Sales & Marketing Consultant, Bestselling Author & Sales Conference Speaker

One of the best ways to grow your website is to use opt-in list building. This type of marketing campaign allows you to keep in touch with visitors who want to know what is going on with your company and your website. This type of marketing is not something that is brand new. In fact, companies have been doing it for a while with newsletters, offers and even free eBooks which customers can get when they sign up. Although giving things like a free eBook may sound like a lot, an eBook is something that you do only once while at the same time you could be sending several ways to get the customer to buy from you again.

The Look

In order to get an opt-in list building campaign going, you have to start by making the option attractive to customers. Give them something that they want so that they can sign up to your list. You can start by giving them a small discount in future purchases or information related to your website. When customers find something that they like and that looks good to sign up for they will be more willing to want to stay in touch with your company.

Good Practices

In order to make sure that customers do not hesitate to join your opt-in list building you should make sure to always follow good practices when you have customers’ information. It is a good idea not to sell their information to just anybody. Instead, try partnering with other companies that are related to the thing that you do. If you have an auto dealership for example you can partner with parts companies or other companies that can enhance their new vehicle. Make sure that people signing up know that they might get in touch with that company via email as well.

Happy Marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

http://www.seanmcpheat.com

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is often said that companies need to constantly innovate to retain customers and market share. That goes for the marketing of those companies and their products, too. However, innovation alone is not enough. Change simply for the sake of change is as likely to torpedo your marketing efforts as it is to accelerate them.

So how can you innovate in a way that strengthens and improves your marketing efforts? Simply said, keep your focus on the purpose of your marketing, and only change those things that support your purpose, in ways that serve your ultimate goal.

One of the easiest ways to keep constantly innovative while still supporting your goals is to ensure that your marketing provides value to your customers. Since what your customers view as valuable will be constantly changing, that means that you will need to continue to innovate in order to keep offering them value.

Part of the innovation will involve using new social media as they become available. However, it’s not enough to merely adopt new social media. Each new form of social media is used in a slightly new way, whether it’s the interactivity of Facebook, the burst of information in Twitter, or the visual impact of Pinterest. It’s important that you figure out what is viewed as valuable by the users of that social media, so that you can deliver it to them.

To help you figure out what your customers – or future customers – find valuable, you can use many different methods. You can test your marketing efforts with a small-scale launch or pilot program then refine it based on the customer feedback you receive before rolling it out to a wider public. You can work with customer surveys and focus groups to develop a social media strategy for the new platform so that you’re certain it’s meeting their needs for value before you implement it.

Remember, also, that value is not just an emotional reaction. The underlying products and services that you are marketing need to be creating real value for the people who use them. They should be saving them time or money, or allowing them to make more money. As the markets and global economy shift and change, marketing innovation will be required to show people how they can use those products and services in new ways so that they continue to save time or money, or make money.

Rather than relying on your marketing department to learn every new social media platform, and come up with every new spin on each product, ask the other departments for assistance as well. By having different perspectives and different viewpoints, you will naturally be able to see things in new and different ways.

Happy Marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat
http://www.seanmcpheat.com
(Image MorgueFile)

It is no secret that the economy is and has been in a downward state. Everybody is aware of this, too aware, in fact. While this is indeed a tough time for consumers and business owners, there are certain areas that you simply cannot afford to cut back. Marketing is one of those areas.

If you cut your marketing budget, you are essentially reducing your exposure to potential clients. It is during a downward economy that your marketing department needs to be stronger than ever, in order to stay competitive. You need to make sure you are following some of the tactics here to keep your company in the forefront of consumers’ minds.

Get Fresh

First, make sure you logo is current and fresh. You might not think this is important, but it is. The branding of your company is what makes it stand out. You have to make sure that you have not only an updated logo that is professionally designed.

Analyse the Market and Your Delivery

Analyse the market and make sure you are targeting all the audiences that you can. Many companies tend to neglect marketing to either the younger generation or the older generation. These are large sectors of the population, and you have to gear your strategy to each one in a different way, particularly when the economy is down and they are not letting go of their money as easily.

