Contests are a great way to add buzz to any marketing you do for your business. You can use contests to boost your marketing efforts for both getting new prospects or clients and also for adding new buzz and promoting to existing clients. Contests are a proven and very effective way to get leads and generate sales for any business.
Let's look at a few great examples of ideas to use contests in your marketing for both lead generation and also for client promotions and marketing buzz.
If you are looking to use contests as a lead generation tool in your marketing mix, here are 3 ideas to get you going.
The Trade Show Fishbowl
You've seen them before, the fishbowl or box with a sign to drop your business card in for a drawing.
This is a great way to collect leads for your business. You could offer a free dinner for two to a local restaurant, movie tickets, or even better, a product that you offer for free. Let's say, if you are a carpet cleaner, you could offer a free cleaning of the winner's living room.
The kicker here isn't just to collect the names but to give a Second Prize award to everyone that didn't win the first prize drawing. Make it a big deal. Send out an email or better yet, physical letter announcement congratulating the winner to EVERYONE on the list.
Then, you can include a Second Place prize to all the other names on the list that is a nice discount on your products or services. Make it something that looks like a prize though. Include a certificate that id designed nice to look like a real prize and not just a typical coupon of filler. Make the discount something significant. 24-50% off if you can do it. You could offer a free upgrade from your basic package to the deluxe option here also. This is a great way to make the person that receives the letter feel more special and excited about winning the prize.
Guess The Number
Have you seen the jellybean jars that some businesses use at trade shows or events? This is also a great contest you can run at an event or even in your retail store or shop. Find a number that fits in with your business and is a large number that you can have added up in jellybeans. This could be the number of dollars your company has saved your customers of the last year, the number if customers you have, number of people that have downloaded your life changing report, etc. Be creative with this and try to use something that will not only mean more to the customer but also impresses prospective customers by the shear number.
Then, get a jar to hold enough jelly beans for that number and fill up the jar with that number of jelly beans. Seal it up and have people at your event fill out a form guessing the number of jelly beans in the jar. Be sure to have them fill out a complete form containing their full contact information.
Once the event is over, find the person that guessed closest to the correct number and announce them as the winner with their guess and the correct number in the jar. Be sure to include a sales letter explaining the significance of the number of jelly beans and why that is important to them as customers or potential customers.
Again, include a Runner Up prize with the announcement to everyone else that entered with the same type of special offer that you would with the fishbowl. Many of the people that didn't win will still use they're Runner Up certificate as they still will like that they won something and if they were in need of your services already, they'll be excited about the offer.
Best Of the Best Contests
If you run a Business To Business company and your products or services save your clients time, money, etc, you can run a Best Of The Best Contest for your existing clients and not only promote the use of your product and other products they might not have yet, but also built a ton of case studies and testimonials on how great your product is. Send out an announcement to your customers that you are running a Best Of the Best contest and that you are looking for the customer that has had the biggest effect by using your products or services.
Set some guidelines for the contest. If could be an essay, a journal of how they use the product and including before and after results.
If you have enough entries, you can even narrow it down to the top 3-5 entries and then have your other clients vote on the finalize from there. You not only get great testimonials and case studies from the entries but also get other users of your product or service to think about additional ways to use your product and how they can get the same great results that they weren't getting before without your product.
Using contests in your marketing mix is a great way to promote your business to both existing customers and clients but also to help to promote your business and make it more fun for prospective customers also. This can help build a new list of prospects and even fire up your existing customers to help talk about the great results that have had from your products and services. Great testimonials, new clients from trade shows, and great customer case studies from raving fans are just a couple of things you can get from using contests as just piece of your marketing mix.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Small Business Marketing Ideas – Mini Seminars To Establish Yourself As The Authority In Your Area
A great way to not only promote your business but also to increase your position as an authority in your industry is to hold mini-seminars. Many small business owners over think this and think this is too complicated or expensive to do for their business. It really isn't and you can start small with it and grow it as you get the word out more.
It doesn't matter what industry you look at, people are always wanting more information and want to feel that they made an educated decision in their choice of company that they work with. By putting on a small mini-seminar, you can use this method to educate your prospects about the industry so they make a better choice and at the same time establish yourself as the expert.
