admire are doing and model them. Don’t copy them, learn from them. See what they are doing and what is working for them. See how you can adapt to your own situation.
As you can see, I could go on and on about this topic. Let’s just say there are many ways to advertise without breaking the bank and many of them are FREE. The price you pay is TIME which by the way IS NOT FREE. Once its spent you NEVER GET IT BACK. So use it wisely.
September 12th, 2009
August 19th is Lifesavers Day ~ Life Saver mints were formulated in 1912 by Clarence Crane, a producer of chocolates in Cleveland, Ohio. He had the candy manufactured by a pill maker who discovered that his machiner only worked if it punched a hole in the center of each candy which lead to the name Lifesavers. And on August 19, 1913 the trademark was issued about the same time that Edward Noble bought the formula, manufactured the sweets and had them sold as Pep-O-Mint Life Savers. He established the Mint Products Company in New York City. With takeovers in the confectionary industry the formula has been resold many times but Life Savers survives as a distinctive product.
This advertisement shows an enduring example of good product design: the ring shape of Life Savers represents a miniature ‘life preserver’ (a life buoy, vest or jacket), a safety device that originated in the mid-19th century. The sale of Life Savers in small aluminum-foil rolls contributed to their distinctive branding. Edward Noble encouraged retailers to place them next to their registers to promote them and increase sales, which is still a practice today.
Check out this black and white clip of the Lifesavers factory aimed at a 1920 audience: http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/lifesavers-advertisement/clip2/ Notice how it has all the elements of typical black and white movies of the time, villain, heroine, secret plot and solution.
Did you know: 54 miles of Life Savers roll candy is produced on an average day? More than 46 billion Life Savers are produced annually, weighing in at 57.5 million pounds. It’s estimated that there are a million locations in the United States where you can buy the famous roll candy.
How about a campaign called “Customers Like You are a Real Lifesaver!” Send them a mailing with lifesavers custom imprinted with your company name and logo.
Go here to grab a template and Make Your Own Personalized LifeSaver ® Labels http://www.wrapcandy.com/Lifesaver_labels.php
August 19th, 2009
June 1st is Flip a Coin Day - Heads or Tails? Julius Caesar is credited with starting the practice of flipping a coin to make decisions. His own head was on one side of every Roman coin, so “heads” determined the winner in each flip. People thought “heads” meant that Caesar agreed with the decision. The coin flip was used in serious litigation involving property, marriage and even criminal guilt.
Just think how many lawyers would be out of a job if we went back to flipping a coin as a form of justice. And while it’s an interesting concept, probably not a good way to make business decisions. Imagine if your clients used the flip a coin method to decide if they should do business with you or not? You’d either have twice as many customers or half.
However, you could flip a coin for other things such as deciding on which strategies to start with in the Quirky Marketing Calendar ~ after all, marketing is all about TESTING to see what works and what doesn’t.
Did you know when you purchase a copy of the Quirky Marketing Calendar, you receive updates for a full year! That’s right, when you purchase the 2009 edition, you will automatically be sent the 2010 edition when it is released! And Quirky Marketing is Your Marketing Calendar. The only holiday marketing guide you will EVER Need again! Check it out now at www.QuirkyOffer.com.
June 1st, 2009
May 3-9 is also National Postcard Week – An excellent time to redo your postcard marketing campaigns. We use SendOutCards to send postcards to our customers, clients and people we meet. In fact, every time I attend a networking event, I upload the information of the people I met into the SendOutCards database and then create a simple,” nice to have met you” campaign.
Every single person I send a card to has either called or emailed me a thank you. I do not sell them anything, just tell them it was nice to meet them and ask “what you can do for them.” I might also offer a link to a special report or other free digital item I know would interest them. Not only is this a great way to stay in touch with prospects, it also is a great way to keep track of where and when I meet someone. You can make notes in the SOC database, create specific campaigns for each event, even customize the cards with a picture or logo (or both).
Excerpt from the book “Quirky Marketing ~ 365 Ways to Promote Your Business Using Zany & Non-traditional Holidays (the original holiday marketing guide) ~ www.QuirkyOffer.com
May 3rd, 2009
April 16 is Panda Day
Panda Express, a leading Chinese quick service chain (with 1000+ locations) created their own panda campaign to launch a new addition to their menu. Here’s what they did: they sent a plain white box containing two plush pandas named Tom-Tom and Eddie to select marketing restaurant and marketing trade media editors to roll out their Beijing Beef advertising campaign. They followed up the mailing with an email campaign explaining the chain was “stirring up pandemonium” with its new dish. The results? Mentions and full spread articles in several of these publications, far exceeding Panda Express’ expectations.
What type of marketing ideas could you come up with to promote your business during Panda Day?
