Whether you're a seasoned business owner on your second decade of selling or a newbie who's just launched your first website, you've probably spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to catch the attention of busy consumers.
Ah, marketing. It's both an essential component to any business and a phenomenal source of frustration. It's easy to get caught up spending more and more of your budget on ways to find those elusive online shoppers; or, alternatively, spending too much time trying to figure out how to win over those customers without spending much money at all.
Making matters even more difficult is the constant blare of voices telling us that everything today must be online: Your advertising and PR dollars are wasted on traditional media, we're told.
And while there's no denying the essential truth behind that thought, we mustn't forget that most marketing experts today will tell you that your money is best spend using a creative method of offline and online marketing. Online should be your focus, of course, but don't forget that more traditional methods can offer powerful support to your online marketing efforts. The bottom line is that the idea of how to win customers should come first; how to implement those ideas, whether online or offline, should follow.
To this end, Entrepreneur.com's "Marketing coach" (and successful author in her own right) Kim Gordon recently weighed in with her advice on how to do just that, in an article entitled "The Hottest Marketing Trends for 2008."
From the article:
Here are four ways to increase sales and your advertising ROI by capitalizing on the hottest trends for 2008.
1. Engage the customer. The move toward alternative advertising versus some of the more traditional methods coincides with the emergence of technologies that enable a one-on-one dialogue with customers. For example, follow the trend of social media by posting your products on sites that encourage customer or peer reviews. Social media add an element of impartiality and are increasingly looked to as reliable sources of information.
2. Integrate your off-line and online campaigns. Look for ways to use off-line media to drive traffic to a website with specialized landing pages that tell a deeper story. Use print and TV ads to start the customer education process and direct potential buyers online to learn more and take the next steps in the purchase process. And direct an e-mail campaign to your current customer database to offset the cost of direct mail. Simply alternate e-mail and postal mail for a cost-effective one-two punch.
3. Move some off-line dollars online. Online advertising now offers a strong alternative to some traditional media, such as print yellow pages. Consider moving some of your traditional directory advertising dollars into online directories and search engines. The vast majority of Americans research their products online before making purchases, so a paid search campaign is an ideal way to make sure you turn up at the top of search results.
4. Follow your customer. Alternative out-of-home advertising opportunities let you place your message wherever your customers go. You can put your name and company logo on the umbrellas used by urban street vendors, or name hiking trails in wilderness areas. The key to using these new opportunities effectively is to place your message where it will appear in the proper context and reach your potential customers when they are in the right frame of mind.
This is basic advice on the surface, but within each point lies the seeds for determining just how marketing can best be applied to your company. For example, are you really placing your company name where customers can find it? Have you really thought about where your potential customers are? Are you trying to win over people who are already looking for what you're offering? Just who are your customers -- and where?
Hopefully the above tips will help get you started on the road to marketing success. Remember, Aplus.Net offers a wide array of marketing and eCommerce tools to back up whatever strategy you may decide upon.
Good luck!
(Click here to read the original article at Entrepreneur.com.)