You don't have to have a room of 100 people in your first mini-seminar. You can start with a room that will only hold ten people. It doesn't have to be huge right away. You can also use this as scarcity in your marketing and promotions for the event. If you can only take 10 people, then they need to register right away.
You can either rent a small conference room at a hotel or look to your local library or Chamber of Commerce to see if they have a room you can use. Depending on the situation, you might be able to get the room for free.
The timing of your mini-seminar can be as small as a two hour presentation. You don't have make it a full day event. Again, start smaller and expand as needed. Especially if you are doing the event at no cost to your attendees. You want to give them a great educational experience but remember that the goal is to also get them to see you as the expert and hire your company for their needs.
You will also need to decide on the price.
There are advantages to both free and paid seminars.
Free Seminars
1. More people will register for something that is free
2. You then get in front of a lot more people that way
3. You can some times get the room for free if you are not charging for the event
4. You can then establish yourself as the expect first and wow them with your knowledge which will make them more likely to trust to buy from you.
5. Can be shorter (2-3 hours)
Paid Seminars
1. Covers any cost of the room
2. You can make a profit on the event itself and make it another source of income
3. People will be more serious about the event since they are invested
4. It's ok to have a smaller group. Attendees will appreciate the more personal attention they will get
If your main goal is to get more prospects, you might even want to charge a small fee (under $25) in order to get still cover any expenses but also be able to get more people to attend. Most people won't think much of spending $25 for an event they are interested in.
Be sure to give a lot of great information in your presentation and really over deliver in what you are teaching about as you want attendees to really be excited about the even. Even if they don't buy your product right away, you left them with a positive experience and they will tell others.
And most importantly, be sure to follow up with the event. Make sure that you have complete information for every person that attended the event. This way you can follow up with them in the future and turn them from prospects into clients.
It doesn't matter what industry you look at, people are always wanting more information and want to feel that they made an educated decision in their choice of company that they work with. By putting on a small mini-seminar, you can use this method to educate your prospects about the industry so they make a better choice and at the same time establish yourself as the expert.
You don't have to have a room of 100 people in your first mini-seminar. You can start with a room that will only hold ten people. It doesn't have to be huge right away. You can also use this as scarcity in your marketing and promotions for the event. If you can only take 10 people, then they need to register right away.
You can either rent a small conference room at a hotel or look to your local library or Chamber of Commerce to see if they have a room you can use. Depending on the situation, you might be able to get the room for free.
The timing of your mini-seminar can be as small as a two hour presentation. You don't have make it a full day event. Again, start smaller and expand as needed. Especially if you are doing the event at no cost to your attendees. You want to give them a great educational experience but remember that the goal is to also get them to see you as the expert and hire your company for their needs.
You will also need to decide on the price.
There are advantages to both free and paid seminars.
Free Seminars
1. More people will register for something that is free
2. You then get in front of a lot more people that way
3. You can some times get the room for free if you are not charging for the event
4. You can then establish yourself as the expect first and wow them with your knowledge which will make them more likely to trust to buy from you.
5. Can be shorter (2-3 hours)
Paid Seminars
1. Covers any cost of the room
2. You can make a profit on the event itself and make it another source of income
3. People will be more serious about the event since they are invested
4. It's ok to have a smaller group. Attendees will appreciate the more personal attention they will get
If your main goal is to get more prospects, you might even want to charge a small fee (under $25) in order to get still cover any expenses but also be able to get more people to attend. Most people won't think much of spending $25 for an event they are interested in.
Be sure to give a lot of great information in your presentation and really over deliver in what you are teaching about as you want attendees to really be excited about the even. Even if they don't buy your product right away, you left them with a positive experience and they will tell others.
And most importantly, be sure to follow up with the event. Make sure that you have complete information for every person that attended the event. This way you can follow up with them in the future and turn them from prospects into clients.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Small Business Marketing Ideas – Using Inserts To Sell Your Existing Customers Again
One of the most overlooked small business marketing ideas is the use of package inserts to upsell and continue selling your existing customers. They have already bought from you before and as long as you are providing a great service already, they are likely to buy from you again.
