Marketing – Page 6 – Business Plus Baby

November 18, 2015

SMS marketing is the way forward. Here’s why…

There are many different ways you can market your brand. In fact, there are so many options out there you could easily get confused! We all know that not all marketing options work for every business. But there are some that just seem to work well with any industry.

Today I’d like to talk to you about SMS marketing. As you may have guessed, it involves sending text messages to people. It’s a strategy that can be used to great effect. Here’s why:

It’s cheap

One of the main driving forces behind any business’s decision to use SMS marketing is the cost. Compared to conventional strategies, sending text messages to your clients could be very cost-effective.

You may be able to afford to spend money on a budget-busting campaign. But, would you receive the value for money that you would with SMS marketing?

It’s easy

Of course, you need don’t spend all day sending individual text messages to your clients. If you use a SMS marketing service, you can send texts out to multiple customers all at the same time. Take a look at SMS marketing with SMS Tech to see how it works.

This is far quicker and more flexible than say sending a bulk text message using Microsoft Outlook on your PC.

I get instant results

One of the huge benefits of SMS marketing is that you can get instant results. You could even text out a lunchtime special in the morning and boost your sales later that same day! Mailing out discount coupons in the post could be a thing of the past.

How many marketing strategies have you used where you got real-time results? Hardly any, I’ll bet! One other great benefit of SMS marketing is you can receive delivery reports. That means you will know when your recipients get your message.

You might be wondering how else you can track the results of each SMS campaign? The simple way to do that is by including a URL link in your messages. You can then track your visitors using software like Google Analytics on your website.

Everyone of your clients now has a mobile phone

Let’s face it, mobile phones are cheap to buy these days. There’s no reason your clients couldn’t afford to have one.

Even better, you don’t have to worry which phones people have because all mobiles support SMS messaging, even those people without smartphones!

You can schedule SMS campaigns

Last, but not least, you can set the date and time when a new campaign should start. For instance, you could experiment by sending messages in an evening rather than during the day. Or you could select a particular day of the week.

With SMS marketing, you have total control over when your messages are broadcast. Why not try it out in your business?

November 3, 2015

Get more customers with these insane marketing techniques

Want to know how your business can get more customers? Then have a read of these amazing tips:

Social Media Promotions

Generally speaking, social media marketing is fabulous. Seriously, if your business isn’t on social media already, then you’re missing out. But, one of my favourite ways to use social media marketing is through promotions. This is where you offer special promotions to people that follow you on social media. Get on Twitter and do a contest that requires people to follow you and retweet a tweet to enter. You should soon see your follower count rise, especially if you’re offering a good prize in the contest. When your followers rise, so do your chances of gaining customers through social media.

Also, you can give out special offers on products/services through social networking sites only. If someone wants to get these discounts, they’re going to have to find you on social media. If you’ve used the first tip to get your follower count up, then the second tip can be used after. It means there’s a huge chance all your new followers will then use the special offers.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions are a killer marketing technique for your business. They’re especially effective for small business owners looking to get a little bit of extra promotion in. At an exhibition, your business will set up a stand and try and draw people in. There will be tonnes of consumers walking around the exhibition centre, checking out all the businesses. You want to make sure they all come to you so you can get talking and promoting your business. The benefit of this marketing technique is that you can speak directly to the consumer. Plus, face to face interaction is said to lead to a higher chance of closing a sale. An exhibition can help your customer base grow in a very short space of time.

The key is getting yourself noticed and making your business shine brighter than all the others. To do this, you’ll need an awesome stand. There are companies like Finesse Group that make specially designed exhibition stands. If your stand gets some professional design help, it’s more likely to stand out and reel in the customers!

Persuasive Advertisements

Advertising is a very good way to get more customers for your business. The trick is creating persuasive ads. Adverts that get people thinking they need to use your business. To do this, you have to design adverts that are geared towards a specific market. Then, you play on something they hold dear to them. For example, if you’re a health & fitness business, you have a very specific market to cater to. Your adverts should mention things like gaining muscle and losing fat. This will appeal to your target audience and help persuade them to use your business.

Of course, it’s the same concept for any other business, I just used that as an easy example. And, you can have adverts in the print form, online or in video form. Make sure you cover all the bases!

Follow these three simple tips and you’ll soon see more customers flying through your doors!

October 21, 2015October 20, 2015

Why hire a marketing agency?

