Tag: tips

Marketing tactics to try in 2016

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In the war to win new business and new customers and clients, it’s essential that entrepreneurs keep up to date with the latest marketing tactics that are favoured by those in the know. When you’re running your own business though, it goes without saying that you’re going to be pretty busy. You simply don’t have the time to dedicate huge chunks of your day to finding out what could work for you, so it pays to get a little guidance. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the right place! Let’s take a look at the approaches that are set to be big news in 2015.

Podcasting

In the past 12 months, podcasting has really taken off. It’s been around as a medium for years, but it’s only recently that marketers and big brands have started to sit up and pay attention. This could perhaps be attributed to the runaway success of Serial, a weekly series that examined a murder case from 1999. It racked up 5 million downloads. The sponsorship deal that MailChimp managed to strike up was regarded as one of the biggest marketing wins of 2015. In short, people are listening to podcasts, and it gives you a fantastic opportunity to connect with your audience. You’ll need to create exceptional content that adds value for your listeners if you want to make sure you’re heard, but keep in mind that you’re an expert in your field, and you have plenty to share. It’s just a case of getting creative and stepping outside of the box.

Video marketing

If you aren’t creating videos as part of your marketing strategy, you could be missing a trick. Many businesses, from small one-man start-ups to huge multinational corporations, are taking their seat at the table, and using this method to connect creates deeper relationships with their prospects. You could demonstrate your products, share tips and techniques, or simply share the story of your business. The great news is that it can also be pretty easy. You don’t need a huge budget, or any advanced equipment. These days, you can get started using most laptops and PCs, and your clips can be shared in seconds using YouTube.

Traditional networking events and exhibitions

In a time when there’s so much hype about online marketing tactics, it’s easy to forget that sometimes, the old approaches can be just as good. If you’ve previously had great results from attending events, armed with lanyards and banners and lead generating tactics, then why would you want to abandon your existing strategy? Though it’s always wise to experiment and keep up with the times, use your common sense and continue to develop in the areas that are already bringing in the cash. Be sure to keep your eyes open for new opportunities, such as recently set-up networking events catering for your industry in your local area.

There’s no uniform approach that’ll work for all businesses, so it’s essential that you try new things, assess your results, and build upon your successes. Avoid complacency, and don’t be scared to try new things and take calculated risks. The key here is preparation. Carefully plan your strategy, and get everything in order. Need items like stationary and lanyards? Order them today! The companies that take quick action are likely to come out on top.

Are you ready to create a marketing strategy that will deliver the results you need over the coming weeks and months? Which of these tactics will you be adding to your toolbox?

7 Festival Tactics to Catch All Your Must-See Acts

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You can’t miss Foo Fighters, but you’ve been dying to see Alt-J forever, and you cannot leave the festival without catching Hozier, so how do you get to stages in totally different areas without cloning yourself? It’s easy when you have a plan:

Do Your Research

It sounds logical, but you’d be surprised at how many people turn up to festivals without any idea of where and when their favourite acts are playing. Print out the festival schedule or take a screenshot with your phone. Now divide the playlist into must-see, would-like-to-see, and not-bothered. See which of your preferred acts are playing close together or (gasp) at the same time, and get ready to cull.

Decide on the Artist You Just Have to See

If you simply have to get up front for Kanye, you’ll need to get to the stage early, and that means missing out on any other sets playing at the same time. So, before you go, pick out your top three acts and schedule everything else around them.

Don’t Go with a Crowd

You just can’t please everybody, so if your aim is to actually see stuff, make sure you go to the festival with one or two friends with the same taste in music as you do. That way, you can catch the same acts and you won’t waste time trying to compromise.

Pack Light

It’s much harder to scamper between stages if you’re lugging a back-pack, so shove what you need into a bum bag, and you’ll find it much easier to slip through the crowds. And don’t be afraid to move with purpose: We know it goes against the whole peace-love vibe of festivals everywhere, but smiling at people will not get them to walk quicker.

Scope out the Stages

As soon as you’ve put up your tent and before you touch a refreshing beverage, grab your festival map and find all the stages where your favourite acts are playing. If you need to run from one stage to catch a performance at another, at least you’ll know the direction you need to head in.

Wear a Watch

Borrow or buy a watch you don’t mind losing or breaking. It’s hard to get to a performance if you don’t know what time it is, but flashing your iPhone every time you want to see how many minutes you have until the next act kicks off is just asking for trouble.

Stay at the Back

If your schedule means that you have very little time between the end of one performance and the start of another, stay at the rear of the crowd for the first one. Not only will it be easier for you to dash to the next stage once the first performance has finished (or even nearly finished, if you have a lot of distance to cover), you will also have more room to impress with your dance moves.

Getting your clients to help you with your small business marketing

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Running a small business is never easy, and one of the biggest issues around running a small business is being able to market it effectively. This takes a lot of work, but because you are working so hard to keep the business afloat and running well, all the work that is required to market it sometimes falls by the wayside.

However, often the answer is on your own doorstep. There are ways to market your business effectively as long as you look for the key people that are able to bring you value in your marketing. These are your current clients. If you use their opinions and their perceptions well, they can become marketing agents for you.

All you have to do is contact 5 to 10 clients and ask them if they wouldn’t mind being part of a formal phone interview. In this phone interview you will gather information that you can use in your marketing efforts. It doesn’t take long to do, and it is relatively inexpensive compared to other marketing efforts. Here is what you have to do to make sure that it works well for you.

Get that letter out there first

First of all send out a letter to your current clients asking if it’s okay for someone from your company to contact them for a phone interview. It’s always important to ask for permission first, otherwise it could be a problem as people get annoyed with the contact.

Then, choose an interviewer from your company, even yourself, and get them to ask the following questions. The answers to these questions should help you to make changes in marketing.

Get your interviewer to ask, for example, what problem was it that the client had that they felt your company could solve? By identifying the problems that your company solved for them, you can use these in your marketing efforts in the future. You obviously solved the problems for a client, and you can do this again. By being able to articulate the problem carefully through this contact with the client, you have a much better value proposition.

Where is the value?

Ask your current clients to identify what they valued most about your work. If they are able to do this, then this means that you can show this value in your marketing efforts. Whether it’s putting a message on the lanyard that your employees wear to a company event, or even the content of an email marketing campaign. With the value clearly articulated, it is much more effective.

Then ask these clients if there is any aspect of your service that they think could be improved to make it much more valuable and attractive as an offering. This is the crucial question, because it means that they are able to articulate to you how you can improve your service. And obviously, a great part of marketing for any small business is a consistent improvement of the service you bring.

Don’t underestimate the power of your current client base for marketing ideas and extra support in your marketing overall. They can provide you with plenty of ideas and contributions as regards how you can improve your service, and they can also tell you what you are doing well at the moment.

You can express those ideas in your marketing, and therefore continue to improve the service that you offer overall. At the same time, you’ll be attracting new clients through marketing that clearly outlines and illustrates just what you can do for those clients. It’ll work wonders for your future marketing efforts, and add to the revenue that you bring into the company.