I see it a lot with the big catalog type of companies but most small businesses don't think to use this in their own marketing. Think about the last time you bought something from Amazon or a catalog company. Usually when you get your package in the mail you also get a few inserts or flyers talking about other products that you might be interested in. This is an upsell. They might even promote it at a special discounted price on the insert.
Any business can do this. Are you a service business that provides the clients with their invoice after they job it done? You could give the client an additional insert on a discount on their next job or a special price on another service you offer.
Do you mail customers invoices? You could also do an insert here. If you've looked at your cell phone invoice at all lately they usually stick a couple inserts in with the bill promoting their new phones and service plans.
Let's say you're a printer. You could insert a flyer in your invoices that reminds customers to check their business card stack and order new cards before they run out. Or you could promote a new product you just added to your line.
When designing your inserts, you also want to be creative. Here's a few things to think about before you start.
1. Focus on only one product.
Don't try to fit everything you do on one insert. Keep it simple and focuses on just one service or product.
2. Make it stand out.
Use bright colors and large bold fonts. You want this to catch their attention as soon as they open the package. It doesn't do any good if they don't even look at it.
3. Make sure it's on the top of your package.
Don't let your insert get buried in the bottom of the package. You want them to see the insert BEFORE they see the product they ordered. You want them to open and read it first.
4. What product or service compliments what they ordered?
Depending on the volume and type of business you do, it's best to find complimentary products that might go with the products they ordered. If someone ordered a table, they usually want matching chairs, right? Depending on your product line, they might not even have noticed that this second product would go great with what they ordered. You want to offer it to them as soon as possible so they can complete the collection.
Remember that your existing clients at always ten times more likely to buy from you again than a new client. Don't pass up the opportunity to sell them more of your services and products at every opportunity. If you provide great service, most will be likely to buy additional products from you. Especially right after the first sale. Too many small businesses focus on the new clients and not enough on selling more to existing clients. This is a simple and cost effective way to increase sales with very little work on your part and is a great addition to your small business marketing plan.
I see it a lot with the big catalog type of companies but most small businesses don't think to use this in their own marketing. Think about the last time you bought something from Amazon or a catalog company. Usually when you get your package in the mail you also get a few inserts or flyers talking about other products that you might be interested in. This is an upsell. They might even promote it at a special discounted price on the insert.
Any business can do this. Are you a service business that provides the clients with their invoice after they job it done? You could give the client an additional insert on a discount on their next job or a special price on another service you offer.
Do you mail customers invoices? You could also do an insert here. If you've looked at your cell phone invoice at all lately they usually stick a couple inserts in with the bill promoting their new phones and service plans.
Let's say you're a printer. You could insert a flyer in your invoices that reminds customers to check their business card stack and order new cards before they run out. Or you could promote a new product you just added to your line.
When designing your inserts, you also want to be creative. Here's a few things to think about before you start.
1. Focus on only one product.
Don't try to fit everything you do on one insert. Keep it simple and focuses on just one service or product.
2. Make it stand out.
Use bright colors and large bold fonts. You want this to catch their attention as soon as they open the package. It doesn't do any good if they don't even look at it.
3. Make sure it's on the top of your package.
Don't let your insert get buried in the bottom of the package. You want them to see the insert BEFORE they see the product they ordered. You want them to open and read it first.
4. What product or service compliments what they ordered?
Depending on the volume and type of business you do, it's best to find complimentary products that might go with the products they ordered. If someone ordered a table, they usually want matching chairs, right? Depending on your product line, they might not even have noticed that this second product would go great with what they ordered. You want to offer it to them as soon as possible so they can complete the collection.
Remember that your existing clients at always ten times more likely to buy from you again than a new client. Don't pass up the opportunity to sell them more of your services and products at every opportunity. If you provide great service, most will be likely to buy additional products from you. Especially right after the first sale. Too many small businesses focus on the new clients and not enough on selling more to existing clients. This is a simple and cost effective way to increase sales with very little work on your part and is a great addition to your small business marketing plan.
