If you used to do this, now try this marketing strategy
20 August 2015The basic rules of marketing don’t change. Though many popular mediums are now online, the same rules that used to apply are still relevant today. It’s always been about:
1. Getting your marketing in front of the right people
2. Grabbing their attention
3. Compelling them to take action
If anything, this process is some ways easier. Unfortunately, customers are so bombarded with messages and companies demanding their attention, that the savvy buyer is a little more jaded.
However, the mediums we use to get these effects have changed quite considerably. Printed media is struggling to get the results it used to across the board. So I thought it might be useful to write a little about how the old marketing mediums translate to new marketing mediums:
If you used to use newspaper advertising now try Google AdWords
Estate agent adverts and job advertising was the last regular advertising in weekly newspapers to fall, but fallen it has. We tested a job advert in a local newspaper earlier in 2015 and only had 3 responses. We put the same advert online and were instantly inundated with calls. I hear the same from local estate agents.
Google AdWords when set up correctly and combined with a great landing page should get you a great return on investment. Be careful of letting Google tell you what bid to set and try to stay away from Google AdWords Express.
Alternatively, you might like to try leafleting if you still like your printed media or posters in strategic places.
If you used to do telemarketing now try LinkedIn
Business to Business Telemarketing does still have a place – it’s a great way to stay in touch with customers and for high value, low volume customers it’s a great way to get in touch with the right people. However, it must be done correctly with properly trained staff. Residential telemarketing is seriously frowned upon and has been for a while…
If you used to do residential telemarketing now try Facebook or Instagram
The etiquette in finding new customers now, especially consumer marketing, is to let them come to you and under no circumstances interrupt their relaxation time… which, with our 24 hour modern lives, can be any time of day.
Translating your offers and hooks on to Facebook and/or Instagram can work wonders when done in the right way. Again, bear in mind you’re often talking to people in their relaxation time so heavy handed messages shouold be toned down.
If you used to send out helpful packs try downloads
Offering packs is still a valid method of getting people to contact you and I recommend it. Mail is quite expensive though, so if you’re looking to reduce costs you might want to try offering online downloads. Exchanging people’s contact details for a free online information pack, can be a great way to reach new customers. You can use your website, other advertising, business cards to promote it.
If you used to rely heavily on your shop window, now try blogging
Having a great shop window is still pretty vital, but again, the common theme is that people spend less time walking around town. Footfall needs to be driven by more than your physical location. Location, location, location is now more about where you can be found on Google than where you are in town. And in fact, there are big advantages to being outside of town as traffic is often lighter, parking is easier and / or free and you become more convenient to your customers.
Blogging helps you get found on Google and helps with wild card searches. So if you used to hope people found you just by walking past, blogging using good relevant subjects and copy means you may get found by people randomly searching for information.
Old school methods that still work
If you still like being little old school, leafleting, word of mouth, seminars and events and email are still great choices. The costs can be higher than they used to be or the time required can be more than you used to invest, though I still recommend them to clients.
Obviously these are very large generalisations and everything you do should be tested and measured before gambling on any method in a big way. If you want some help, feel free to take us up on our free marketing session.
