Marketing For Growth: A Varied Approach Works Best
Does your business seem to be languishing in its present state? Maybe it’s time to take it to the next level, and perhaps shoot for a National or Global audience. Many business owners are reluctant to try something new in marketing and advertising because they are not familiar with the many options available. It can be a daunting task, but not if you examine each option by itself, and then you can develop a game plan.
It doesn’t matter if your business is an online business, “Brick & Mortar”, or a combination thereof. Many people make the mistake of thinking that all they have to do is put-up a website, and the orders will come rolling in. Not! We all learned this the hard way. Publishing a website does not mean that hoards of web surfers will come to your site.
Let’s take a look at several classic options:
Marketing For Growth: Direct Mail
Direct Mail is a tried and proven marketing technique to bring in orders, drive traffic to a website, acquire leads, and many other functions. It will either take the form of a one-piece Self-Mailer, or the classic Direct Mail format, which means: a Sales Letter, Brochure or Flyer, Order Form and a Return Envelope. You will need a mailing list, and there are many sources of lists.
Just go online and do a search, and you will be able to specify exactly what you are looking for, and the list companies will send you Data Cards, with the complete breakdown on the stats of the list. As far as the creative aspects are concerned, many printing companies will also offer copywriting and layout service as well. Using an Ad Agency can be quite expensive. A company like Vista Print will even print your mass mailing piece and also send it out for you.
Email Blast:
This is an inexpensive way to reach a mass market and is effective Marketing For Growth. I am not talking about Spamming, but buying or renting email addresses that have been “Opted-In”. There are many email services that you can use, like Constant Contact, AWeber, etc. You will need a well written email to send, and have auto-responders set up to automatically send out other emails in succession for best results. If you have a “Newsletter Sign-Up” Form on your website, you can build your own email address list. Stay away from those ads that will sell you a million or so email addresses for peanuts, they will be worth peanuts.
Space Advertising:
Space advertising means taking out an ad in print media, such as a Newspaper or Magazine. This is a costly avenue, and should not be done by amateurs. If you have the budget for a trial, give it a shot, but remember, it takes several ads to get results. Color improves response, and costs even more. A trick I used to use is to have my own Ad Agency Letterheads and Order Forms, it saved me the agency commission every time.
Television Advertising:
This is my favorite advertising medium. Many things have changed in this arena. The cost to reach a lot of people is a lot less than other forms of advertising and is a top contender for marketing for growth. Also, you have a captive audience. Unlike a mail piece that they can toss in the trash, or a magazine or newspaper that they can toss to the side, your audience is relaxed, and receptive to viewing short visual ads.
Yes, conventional TV can be out of reach to most companies, but the latest trend is Streaming TV Media, which is within reach of most budgets. Viewers purchase a “Smart TV” set-top box such as Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire to name a few to connect to their TV, and they have access to a vast platform of streaming channels featuring TV shows, Movies, Sports and more.
Deciding what advertising medium is best for you, or what combination thereof, is solely based on budget and need of your individual business. Take your time, do your homework and investigate options. Do you need targeted marketing or would you benefit more from a broad audience? Maybe, like most of us, you need both which is why from the time you took Marketing 101, we were always taught the “marketing mix”. Whatever you decide, be sure you do something, because in today’s competitive market, you’re either growing or fading away. So always remember the objective is Marketing For Growth.
Author Information:
Steve Stanley, CEO of PRD Marketing Group, is an esteemed figure in the marketing industry for over four decades, offers his expertise on the subject. He is a well-known serial entrepreneur and has taken small companies and made them huge. His Architectural Signage company is Miami, Florida grew to become the largest sign company in South Florida with 37 employees. Steve is also an author and a marketing consultant. He is legendary in the ICO and NFT Crypto sectors.