A Simple Call Can Explode Your Direct Mail Results And Help Your Small Business Marketing
Direct Mail is a great marketing tool for any small business marketing plan. It's the staple for many businesses world wide and has been for years. But, many small businesses don't have the budget for large mailings on a regular basis. One simple way to increase the return on investment on any direct mail campaign that you do, can be to simply pick up the phone and follow up.
Most small businesses just send out one letter, postcard or mailer to a list of prospects and never do anything else. And most don't get the results that they expect from that mailing. The key is follow up.
Here's a great step by step process that will increase the chances of any direct mail marketing piece to be much more successful and explode your sales.
First send your prospects a sales letter designed to look like it was personally mailed to them. Be sure to include their name in the letter with Mail Merge and personalize the letter a bit to sound more personal. You should set up a campaign of 3 letters to be sent out once every 3 weeks.
Be sure to reference the previous letters in the second and third letters.
Now, here's the kicker.
After the third letter, call the prospect. Yes! Actually pick up the phone and call them.
We all hate making cold calls in any sales position but this isn't really a cold call. You've already made a connection with them. When you call then, you're not trying to make a connection. You're actually following up to make sure that they received your letters. That's the purpose of your call. You'll start off by asking if they received your letters.
If they did, did they have any questions?
Who are they currently using for the services you provide?
Why do they use that company?
Would they be willing to sit down and talk with you about your product and how you can improve their business with your product?
Now you can get your foot in the door for a meeting and get in front of them.
Just because someone didn't call you from your direct mail piece, doesn't mean that they weren't interested. We all get busy and if they are a business owner you know they are even more busy. This might be the perfect opportunity to get to the top of their mind. They might have planned on calling you already and just had not had a chance to stop and do it.
I've personally used this several times and ended up with twice as many leads because of the phone calls than I did than by people actually contacting me after our own direct mail campaigns. That's a 50% increase from the mailers by themselves.
If they haven't received your direct mail pieces, here's your opportunity to update their contact information and still ask for the appointment. You could send them to your website and walk them through the benefits and advantages of your products or services and still end up with the sale.
So for small businesses direct mail is a great tool to add to your marketing mix but a simple 5 minute phone call following up to any mailing campaign you do can really explode your results and get that new client in the door that will pay for the entire campaign.
Most small businesses just send out one letter, postcard or mailer to a list of prospects and never do anything else. And most don't get the results that they expect from that mailing. The key is follow up.
Here's a great step by step process that will increase the chances of any direct mail marketing piece to be much more successful and explode your sales.
First send your prospects a sales letter designed to look like it was personally mailed to them. Be sure to include their name in the letter with Mail Merge and personalize the letter a bit to sound more personal. You should set up a campaign of 3 letters to be sent out once every 3 weeks.
Be sure to reference the previous letters in the second and third letters.
Now, here's the kicker.
After the third letter, call the prospect. Yes! Actually pick up the phone and call them.
We all hate making cold calls in any sales position but this isn't really a cold call. You've already made a connection with them. When you call then, you're not trying to make a connection. You're actually following up to make sure that they received your letters. That's the purpose of your call. You'll start off by asking if they received your letters.
If they did, did they have any questions?
Who are they currently using for the services you provide?
Why do they use that company?
Would they be willing to sit down and talk with you about your product and how you can improve their business with your product?
Now you can get your foot in the door for a meeting and get in front of them.
Just because someone didn't call you from your direct mail piece, doesn't mean that they weren't interested. We all get busy and if they are a business owner you know they are even more busy. This might be the perfect opportunity to get to the top of their mind. They might have planned on calling you already and just had not had a chance to stop and do it.
I've personally used this several times and ended up with twice as many leads because of the phone calls than I did than by people actually contacting me after our own direct mail campaigns. That's a 50% increase from the mailers by themselves.
If they haven't received your direct mail pieces, here's your opportunity to update their contact information and still ask for the appointment. You could send them to your website and walk them through the benefits and advantages of your products or services and still end up with the sale.
So for small businesses direct mail is a great tool to add to your marketing mix but a simple 5 minute phone call following up to any mailing campaign you do can really explode your results and get that new client in the door that will pay for the entire campaign.
