If you look at your options of marketing mediums or
channels you can choose today, one can easily get confused, because there is a
lot to choose from.
Say you are on a budget you can narrow down the
channels some, below is an introduction to 4 channels which you could consider
using.I have on purpose not included social media, for a few reasons. There is a separate post on social media coming, moreover do social media compliment other channels very well as an accelerator.
Guerilla marketing
There is a parallel from Guerilla marketing to guerilla
warfare. Guerilla warfare is concept of irregular war, where small cells or
groups of soldiers use untraditional tactics, such as sabotage and ambushes to
use the element of surprise.
The parallel is using some of the tactics to achieve the
element of surprise. Guerilla marketing is using low-cost elements to promote
products or service. Conventional marketing is typical dependent on a big
budget, while guerilla marketing is more dependent on creativity, time and
energy.
Below are some great examples of guerilla marketing:
There is a lot more
examples to find on the internet, however is much content duplicated on
different sites. Therefore do I advise to purchase the bestseller book by Jay Conrad
Levinson Guerilla Marketing. The book has been updated several times and is a must
read. It is loaded with inspirational content and matching strategy tools.
Email marketing
Sending email is an
inexpensive media format, where you can distribute your messages directly to
your consumers email or potential customers.
You need to have a
database with some contact information and minimum the email address. You can
build the database by leaving a printed excel sheet on your counter, and manually
enter these names into the database. Alternatively can you obtain contact
information from your website, if you build in a HTLM widget.
With a database in
hand, you are now ready to send email. Theoretically can you distribute email
from your outlook, Gmail or similar account, but this is not recommended.
Instead should you sign a subscription with a mail service business, such as
MailChimp.
The reason to use
MailChimp, is that you can easily create beautiful emails with pictures, texts,
links and social buttons, and get tracking on all of this. The program is very
intuitive and provides several guide of how to get started. Best of all this
there a good free plan to get you started.
When you add content
to your newsletter, you have to post information which is relevant for the mail
recipients; you can easily add links to your website, to generate traffic and
sales. Consider dividing your content into two categories:
·
Hard sell:
promotions, new products, services and similar
·
Soft
sell: tips, guides, information about donations and similar
Next you should consider
when the most optimal time for you, to send your email is? You probably need to
experiment, before you get it right. Otherwise are there a lot of facts to find
on the internet.
Partnerships
Forming partnership
is inexpensive and can be very efficient. The sole purpose to create / turnover
to both companies and create a win-win situation.
When you start
looking for partners you have to be selective, it is important you select a
partner which understand and respects your brand values and your business
principles, or even better a partner should share those elements.
Below is 5 examples
of partnerships:
-
Include
a gimmick in your product. Think about cereals! Big brand cereal companies do
often include a branded toy. This creates desire to purchase the product and
attention to the branded toy
- Coca Cola has three main Cola products, Coca Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero, each positioned for a demographic profile. Diet Coke targets the female use, and underlines it with a partnership with Marc Jacobs, both companies’ wins and get great exposure.
- Car
dealers and theme parks, often share the same target group – families with
kids. Car dealers can advertise free tickets, which initially drives traffic to
the car dealership, secondly to the theme park, when the tickers is redeemed.
Likewise could the theme park, place cars on display and host a competition of
a prices covered by the car dealer.
- Shortly
before Mother’s day did 11 florists gathers together, to buy a one full page
add in a big newspaper. Each independent florist, would normally never be able
to get in that newspaper with such a powerful add, by splitting the cost, it
became possible!
- Where I
live, McDonalds support the local football / soccer team. Every time you
purchase a particular product, the give x amount to the sports team as a
sponsor. This is smart, because McDonald’s gets attention, the football team’s
gets attention. In addition can you purchase tickets at the McDonalds counter.
Now ask yourself
some questions and find out who can be the right partner / partners for your
business.
Public Relations
Comparing
advertising and public relations, there is one significant difference. Using
advertising you control the content 100%, while using public relation the
media´s control. You pitch them a story, they decide if they want to bring and
in which format.
For entrepreneurs
public relation is an inexpensive format to get your message out, find new
customers and elevate your reputation.
Just like the other
channels, you should know your position in the market. Start building your
public relations locally, before you move to bigger regional media´s.
There are several
PR agents that are working freelance and charge by the hour. You should
consider this option, unless if you know how to write and have expertise in
delivering the stories to the media´s.
You will typical achieve
better results, using a pro, because they understand how to approaching medias with
a practical approach.
Work on you
credibility by focusing on smaller papers. The articles from these papers will
help you get into other media, like radio, newsletters, blogs and local tv.
Soon or later you will get more coverage.
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