Cashflow Masters - Marketing

Marketing - I'm a great entrepreneur!

Public Relations - Trust me!, He's a great entrepreneur!

Advertising - I'm a great entrepreneur!, I'm a great entrepreneur!, I'm a great entrepreneur!

Branding - I understand you're a great entrepreneur!

Marketing

Types of Marketing:

Content marketing – Publishing content in different forms to build brand awareness and nurture relationships with customers. Content marketing is usually thought of as a type of digital marketing but it can also take place offline. Examples of content marketing include blogs, posts on social media, infographics, and video.
Search engine optimization – Commonly known as SEO, this is the process of optimizing the content on your website to make it more visible to search engines and attract more traffic from searches.
Search engine marketing – Also known as pay-per-click or PPC, with this type of marketing businesses pay to have a link to their site placed in a prominent position on search engine result pages
Social media marketing – Using social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to build relationships with existing customers and reach a wider audience through digital word-of-mouth.
Email marketing – Sending regular email communications to users who have signed up to your list to build relationships and drive sales.
Retargeting – Contacting existing or potential customers after they have already had an interaction with your brand to get them to come back or convert into a sale. For example, placing an advert on their Facebook feed of a particular product they’ve looked at on your site.
Influencer marketing – Using individuals with a high profile and many followers on social network channels to promote your product or service.

The Four P's of Marketing:

Product – what will your product or service actually be and how does it meet the needs of your customer?
Pricing – what price will you set your product at? This is not always a monetary figure as customers may exchange their time or information for a “free” product.
Place – how do you deliver the product to the customer? Do they come into a physical store or do you sell online? Are you targeting a particular geographic region?
Promotion – what marketing methods will you use to tell the world about your product?

How to Develop a Marketing Strategy:

Identify your goals – what do you want your business to achieve in the short and long-term? This may include specific sales figures but also consider factors such as raising brand awareness and your presence on social media.
Market research and identifying your customers – learn as much as you can about your target customers. Who are they and what do they want and need?
Competitor analysis – what are your competitors doing in terms of marketing? What products are they selling and how are they interacting with their customers?
Identify your unique selling proposition (USP) – what are you doing that makes you a better choice than your competitors? How will your marketing reinforce your brand message?
Choose your marketing channels – most businesses opt for a blend of online and offline strategies. Again this comes down to understanding your audience – where do they spend their time? What platforms are they likely to trust more?

Public Relations

Public Relations (PR) is persuasion. This is the ability to convince an audience to promote your idea, purchase your product, support your position, or recognize your accomplishments.

Examples:

Write and distribute a press release
Speech writing
Write pitches (less formal than press releases) about a firm and send them directly to journalists
Create and execute special events designed for public outreach and media relations
Conduct market research on the firm or the firm’s messaging
Expansion of business contacts via personal networking or attendance and sponsoring at events
Writing and blogging for the web (internal or external sites)
Crisis public relations strategies
Social media promotions and responses to negative opinions online

Advertising

Newspaper

Newspaper advertising can promote your business to a wide range of customers. Display advertisements are placed throughout the paper, while classified listings are under subject headings in a specific section.

You may find that a combination of advertising in your state/metropolitan newspaper and your local paper gives you the best results.

Magazine

Advertising in a specialist magazine can reach your target market quickly and easily. Readers (your potential customers) tend to read magazines at their leisure and keep them for longer, giving your advertisement multiple chances to attract attention. Magazines generally serve consumers (by interest group e.g. women) and trade (industry/business type e.g. hospitality).

If your products need to be displayed in colour then glossy advertisements in a magazine can be ideal - although they are generally more expensive than newspaper advertisements.

Magazines do not usually serve a small area such as a specific town. If your target market is only a small percentage of the circulation, then advertising may not be cost-effective.

Radio

Advertising on the radio is a great way to reach your target audience. If your target market listens to a particular station, then regular advertising can attract new customers.

However, sound has its limitations. Listeners can find it difficult to remember what they have heard and sometimes the impact of radio advertising is lost. The best way to overcome this is to repeat your message regularly - which increases your costs significantly. If you cannot afford to play your advertisement regularly, you may find that radio advertising does not generate strong results.

Television

Television has an extensive reach and advertising this way is ideal if you cater to a large market in a large area. Television advertisements have the advantage of sight, sound, movement and colour to persuade a customer to buy from you. They are particularly useful if you need to demonstrate how your product or service works.

Producing a television advertisement and then buying an advertising slot is generally expensive. Advertising is sold in units (e.g. 20, 30, 60 seconds) and costs vary according to:

the time slot
the television program
whether it is metro or regional
if you want to buy spots on multiple networks.

Directories

Directories list businesses by name or category (e.g. Yellow Pages phone directories). Customers who refer to directories have often already made up their mind to buy - they just need to decide who to buy from.

The major advantage of online directories over print directories is that if you change your business name, address or telephone number, you can easily keep it up to date in the directory. You can also add new services or information about your business.

If your target market uses print and online directories, it may be useful to advertise in both, although print directories are being used less.

Outdoor and transit

There are many ways to advertise outside and on-the-go. Outdoor billboards can be signs by the road or hoardings at sport stadiums. Transit advertising can be posters on buses, taxis and bicycles. Large billboards can get your message across with a big impact. If the same customers pass your billboard every day as they travel to work, you are likely to be the first business they think of when they want to buy a product.

Even the largest of billboards usually contain a limited amount of information; otherwise, they can be difficult to read. Including your website address makes it easy for customers to follow up and find out more about your business. Outdoor advertising can be very expensive especially for prime locations and supersite billboards.

Direct mail, catalogues and leaflets

Direct mail means writing to customers directly. The more precise your mailing list or distribution area, the more of your target market you will reach. A direct mail approach is more personal, as you can select your audience and plan the timing to suit your business. A cost effective form of direct mail is to send your newsletters or flyers electronically to an email database. Find out more about direct mail.

Catalogues, brochures and leaflets can also be distributed to your target area. Including a brochure with your direct mail is a great way to give an interested customer more information about your products and services. Learn more about leaflet marketing using letterbox drops and handouts.

Online

Being on the internet can be a cost-effective way to attract new customers. You can reach a global audience at a low cost. Many customers research businesses online before deciding whom to buy from.

A well-designed website can entice customers to buy from you. There are a number of ways you can promote your business online via paid advertising or to improve your search engine rankings. Learn more about doing business online.

Other ways to advertise your business online include promoting your products or services on social media sites, blogs and search engines and other websites that your target audience visits. Find out more about social media.

Branding

Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the questions below:

What is your company's mission?
What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

Once you've defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here are a few simple, time-tested tips:

Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.
Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages you want to communicate about your brand? Every employee should be aware of your brand attributes.
Integrate your brand. Branding extends to every aspect of your business--how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople wear on sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.
Create a "voice" for your company that reflects your brand. This voice should be applied to all written communication and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.
Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.
Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials. Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don't need to be fancy, just consistent.
Be true to your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer you to someone else--if you don't deliver on your brand promise.
Be consistent. I placed this point last only because it involves all of the above and is the most important tip I can give you. If you can't do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.

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