Monday, March 2, 2009
5 Tips To Using Circulars In Your Small Business Marketing
Circulars, along the same lines as flyers, are a great way to market your business as a small business owner in any community. This marketing ideas works for both consumer or business markets and can help establish your company in your local community as the Go To business for the products and services you sell.
You can distribute your circulars to areas in your local community. Churches, coffee shops, community boards, Chambers of Commerce, and even maybe your local library are all great places to see if you can place your circulars.
The design of your circular should basically be like other flyers you might create and here are a few things to keep in mind for your circular.
1. Design of your circular
Keep the design simple and clean. Don't go crazy with your fonts and colors. You can't want it to look like a bad piece of art. You want to have a direct message that clearly explains who you are, what you do and what the benefits of using your company are.
2. Customize the circular to the group
If you are distributing your circulars to your local church, be sure to customize the message and offer (more on the offer below) to that group. Make them feel like you are giving them a deal because they are also part of that group. Add the group name to the headline so when they see it they know it was designed just for them and it will make them feel more special.
3. Focus on one product or service
Don't try to fit everything you do on a one page flyer. Chances are you do more than what can fit on one page. Focus your message on the one thing that you think will benefit the group your are promoting to the most. You can still include a small list of other services too but keep the majority focused on your main product.
4. Offer a special discount or coupon
Your coupon or discount will serve two purposes. For any form of advertising you do to promote your business products or services.
First off, it gives the prospect a special and people love to get discounts and free stuff. Any time there is a coupon or discount, they will be more likely to pay attention and take advantage of the special. Be sure to customize the discount just for that group. You'll increase response just because it's just for their group. If you are offering a 10% off discount for your local Church group, then they will feel more loyal because you are doing this for them.
5. Include a direct Call To Action
You have to tell people what to do next. Do you want them to come in to your store with their coupon? How about calling you and mentioning a specific code. We have used this with our Chamber Of Commerce membership. We tell them to mention they are Chamber Members to get special discounts and offers when they call us.
As you can see, circulars are a great addition to your small business marketing ideas as long as you keep a couple of things in mind. Using circulars can increase your business presence in your local community and get clients that know, like and trust you very quickly.
You can distribute your circulars to areas in your local community. Churches, coffee shops, community boards, Chambers of Commerce, and even maybe your local library are all great places to see if you can place your circulars.
The design of your circular should basically be like other flyers you might create and here are a few things to keep in mind for your circular.
1. Design of your circular
Keep the design simple and clean. Don't go crazy with your fonts and colors. You can't want it to look like a bad piece of art. You want to have a direct message that clearly explains who you are, what you do and what the benefits of using your company are.
2. Customize the circular to the group
If you are distributing your circulars to your local church, be sure to customize the message and offer (more on the offer below) to that group. Make them feel like you are giving them a deal because they are also part of that group. Add the group name to the headline so when they see it they know it was designed just for them and it will make them feel more special.
3. Focus on one product or service
Don't try to fit everything you do on a one page flyer. Chances are you do more than what can fit on one page. Focus your message on the one thing that you think will benefit the group your are promoting to the most. You can still include a small list of other services too but keep the majority focused on your main product.
4. Offer a special discount or coupon
Your coupon or discount will serve two purposes. For any form of advertising you do to promote your business products or services.
First off, it gives the prospect a special and people love to get discounts and free stuff. Any time there is a coupon or discount, they will be more likely to pay attention and take advantage of the special. Be sure to customize the discount just for that group. You'll increase response just because it's just for their group. If you are offering a 10% off discount for your local Church group, then they will feel more loyal because you are doing this for them.
5. Include a direct Call To Action
You have to tell people what to do next. Do you want them to come in to your store with their coupon? How about calling you and mentioning a specific code. We have used this with our Chamber Of Commerce membership. We tell them to mention they are Chamber Members to get special discounts and offers when they call us.
As you can see, circulars are a great addition to your small business marketing ideas as long as you keep a couple of things in mind. Using circulars can increase your business presence in your local community and get clients that know, like and trust you very quickly.
Friday, February 27, 2009
4 Keys to Using Trade Shows In Your Marketing Mix
Trade Shows are a great way to capture leads for your business. Remember that getting the lead is the most important part of any marketing plan. You are building a list of hot prospects that are interested in your product. The best kind of lead out there.
