1.      Increase visibility in your community. Join local organizations that provide business networking opportunities, or start your own. Do volunteer work for a large charity. You’d be surprised at the marketing support such activities can bring.

2.       Creatively package your marketing campaigns. A postcard is one way to market your business. But how about putting a small box together with a fork, knife, spoon and a custom printed napkin that invites your prospect to “have lunch on us?” Think outside the box, and your marketing campaigns will have more impact.

3.      Yes, use Facebook and Twitter. Having a Facebook page may not earn you any new business, but not having one may cause customers to ask why you don’t. Take some good pictures of your offices and your employees (unless you’d rather leave those details to your customers’ imaginations), or, in some fashion, put a more human face on your company identity. 

 4.       Talk to your clients. It’s amazing how much money businesses spend to gather market information and attract new clients when they have a wealth of opportunity and information in their existing client base. One of the best ways to increase revenue is to talk to existing customers. Ideally, this should be done by someone outside your company so clients are willing to be honest and open.

5.      Get the word out with publicity. Think you can’t do PR or publicity without employing the services of a high-priced firm? You can! Although a good firm brings tremendous contacts and experience, most small companies can do enough PR on their own to spark the public’s interest.

6.      Use downtime for marketing.  When times are slow, keep employees busy contacting customers. Create e-mail marketing documents your employees can send to individual customers. Personal contact with customers gets results. Mass e-mails are less effective and, given today’s e-mail spam filters, may not be seen by many. Send Greeting Cards on a regular basis not just the holidays. Go for quality contacts rather than quantity.

7.      Leverage existing relationships. Most people know at least 200 people. Do the math: If you know 200 people and they each know 200 people, that’s 40,000 potential contacts! Spend time developing relationships with the people you already know-clients, colleagues, people you meet through professional networking organizations, friends and even family.

8.      Develop Strategic Partnerships. Establishing partnerships with other businesses allows you to combine your resources to overcome challenges. By creating an alliance with other organizations you can develop a synergy that improves your ability to meet the needs of your target market and decreases you marketing budget.

9.      Incorporate Promotional Products.  Promotional products move people to action. On average, 62% of end users do business with the advertiser after they receive the item, which makes them a great prospecting tool. The average Cost Per Impression (CPI) of an advertising specialty item is $0.004; as a result, you get a more favorable return on investment from advertising specialties than nearly any other popular advertising media.   

10.    Position yourself as an expert. Position yourself as the go-to expert in your field. It costs next to nothing and is the key to your success.  Positioning yourself as the expert can help you no matter what you sell. Write articles for a blog, engage in public speaking, and educate your clients.  You don’t have to have an advanced academic degree to use expert positioning to grow your business. You do need to be an expert in an area relevant to your business.

The key is to never surrender.  Getting new and potential customers to notice you is an ongoing—and sometimes uphill—battle, and one you can’t ever stop fighting. Pick a new idea every week or two and implement it, no matter how small it is. Call a meeting of employees, order a pizza for lunch, and brainstorm; offer an incentive for ideas you implement. Before long, your marketing might just pay off in new sales—and happier, more involved customers.

The big question for marketers today is, what makes Gen Y tick? It is difficult to reach this generation through traditional marketing channels. In a world of Advertising Deficit Disorder, direct mail campaigns, print ads, and television advertising seem to bounce off these powerful consumers. This population groups responds to innovative ways to promote your brand. 

Three Major Characteristic of Gen Y
 
1.   They are racially and ethnically diverse.
2.   They are extremely independent because of divorce, day care, single parents, latchkey parenting, and the technological revolution that they are growing up alongside.
3.  They feel empowered and they have a sense of security and are optimistic about the future. 

Ways to Effectively Market to Generation Y
 
1. Get to know them: Gen Yers will not do business with you unless they think you care about their motives, needs, and desires.

2.  Respect them as consumers: Members of Generation Y are tech savvy and highly intelligent.

3.  Look cool and hip:  Generation Y will buy based on a sleek, beautiful and cool looking product.

4.  Join their networks: Social networking sites are the spots where the kids hang out! MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life are the hot sites for Generation Y and cost nothing to join.

5.  Be socially responsible: They want to know that your company is aligned with a cause that creates an emotional connection with them.

6. Go viral:  Video clips uploaded to your site can spread across the Internet.

7. Take it to the streets: They thrive on word of mouth marketing and street marketing is one of the best ways to create buzz for the young consumer. Think promotional stunts and product sampling. 

8.  Give them a chance to win: Gen Y loves winning contest. 

To succeed in generation marketing you must understand how the motivation of your consumers correlates with the underlying values of their generation. When you know this you are able to customize your message to cater to the generation when it comes to your products and services. You can then present the message with your products, services, and communication to their needs and desires.

This week we will focus on understanding Generation X and what motivates them.  So what are the attributes of Generation X that marketers need to really understand? They are:

- Tech-savvy
- Blunt
- Independent
- Skeptical
- Knowledge-seeking (and sharing)

Marketing to Generation X presents many challenges and opportunities given the great diversity within this market segment of over 50 million consumers with an estimated $125 billion annual purchasing power. It is recognized that there is great danger in over-generalizing any market segment, particularly Generation X.  So, how can you reach these groups, communicate your message, and get them to take action?

