Marketing in a Tight Economy
This month, I'm sharing timely wisdom from my networking colleague Linda Lullie. Linda helps small business owners with marketing and advertising solutions. See her website:
inspired2designllc.com 10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Ad Spending
By Linda Lullie
Some companies cut their marketing budget during a slowing economy...
WRONG MOVE!
It's not time to stop advertising, it's time to market smarter.
These 10 Smart Tips Move You in the Right Direction:
(1) Focus spending on customers rather than prospects. Entice the people who trust you with great offers.
(2) Follow-up to all other marketing efforts with phone calls and begin relationship building.
(3) Eliminate risk by offering a guarantee, warranty, no risk trial, or great service committment.
(4) Collaborate with other companies in fusion marketing efforts to reduce costs.
(5) Widen your product or service offering to attract repeat customers and a broader audience.
(6) Find new ways to create buzz and stimulate word-of-mouth marketing to save mass media and printing costs.
(7) Take advantage of slow periods to do more personal marketing like writing notes and letters.
(8) Give something for nothing. Offer customers a free newsletter, recipe, how-tos, and other useful information.
(9) Utilize technology: Emails, podcasting, blogging, and webinars to communicate with your audience.
(10) Be selective - don't treat customers and prospects equally. Tailor advertising to buying habits and life stages.
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Well, I hope this gives you some ideas to consider as we begin the 1st Quarter. Good luck working your business toward a successful and prosperous 2009!
technology changing at the speed of talk, but tastes and trends are changing at the blink of an eye. And consumers, well, they're becoming more choosy and more demanding every day. The Information Age is responsible for educating young children faster than their parents could ever think to learn. Wireless is the buzz word of the times, and broadband is its closest kin. Even as quickly as I write this, technology is changing. The microchip inside this box was outdated before I even drove it home from the store. 