1. Don't sit behind the booth!
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people at trade shows do. You spent a lot of money to be there. Don't waste it by sitting behind your booth like a bump on a log. Stand in front of your booth and be interactive with the people walking by. Catch their attention. Talk to them and invite them over to look at your materials. Answer questions related to your products. Don't just let them look and walk away.
Ask people that do come up to your booth if they have any questions. Ask them if they are familiar with your services or products. Engage the audience. Think about the carnies at the fair midway. You are similar to them. You don't get paid if people don't play. Now you don't have to as annoying or pushy as them but you do need to stand out and engage people so they don't just walk past your booth without talking to you. They may not even know they need your product but after you talk to them they might see a whole new light and really be interested in talking more. Guess what... That's a lead!
2. Get their name and phone number!
So what are you really at the trade show for? To get leads. If anyone tells you trade shows are just great name awareness, walk away and try not to laugh at them. Yes, that is one reason to be there but it's not the main reason. Just because they saw your booth, doesn't mean they will remember you once they've gone through two more rows of booths. You need to collect their information. If it's a Business to Business trade show, collect business cards from everyone you meet. If it's Business to consumer, have a simple form to fill out so you can follow up with them after the show.
One of the best things you can do it have a Free Report or Consumer Awareness Guide that you can mail or email to them after the show. Offer to send it to them the next day if they give you their name, email address and physical address. Now you are building your list. You now have someone specific to market to!
Offer a free giveaway item. Everyone has seen the fishbowl drawings at trade show booths. They don't do this just to get you to stop by their booth. They do it because you now have given them your contact information so they can follow up and market to you in the future. You should be doing the same. It doesn't have to be something big like a free vacation if that's not in your budget. It can be for a gift basket of your products or even as simple as a gift card to your local coffee shop. People always like the opportunity to get something for free. They will go out of their way and fill out your registration form in order to get something for free!
3. Stay to the end
It always amazes me how many vendors at trade shows stay for an hour or so and then pack up because they're bored or tired. Guess what! You paid to be there. Stick it out to the end. I've personally made more connections in the last 30 minutes of trade shows I've attended than in the entire three or four hours I've been there. This is especially important if you are in a Business to Business trade show. You can make more connections with the other vendors than the walk through traffic so don't discard the value of visiting the other vendors there also. It might be the best connection you make. You will never know if you leave after the first hour.
4. Follow up after the show
So many people I see at trade shows collect business cards or names on a list and never do anything with them. They expect that just because someone saw them at the trade show that they will call the vendor to buy something. It's your responsibility to follow up and get the sale. Not their's. This is your chance to make a great impression on them and follow up as soon as you can to set up a meeting, send them more information about you or just to ask them if they are ready to buy. Offer them a free estimate.
You just need to follow up as soon as you can and keep them in your database for future promotions.
This is how you can build a list quickly and use trade shows to build your list of prospects quickly and get the most out of any trade show you are part of.
1. Don't sit behind the booth!
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people at trade shows do. You spent a lot of money to be there. Don't waste it by sitting behind your booth like a bump on a log. Stand in front of your booth and be interactive with the people walking by. Catch their attention. Talk to them and invite them over to look at your materials. Answer questions related to your products. Don't just let them look and walk away.
Ask people that do come up to your booth if they have any questions. Ask them if they are familiar with your services or products. Engage the audience. Think about the carnies at the fair midway. You are similar to them. You don't get paid if people don't play. Now you don't have to as annoying or pushy as them but you do need to stand out and engage people so they don't just walk past your booth without talking to you. They may not even know they need your product but after you talk to them they might see a whole new light and really be interested in talking more. Guess what... That's a lead!
2. Get their name and phone number!
So what are you really at the trade show for? To get leads. If anyone tells you trade shows are just great name awareness, walk away and try not to laugh at them. Yes, that is one reason to be there but it's not the main reason. Just because they saw your booth, doesn't mean they will remember you once they've gone through two more rows of booths. You need to collect their information. If it's a Business to Business trade show, collect business cards from everyone you meet. If it's Business to consumer, have a simple form to fill out so you can follow up with them after the show.
