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Three Marketing Secret Weapons
The Best Low-cost, High ROI Tactics
You’ve Never Heard Of
By Kim T. Gordon
What do major marketers know that
many entrepreneurs don’t? Plenty when it comes to some of the most effective
marketing tactics around. With big-budget agencies and in-house marketing teams
at their disposal, larger businesses use several tactics that entrepreneurs
could employ if they just had the basic know-how. What’s more, these
lesser-known tactics are actually lower in cost than the more common ones, such
as television and radio advertising or ads in magazines. And they’re stellar
performers when used to round out marketing campaigns and take a comprehensive
approach to reaching customers through multiple channels.
Take a look at these three
cost-saving tactics that you can put to work today:
1. Mat Releases Deliver National Audiences
For about the same cost as one small-space ad in a single major metropolitan
daily newspaper, you can place an article highlighting your company, or its
products and services, in dozens or even hundreds of newspapers and websites
nationwide. It’s not a gimmick and it’s not new. Services such as Metro
Editorial Services (www.metroeditorialservices.com) and ARANet Inc. (www.aracontent.com)
create what are called “mat releases” and distribute them to thousands of media
outlets. Notoriously understaffed and overworked, media outlets use them to fill
holes with well-written materials on topics that interest their readers or site
visitors. Unlike with press releases, editors may choose to use these articles
in their entirety, which means that your message isn’t apt to be changed or
garbled.
You don’t need polished writing
skills since the distribution services will get input from you and write your
mat release for you, or you can write it yourself and supply it to them for
editing. Longer pieces cost more, so you can keep your expenditures low by
producing releases that are 500 words or less. After your article is released,
you’ll receive a report showing the publications and websites in which it has
run. Mat releases on evergreen topics or themes are better than hot news
because, best of all, your article may continue to get picked up for many
months.
2. Dimensional Mail Gets Opened
Sending promotions in a box or tube
transforms run-of-the-mill direct mail into what’s called “dimensional mail”
that can deliver a very high return on investment. You may commonly think of
dimensional mail as a box with a product sample, such as soap or cereal, that’s
mailed by big-brand marketers to tens of thousands of consumers. But dimensional
mail in the hands of a clever entrepreneur can be a tool for making a powerful
impact for very little money with a select group of business-to-business
prospects. The key is to use it to motivate a small number of your top prospects
who’ve already been exposed to your message to take the next step.
You can cost-effectively create
from just 25 to about 50 boxes containing materials that cleverly convey an
intriguing marketing message. Include an item imprinted with your logo the
recipients will want to keep and a supporting marketing piece that contains a
call-to-action. For example, a client of ours sends a “relaxation kit”
containing a soothing eye mask and aromatherapy candle to busy PR executives
with step-by-step instructions on how to use his company’s speechwriting
services to eliminate overwork and stress. Instead of sending your dimensional
mail pieces out en masse, they should be individually hand delivered or shipped
and then followed up with a phone call within approximately two days. So it
might take as much as a year for you to use all 50 boxes.
3. Place-based Advertising Takes Your Message to Customers
Everyone is familiar with
traditional “out-of-home” advertising, such as posters on buses and in subways.
But other, more innovative forms of advertising that work by virtue of where
they’re placed have become the new darlings of marketers because they allow you
to put your messages wherever your customers may go. You don’t have to spend
tens of thousands of dollars on billboards. Major marketers are taking advantage
of much lower-cost place-based ad opportunities – and so can you.
Where will your customers be when
they’re in the right frame of mind to consider your message? You can place
advertising where it will influence your customers when they’re making a buying
decision, or simply use place-based media to raise your company’s visibility.
Advertising placement is available in marinas to reach boat owners, on
hospitality carts that cruise golf courses, above the diaper changing stations
in public restrooms, and on street vendor umbrellas. You can even put your logo
at the bottom of the community swimming pool or name your local hiking trail.
Think creatively and you’re bound to find a place-based advertising opportunity
that’s affordable and puts your message in the right location and context to
sway your customers.
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Kim
T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than
3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert
and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing,
Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business.
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