April 16th, 2009
Although today is March 21 some say the first day of spring begins today. Depending on where in the world you are. However, Yesterday, March 20th, the first day of spring officially began in the US. Spring is the season of flowers, spring fever, outdoor celebrations and more. Spring is usually when flowers bloom, animals are hatched or mating begins. The first day of spring is also known as the vernal equinox (Equinox means “equal night”) – the time of year that symbolizes the change to spring. With the center of the sun positioned right over the equator, the day and night are about equal in length around the world. (Equinox means “equal night”.) From now until September, there will be longer and warmer days in the Northern Hemisphere.
Here’s Some Spring Trivia:
The ancient Greeks celebrated Mother’s Day in spring. The ancient Greeks celebrated Rhea, “Mother of the Gods,” with honey-cakes, beverages, and flowers at dawn–the earliest known Mother’s Day celebration.
Four-leaf clovers are thought to bring good luck, but there’s no scientific evidence to support that claim. Cut out some green four leaf clovers (or buy them at a specialty store such as Michaels crafts) and put “lucky sayings” on them. Include them in your business correspondence and statements.
The area along the California-Oregon border, is known as the “Easter Lily Capital of the World” because it produces 95 percent of all bulbs grown in the world for the potted Easter lily market. They produce more than 11 million bulbs annually. Send your best customers an Easter Lily or other spring flowering plant.
Did you know “Spring Fever” is a real physical condition which commonly occurs when a sudden warm spell follows a long cold period. When the temperature rises, the body has to get rid of heat; thus there’s a dilation or expansion of the blood vessels so that blood can be carried to the body surface where heat can be lost quickly. Some people experience an energetic feeling when this change happens due to the body’s reaction to the great amount of internal work going on.
Big companies recognize the benefits of marketing SPRING to their target audience with spring sales, spring promotions, longer hours and more. What could your business do to acknowledge the first day of Spring? How about a Spring Fever sale? Or a Company picnic inviting your customers to attend.
Or maybe a spring cleaning tie in with a local charity or school? Sponsor a car wash and get out there and work side-by-side with a local youth group, sports team or other non-profit organization.
If you have not yet listed your business in Merchant Circle, Spring is the perfect time to do so. http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/sponsoredListing.html.
While you’re at it find out what’s happening in the world of Business when you check out Business Week online. http://www.businessweek.com/
For other ideas to market your company, check out Quirky Marketing, 365 Ways to Promote Your Business Using Zany and Non-traditional Holidays at www.QuirkyOffer.com
March 21st, 2009
March 17th is Saint Patrick’s Day - Time to serve up some Irish Coffee ~ Invented by the a chef at Foynes Airforce Base, Irish Coffee was intended to warm up passengers during long waits between flights. On one occasion when a flight to America had to suddenly return to the base, the chef brewed a pot of coffee, sweetened it and added some Irish Whiskey. Little did he know it would spread from the Atlantic to America. Here’s the recipe: In a large mug or goblet, pour in one jigger of Irish whiskey. Add one spoonful (to taste) of sugar and fill the cup with strong black coffee (leave one inch of the brim to add sweetened whip cream). Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Drink through the cream. Yummy!
To market your company, buy some scratch-off lottery tickets (void where prohibited) and include with monthly statement that say’s “In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, try your luck with the enclosed ticket. May you win big!“ We have done this with our customers and have had great response. We love it when someone calls to tell us she or he is a WINNER!
Want to really stand out from the competition? Send your customers a Saint Patricks Day Card!
March 16th, 2009
Did you know that March is Small Press Month?
Create a tips booklet for your company. People are more likely to keep a tips booklet than a brochure so they become an ongoing sales tool for your company. I have one that is all about “Getting Organized“ that I’ve had for years. Wedding planners could write the 49 tips to plan a worry-free wedding. A Chiropractor could write 57 Natural Remedies to Better Health. A women’s boutique owner could write – How to Create 27 Outfits out of 4 when You Mix and Match Your Wardrobe. One of the five tips booklets I wrote is “Networking is More than Just Passing Out Business Cards.” When you attend the Info Products Summit March 19 & 20 – you get this FREE (in digital format).
Tips booklets have staying power. People are less likely to toss them out than they are brochures and other advertising media. Make sure yours is filled with great information your target audience wants and needs and you will see what I mean. I have one from a professional organizer that was given to me at least 10 years ago and I have referred to it on a number of ocassions as well as quoted from it and shared the ideas (and author) with my own circles.
BTW, if you need help creating your tips booklet, check out my friend Paulette Ensign’s site at www.TipsBooklet.com. Paulette has sold well over a million copies of her own tips booklet, in 4 languages and various formats (so far!), without spending a penny on advertising!
March 14th, 2009
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