One of the best things you can do it have a Free Report or Consumer Awareness Guide that you can mail or email to them after the show. Offer to send it to them the next day if they give you their name, email address and physical address. Now you are building your list. You now have someone specific to market to!
Offer a free giveaway item. Everyone has seen the fishbowl drawings at trade show booths. They don't do this just to get you to stop by their booth. They do it because you now have given them your contact information so they can follow up and market to you in the future. You should be doing the same. It doesn't have to be something big like a free vacation if that's not in your budget. It can be for a gift basket of your products or even as simple as a gift card to your local coffee shop. People always like the opportunity to get something for free. They will go out of their way and fill out your registration form in order to get something for free!
3. Stay to the end
It always amazes me how many vendors at trade shows stay for an hour or so and then pack up because they're bored or tired. Guess what! You paid to be there. Stick it out to the end. I've personally made more connections in the last 30 minutes of trade shows I've attended than in the entire three or four hours I've been there. This is especially important if you are in a Business to Business trade show. You can make more connections with the other vendors than the walk through traffic so don't discard the value of visiting the other vendors there also. It might be the best connection you make. You will never know if you leave after the first hour.
4. Follow up after the show
So many people I see at trade shows collect business cards or names on a list and never do anything with them. They expect that just because someone saw them at the trade show that they will call the vendor to buy something. It's your responsibility to follow up and get the sale. Not their's. This is your chance to make a great impression on them and follow up as soon as you can to set up a meeting, send them more information about you or just to ask them if they are ready to buy. Offer them a free estimate.
You just need to follow up as soon as you can and keep them in your database for future promotions.
This is how you can build a list quickly and use trade shows to build your list of prospects quickly and get the most out of any trade show you are part of.
Small Business Marketing Ideas – Using Door Hangers To Market Your Local Businesses
If you own or operate a retail business, door hangers are a great way to get your name out and get customers in your local area in the door. Most of the time, people only think about door hanger for the local pizza delivery place down the street but why do you think they use this method of marketing? Because it works very well and is usually where most of their business comes from. Adding door hangers to your marketing mix can be very effective and drive people from your local community in your door just as well a it does for the local pizza joint.
There are many companies that specialize in delivering door hangers to local neighborhoods for a very affordable price. You could also hire students from a local high school to do this for you and help out a couple of local kids in the process.
This works best with anyone in the food industry but almost any business that has a retail location targeting consumers can benefit from this type of marketing. If you own a massage spa you can promote a grand opening or a neighborhood special event to get people in the door to see who you are and the services your business offers. This is a great way to bring awareness that you are in their area. People love to find services that are in their local area. This is convenient for them and also gives them a sense of community when they spend their money with the business down the street instead of driving across town.
More and more, people are aware of the community and want to spend their money locally to build their community instead of buying somewhere else. Many times, they will even be willing to spend more to help out a local business instead of the cheaper guy online or that is further away from them.
So, find local neighborhood communities in your area that are your target market. You may need to do a little research to make sure that these areas are your target market. Be sure you are catering to people that are your target market. If you offer physical therapy for the elderly but your office is surrounded by communities of young couples, then you need to look a little further. You'll be wasting your money to market to these neighborhoods.
Find out as much information as you can about these neighborhoods. Income levels, are they married, do they have kids, etc. These all will tell you if this neighborhood is a good fit for your marketing. It will also tell you more about how to craft your door hangeras well as what offer to put on the door hangers.
Your offer is going to be the most important part of the door hanger. This is how you track how effective this marketing piece is for you. You want to know exactly how effective it is so you can evaluate if it is the right market. If it's not as effective as you think it should be, what's wrong? Is it the neighborhood you are promoting to or is it your marketing message? Is it the offer? These are all things you need to test in order to make your advertising dollar as effective as possible.
Here's a couple of things to keep in mind for your door hanger design.
Make it easy to read. No hard to read or script fonts. Make it simple for them to know exactly who you are and what you are offering them.
Be sure to include every way that they can contact you if they are interested. Phone number, website address, and physical address are all important. Be sure to include a detailed map if you want them to come in to your store. This makes it much easier for them to find you and also helps them realize that you are right down the street from them.
