Unlucky for some but lucky for you, here are thirteen marketing ideas that will kick–start your customer base into action in 2013. Our print and digital design solutions will distinguish you from your competitors, deliver your key messages effectively, and convert buyer interest into sales action:
1. Email marketing
When it comes to digital marketing, companies now use a plethora of means with which to reach their customers – websites, social media, online advertising, e–marketing – but which one works best?
A recent article celebrating the 30th anniversary of email states that “an overwhelming 77% of all consumers surveyed prefer to receive promotional messages from companies via email, compared to just 5% preferring text messages and 4% Facebook.”
Do you even have an e–mail marketing program? If so how is it working for you? Having achieved read rates of more than 40% with campaigns on behalf of our clients, e–mail campaigns are proven to reach customers in a way that they like, and even more importantly they are very targetable, trackable, and measurable.
2. MEMORABLE direct mail
Before the internet heralded new ways to communicate with our customers, direct mail – letters, leaflets and print mailshots – was the most accurate method of letting them know what you were up to, what was being launched, were you would be exhibiting, about your special offers, what you would be up to this year, and how you could make their lives easier and businesses perform better.
At Absolute we continue to rave about direct mail as part of the marketing mix. The downside; it takes a little more effort to organise, and its impact is less immediate. The upside; interesting and informative direct communications have a far greater shelf life. They stay on customer’s desks for much, much longer, providing a constant reminder of your company, products or services for days and often weeks. They are also often conveniently filed and referred to at a later date.
3. A website makeover
As a provider of website solutions, we see the rapid advances in web design (I stress the word design) more than most.
You will probably agree that it’s quite easy to guess how old a website is by the look and feel of the homepage interface. What was hot two or three years ago probably now seems slightly tired, especially on iPad and tablets which hadn’t even been launched. Many people pick–up on dated web designs, mainly because they visit massively popular websites that are bang up–to–date as part of their daily lives and notice the difference. Unfortunately they also subconsciously disregard them in favour of something more current, especially when they’re planning to purchase online.
So if your site looks out of date, whether it was last updated in the nineties, noughties, or even the tensies (if indeed that’s a real term yet) or if you are considering the inclusion of social media links, a shopping cart, video, optimising your site for display on an iPad or mobile device … or any other enhancements … have a look at our own website first, and then use our contact form to get in touch!
4. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
OK so you’ve got a great website, but can anyone find it when they enter search terms that are related to your products or services into Google?
If you answered ‘yes’ please go straight to point five (below). If you’re still reading, then the chances are that you need to improve your search engine rankings but either don’t know how best to proceed, or are rightly very wary of the whole shebang because of the daily raft of emails that you receive from Mary, Rajit and Sanjay, somewhere in the Asian sub–continent.
Absolute have been optimising websites for the best part of 12 years. Our success is demonstrable; we have numerous clients sitting on page one of Google when relevant search terms to their business and products are used. The chances are that we can get your company there too.
5. Fresh advertisements
The desired reaction that we all hope for when advertising – client sees ad, then phones to place a humongous sales order – seldom, if ever happens.
The primary advantage of any form of advertising is the establishment of trust and confidence amongst your target audience. By seeing your ad whilst relaxing, because that’s what we’re doing when we’re watching TV or reading a magazine, people have time to explore their curiosity and actually enjoy good, engaging advertisements. The time spent doing this builds awareness, breeds familiarity and sows the seed for future success when the buyer’s need for your product arises. The actual impact of advertising therefore is one of longer term stability and credibility.
When did your prospective customers last see your business and products in the press?
6. Effective sales brochures
Effective brochures are a compact means of advertising, allowing the delivery of detailed information, to a specific audience, in an engaging form and with the correct flow of information. They explain, they inform and they persuade. Done correctly they will translate facts and features into customer benefits and sell your products and services.
The staying power of a great sales brochure is priceless. Well designed brochures also play a dual role; in electronic format as incentive downloads on websites and for follow ups as an email friendly pdf, and in print format as long lasting reminder and reinforcement of your company and products.
7. Create a bit of a buzz
The first 10 people to phone Absolute Media in response to this article will be entered into a draw to win a brand new Toy–yoda!
If you’ve ever heard that story then you will know the power that competitions, special offers and incentives can create. Creating a bit of excitement is a simple yet often overlooked means of locking in buyer behaviour, generating additional revenue from a sale, and above all making your customer feel better about you for it. So why wouldn’t you do it more often? Give yourselves an opportunity to shout about what you do, and above all, get noticed for it.
8. Incentivise
Do you set targets for your customers? Maybe you lower price units for volume purchases, provide discounts on upgrades, or free training for your top buyers?
How about adding a bit of spark to your next incentives program and upping the feel–good factor? Have a chat with us about soft benefits, promotions, up–selling, random rewards and sweepstakes for exciting prizes, to see what ‘motivation’ really can do for your customer loyalty.
9. Corporate video / youtube
Video production was once an expensive and largely insignificant media for marketers, but with sites like YouTube and Vimeo now generating more than 3 billion video views each day, and the means to create video content on most mobile phones, things have definitely changed for the better.
It’s now so easy to review a new product in front of a camera, then put that review online, and email the link to your customers. Hey presto … an almost instantaneous, engaging audio visual presentation that you can use time and time again and even embed on your website. The same can be said for product training, simple repair procedures, ‘how–to’s’ for installation, sales presentations and so much more. Of course it helps to make these things look at least slightly professional, and that’s where we can help you.
10. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising
If your company’s organic search engine optimisation efforts aren’t delivering results, PPC is an immediate way to get your site listed on page one of Google. It’s also flexible, easy to manage, highly targetable, achieves results on a set and limited budget, and is quite difficult to get your head around! Call us today and we’ll tell you more about what’s possible and how best to approach it.
11. Create something unique
All too often we receive a creative brief which goes something along the lines of ‘this is what our competitors are doing, so we want to do the same’. Harrumph!
Rule #01: To get noticed by someone who is bombarded with the same amount of promo materials that the rest of us receive on a daily basis, you have to make your message stand out for the right reasons. The chances are that your competitor’s overused idea gets ignored anyway, so why would you want to emulate that?
Find a new angle, use something newsworthy, try a different media, mix it up a bit. When you do something that is fresh, your audience takes notice and begins to associate adjectives like ‘innovative’, ‘dynamic’ and ‘creative’ with your company and … hey presto, you’re brand building!
12. A new target audience
Our clients are always telling us that they should be selling more to ‘such and such’ a sector, or ‘this particular’ audience. Let us source a new mailing list on your behalf to pinpoint your targets as accurately as possible and we’ll gladly help get your message to them, with impact.
13. Mobile apps
Mobile applications are yet another new media development proving to be a great way of building relationships and making it easier for your customers to do business with you. Once a customer has installed your app on their phone, they have a potential solution to urgent problems in their hand for most of the working day, in the shape of your contact details. Companies are starting to exploit the further capabilities of mobile applications by giving customers access to their inventories, allowing them to track support numbers, trace order shipments, provide them with accurate contact lists, and so much more. Call us today to discuss how you might use mobile applications to strengthen your customer relationships.
So there you have it, just a handful of many marketing ideas that Absolute Media of Brisbane can bring to the party in 2013 and beyond. Ultimately a ‘keep in touch’ strategy is crucial to sustaining business growth. Statisticians will tell you that it take at least seven rounds of contact before a client is ready to do business, so by mixing your marketing initiatives, spicing–up your communication, and in doing so making your competitors seem boring and uncommunicative by comparison, you will soon see the benefits of a concerted investment in marketing yourselves to existing clients and new prospects.
