As a marketing professional, I understand the need to touch potential and existing customers as often as possible. However, there is a tremendous amount of useless, wasted marketing collateral caused by not investing in effective database management. [Read more…] about Is Your Customer Database Up-To-Date?
Timing Of Your Marketing Message
It is a cold and blustery Saturday morning, so it is a good time to catch up on some of the things I’ve been meaning to get done. One such item is catching up on reading through a few of the trade publications that came in this week’s mail.
As I was thumbing through one particular publication something familiar struck me. On a recent trip to somewhere we needed to go, my wife and partner commented about a billboard advertisement. It created a little conversation about how much has changed in the past few weeks, but after looking through a few trade publications and magazines it suddenly sparked an important thought.
Your Customers’ Perception Of You Is Your Brand
When sales decline, budgets tighten and typically, the first area to be scrutinized for cutback is promotion and marketing. Part of the magic of marketing is the ability to create perception. Businesses must create and maintain a perception that they are critical, viable and resilient.
An example of this is your local auto dealership. Even when sales are in a slump, they continue to run weekly ads in local newspapers. Why? To maintain their customers’ perception that things are just fine. Of course the automobile is an intricate part of the American psyche. Give the perception that the local automobile dealership isn’t viable and the ripple effect can reach far and wide. [Read more…] about Your Customers’ Perception Of You Is Your Brand
Small Business Marketing – The Power of Observation
It’s very important for me to know how my business is doing – not just by watching the financial ledger, but also by watching the environment around me. What are our neighboring businesses doing? More importantly, what are our competitors doing? Has their business grown at the same rate as ours or has it accelerated past ours, without my noticing?
Keeping up with the Jones’ does have a relevant place in business. Some of what the Jones’ are doing are simply gimmicks that yield no returns. But if you ignore everything they do, you’ll soon learn that you’ve been left in their dust, wondering why and how it happened. [Read more…] about Small Business Marketing – The Power of Observation
Branding: The Devil is in the Details
As business owners, we work hard to create the perfect picture of ourselves and our company. Call it branding or call it perception, either way it all boils down to getting the details right. One such detail is your email address.
If you have a company website, it is in your best interest to use your URL where ever you can, especially in your email address. You’ve invested time and money to build your business, establish your brand and create your Web site, so why not carry that professionalism and pride into your email address? [Read more…] about Branding: The Devil is in the Details