As you analyse your markets and come up with new strategies to pinpoint these groups, keep in mind that the delivery of your message is just as important as the message today. In the past, you could get away with newspaper ads, billboards and other written materials. Today, you need to bring in social media advertising, e-mail and many other online options for marketing your product. The money you spend to do this will convert to revenue over time.

Social Media Matters

Get involved in social media and keep your account current. If you start a Facebook or Google+ page and do not update it on a regular basis, you are losing exposure. Make sure your content is filled with relevant information that will draw your client base back to your site. You also want to pull in new clients with your pages.

When your company sponsors a booth at events geared toward your industry you should spend the money necessary for success. You should have takeaways that will draw potential clients and give your company maximum exposure. There are thousands and thousands of takeaways available through advertising companies. You can find something that everyone will like and use.

Reach Out

Finally, stay in touch with your clients, even those who have not been frequenting your business lately. Send out postcards, and plan an open house with cocktails and finger foods. The money you spend is an investment in the company.

A downward economy does affect businesses, and there are many areas where cuts have to be made. Marketing is not one of those areas. It is the area you need to focus on to keep your current clients and bring in more. Do you have ideas or tips for marketing when the economy is down? Leave a comment in the section below.

Happy Marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

http://www.seanmcpheat.com

(Image by  J S Creationzs)

Many businesses today have separate divisions for online and offline marketing. What these businesses fail to realise, however, is that an offline market and an online market nowadays are no longer two separate entities. The marketer who focuses exclusively on offline endeavours while failing to consider their implications for online endeavours is missing the proverbial boat. In order to be successful in either market, today’s marketing professional must unite online and offline endeavours, always maintaining a foot in both worlds and pursuing a strategy of integration and optimisation. Today I’d like to go over the five keys to success for integrating your online and offline marketing efforts.

Key 1: Use a consistent appearance.

In order for people to recognize your business everywhere, you have to look the same online as you do offline. Your website, email newsletter, and social media channels need to look the same as your newspaper advertisements, direct mail pieces, and brochures. Use one logo for everything, and use the same fonts, colour schemes, and representative product photos. In this way, customers will immediately recognise your business both online and off.

Key 2: Use a consistent message.

If your business has a special catchphrase or slogan that consumers identify you with offline, it should also appear in your online marketing endeavours. The same holds true if you are using a particular message for an online campaign; it should appear somewhere in your offline marketing efforts. The goal is to have a consistent message across the board in order to build your recognition in the marketplace.

Key 3: Advertise your website offline.

You’ve spent all that money building a great website, so advertise it. This is one of the easiest—and most easily overlooked—ways to build recognition. Include your URL on all ads, brochures, business cards, letterhead, invoices, signs, menus, and such like. Turn your offline endeavours into a doorway to your offline endeavours.

Key 4: Include your SEO keywords offline.

This is a subtle way of integrating your messaging across your online and offline endeavours, but it’s an important one. You’ve invested a lot in uncovering the optimal keywords to get your online presence noticed, and you’ve strategically placed them in your online content to get you noticed for what makes you distinct, so find ways to include these in your offline content as well. It will help you to keep a consistent message.

Key 5:  Include QR codes in offline ads with links to online landing pages

QR codes are those square images in ads that look computer-generated. They enable users to scan the image with their camera phones and, through the use of a smartphone app, be directed to a website with information about a product or a special offer. When including QR codes in your ads, make sure they take the user directly to a landing page for the product or service being advertised. If you take them to your main site and make them search for the product or service, you’ll end up annoying a potential customer.

Integration between online and offline marketing is critical for success in today’s competitive market. Success in one breeds success in the other, and maintaining a consistent approach to both will enable your business to reap a multitude of rewards.

Happy Marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

http://www.seanmcpheat.com

(Image by Stuart Miles)