Marketing is a buzzword in modern day business. Everyone from Facebook to the smallest businesses in the industry is trying to maximise their marketing opportunities with varying degrees of success. Hence, more and more people are turning to marketing agencies to help them achieve their goals. A lot of readers will be thinking do they work? The short answer is yes they do work, as long as you hire the right partner, and here’s why.

Your Lack Of Experience

You are a businessperson, not a marketing expert. So, it stands to reason that you nothing to very little about marketing your company. Your lack of experience is the main reason that you should hire a professional in any case. When you lack the knowledge and skill to perform a task, you will only do more damage in the long-term.

Their Skill And Reputation

On the flip side, they are incredibly skillful and reputable. When you hire a marketing expert, from a digital agency to a conventional agency, you hire their knowledge and their talent. Although you might have to pay for the privilege, they will get the job done much quicker and more efficiently than any other option.

Cost Versus Results

Simply put, the results tend to outweigh the costs. So, if you are thinking that hiring an agency looks like a costly expenditure, do the maths. Although the initial cost is expensive, the money they will make you in the long-term will negate any expense. In fact, a good marketing company will make you money, and every business in the world needs a little extra influx every now and again.

Make The Link

Why can an agency have such an effect on your ability to make money and succeed? Well, barring expertise and skill, because they have a wealth of contacts. After all, they are businesspersons just like you and your partners. Contacts come in handy when they need information or they need someone to repay a favour. As a businessperson, you understand how important it is to have someone owe you a kindness when you are in a hole.

Tricks Of The Trade

They also know the industry inside and out, which is essential. Due to their knowledge, they can exploit techniques that will turn your company’s fortune around. Or, they can exploit new tactics that are yet to become public knowledge because they can see and analyse the pros and cons. Any business that can steal a march on the competition is going to have a good year!

Success

Finally, they get the job done. Ask around and you will find that most peers in the industry will only have positive things to say. Regardless of what you think they can and cannot do, you never know until you see the finished product. For that reason, most partnerships are incredibly risky. Marketing agencies, however, take the risk out of the equation.

If the above is not good enough to persuade you, nothing ever will be.

June 28, 2015June 26, 2015

Colour and Branding: How Colour Affects Your Brain (and that of your customers)

Colour theory is an often-overlooked aspect of branding; too many people think of branding as nothing more than a logo and it’s styling, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Typography, styling, spacing and colour all have the potential to create a massive impact when it comes to the perception of your brand, with colour psychology taking the front-seat when it comes to importance.

To put it simply, certain colours typically provoke certain emotions, so the colour of your brand will have an effect on how your customers feel when they interact with your company.

What’s more, colour can also be used to achieve recognition. In fact, in some industries, certain companies literally “own” certain colours (think red and Coca Cola, for example).

Below, we’re going to delve deeper into colour and branding, and explore how it affects your brain, the impact it has on different people, and how you can use it to your advantage when branding a company.

Think of it as a crash-course in colour and branding.

Let’s go!

The Colour Emotion Guide

There have been a lot of attempts over the years to simplify the subject of colour psychology into handy infographics, guides and resources; the most well known of which is perhaps the one featured above (created by The Logo Company). Continue reading “Colour and Branding: How Colour Affects Your Brain (and that of your customers)”

June 24, 2015June 24, 2015

Seven business growth strategies CMOs can get on board with

In order to stay ahead, continue to make profit and run a healthy business, growth is important. Here are some business growth strategies that make perfect sense and are important for a CMO to get on board with…

Try new marketing activities

A varied marketing mix can help your business to grow. Different activities can reach different types of customers and this is so important when you’re trying to find new markets. When looking at your options keep an eye on the activities that give the best return on investment. One overlooked activity is SMS marketing – take a look at GlobalMessaging for more information on how you can tap into an effective method of reaching customers on their favourite device.

VIP events for customers

It’s so important to keep your customers on side and one way to make them feel special is with VIP events. Knowing they are valued and looked after will just help to build the relationship between them and your company.

From here your account managers can work with these customers to continue to develop that relationship and bring in more revenue.

Identify where to make cuts and where to invest

Being ruthless is important in business so time needs to be taken once a month to have a look over expenditure to see what’s necessary and what, in terms of marketing, is working. Have a bigger review each quarter and don’t keep going with something if it’s not working as it should be. It might have sounded like a good idea – and may have even worked in the past – but if it’s once it’s apparent that something is not working then it’s time to ditch It and move on. Continue reading “Seven business growth strategies CMOs can get on board with”