Always include an offer. Let's say you own a coffee shop. Offer a free drink coupon on a specific day with the coupon on the door hanger People love something for free and most of the time, people will come in with someone else so they will end up spending more money anyway. Plus, if they like your products, they will likely come back again and next time they will also tell their friends about it too.
Be sure to include at least one coupon on every door hanger. Discounts and freebies always get people to take action. Be sure they know they need to bring in the coupon when they come so you can track it and see the response.
Also include an expiration date. Any discount or offer you have should always have an expiration date. This encourages customers to come in sooner rather than later. They don't want to miss out on their free drink or even two for one offer. Not having an expiration date will let them think they can hold off and then they may end up forgetting completely.
Make the coupon stand out. Make it look like a coupon. Design your coupon to have a dashed line around it like they should cut it out. Also try to include a photo of your product. This also will increase response as they will see what it is they are getting.
Door hangers are a great way to get in front of local customers for any local retail location. From coffee shop and pizza joints to day spas and gyms, door hangers are a great way to promote locally and get the community aware of your business.
There are many companies that specialize in delivering door hangers to local neighborhoods for a very affordable price. You could also hire students from a local high school to do this for you and help out a couple of local kids in the process.
This works best with anyone in the food industry but almost any business that has a retail location targeting consumers can benefit from this type of marketing. If you own a massage spa you can promote a grand opening or a neighborhood special event to get people in the door to see who you are and the services your business offers. This is a great way to bring awareness that you are in their area. People love to find services that are in their local area. This is convenient for them and also gives them a sense of community when they spend their money with the business down the street instead of driving across town.
More and more, people are aware of the community and want to spend their money locally to build their community instead of buying somewhere else. Many times, they will even be willing to spend more to help out a local business instead of the cheaper guy online or that is further away from them.
So, find local neighborhood communities in your area that are your target market. You may need to do a little research to make sure that these areas are your target market. Be sure you are catering to people that are your target market. If you offer physical therapy for the elderly but your office is surrounded by communities of young couples, then you need to look a little further. You'll be wasting your money to market to these neighborhoods.
Find out as much information as you can about these neighborhoods. Income levels, are they married, do they have kids, etc. These all will tell you if this neighborhood is a good fit for your marketing. It will also tell you more about how to craft your door hangeras well as what offer to put on the door hangers.
Your offer is going to be the most important part of the door hanger. This is how you track how effective this marketing piece is for you. You want to know exactly how effective it is so you can evaluate if it is the right market. If it's not as effective as you think it should be, what's wrong? Is it the neighborhood you are promoting to or is it your marketing message? Is it the offer? These are all things you need to test in order to make your advertising dollar as effective as possible.
Here's a couple of things to keep in mind for your door hanger design.
Make it easy to read. No hard to read or script fonts. Make it simple for them to know exactly who you are and what you are offering them.
Be sure to include every way that they can contact you if they are interested. Phone number, website address, and physical address are all important. Be sure to include a detailed map if you want them to come in to your store. This makes it much easier for them to find you and also helps them realize that you are right down the street from them.
Always include an offer. Let's say you own a coffee shop. Offer a free drink coupon on a specific day with the coupon on the door hanger People love something for free and most of the time, people will come in with someone else so they will end up spending more money anyway. Plus, if they like your products, they will likely come back again and next time they will also tell their friends about it too.
Be sure to include at least one coupon on every door hanger. Discounts and freebies always get people to take action. Be sure they know they need to bring in the coupon when they come so you can track it and see the response.
Also include an expiration date. Any discount or offer you have should always have an expiration date. This encourages customers to come in sooner rather than later. They don't want to miss out on their free drink or even two for one offer. Not having an expiration date will let them think they can hold off and then they may end up forgetting completely.
Make the coupon stand out. Make it look like a coupon. Design your coupon to have a dashed line around it like they should cut it out. Also try to include a photo of your product. This also will increase response as they will see what it is they are getting.
Door hangers are a great way to get in front of local customers for any local retail location. From coffee shop and pizza joints to day spas and gyms, door hangers are a great way to promote locally and get the community aware of your business.
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