1.  Be Realistic in The Presentation 

2.  Address the Concerns of Generation X  

3.  Offer Value and Live Up to Claims

4.  Speak Directly to Generation X

5.  Investigate New Communication Media

6.  Portray X’ers in a Positive Light

GEN X PROMOTION

Give a gift to help grow a healthier world.  SEED THE FUTURE will identify your brand as a leader in the green movement which will resonate with your Gen X market. 

The NEW Seed-the-Future cards are an easy-to-use online promotion that is delivered through a website and PIN code. Card holders simply go on-line to learn about eco-initiatives and have a tree planted in a global project. Upon redemption the user is able to download a branded certificate to mark the planting of their tree.

See the Seed-the-Future redemption site in action!
www.Seed-the-Future.com/demo
Use The Sample PIN: TREE

Do you think you know who you are selling to? Think again. There is not just one generation to target, but a variety of age groups.  Each generation has a diverse set of interests and needs. Business owners must understand and acknowledge these distinctions in order to succeed in today’s marketplace.

So, who are these generations exactly? The pivotal events that these groups experienced since birth help shape their perception of the world. The more you understand about these influences, the more you can utilize these differences and tailor them into your marketing campaign.

• WWII Generation
• Baby Boomers
• Generation X
• Generation Y

BABY BOOMERS 

The Baby Boom generation, those born between 1945 and 1965, who have stable careers and tend to be established now. They have lived through every significant cultural and marketing trend for the past 50 years, and they worry about caring for their children as well as their parent’s well being.
 
Marketers should focus on the message of empowerment and the ability to make a difference. This group is intelligent and values customer service as well as customized products. Marketing to Baby Boomers requires special attention to detail and understanding of how they differ from the other generations.

BABY BOOMER PROMOTION

The classic branded slinky in  a custom retro box is the perfect nostalgic promotional item for baby boomers. A slinky is an American icon with an extremely positive image.  

Baby Boomer Promotion - Custom Retro Slinky

One of the latest techniques for driving targeted traffic to your website is using what are called social media. Social media are websites and applications that specialize in sharing and discussing information among other interested people. The major social media include sites like myspace, facebook, technorati, stumbleupon, and digg to name just a few. If you are not utilizing any of these in your current marketing mix then you are missing out on a substantial volume of free, targeted traffic.

The first thing you should do before jumping into the social media marketing game is to explore some of the more prominent social media sites, learn their rules, and learn how they basically operate.

Here is a list of the major social media sites that everyone is talking about:

Youtube (video)

MySpace (social networking)

Facebook (social networking)

LinkedIn (social networking)

Digg (blogging)

Twitter (micro-blogging)

There are many other social media sites out there and new ones spring up all of the time. However, the sites listed above account for approximately 85% of social media traffic and therefore focusing your marketing efforts on these sites will likely be very effective.

Once you have taken the time to familiarize yourself with the above websites, the next thing you should do is read the spam policy of each site. The owners and users of the social media sites hate spam with a passion. Therefore, it’s very important to disguise your commercial intentions as meaningful content. Better yet, instead of disguising your intentions, actually submit relevent, quality content that users of social media will appreciate. If you do this you are likely to see a huge flow of traffic.

The bottom line is this: if you want the social media sites to work for you you need to work with them rather than against them. And this means providing users with meaningful content, not a bunch of bogus information and spam links.

http://mashable.com/2009/03/23/social-media-marketing-budgets/

1. Credit Card USB Drive-Flash drives are a valued gift. A credit card shaped USB not only relates to your industry but fits directly into a wallet for a long-lasting advertising campaign.

2. Music Download Cards- reward people with free music downloads.  The recipient is then directed to a website and required enter personal information for a chance to win an iPod. 

3. VIP Concierge Card-A live branded personal assistant will definitely show a potential client that you offer VIP service that they can bank on.

4. Compressed T-shirt- take your apparel promotion to the next level.  Compress your branded t-shirt into a credit card or dollar bill shape and include a insert advertising promotions or brand information.  

5. Mint Tin- Not your typical tin of mints.  This version opens to reveal a mirror on the inside.  Think of this tag line…”Look inside to see who should be banking at ABC Bank.”

6. Porky Pig Bank- A cute pig bank promotes saving while making people smile.

7. Pocket Jotter with Memo Pad and Calculator-a highly utilized product and a great way to create a daily impression.

8. Dollar Shaped Sticky Notes- Everybody uses them making this a cost effective way to get your brand great exposure.

9. Eclipse Financial Theme Tumbler- Patented heat changing technology reveals a financial theme when filled with hot liquid.  Making your brand something they will warm up to.

10. Dollar Shaped Seed Paper- a perfect handout solution for tradeshows to convey the message that you care about all things green.

I read an article published in ADWEEK in November of 2008 which commented on a study released by the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI).  The study concluded that the most effective marketing medium to reach your target audience was promotional products. 

Read more at the link below.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/client/e3i2d029babe3f1f02ea0a389048245c2bc

The study also included a survey of 618 participants that consisted of business people in four metro areas: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.   The survey asked the participants to recall promotional swag that they had received over the past 12 months.  

Significant findings include:

·         84% of consumers can name the advertisers on the products they receive

·         62% have done business with an advertiser after receiving a product.

·          The average cost per impression of a promotional product = $0.004

·          42% percent had a more favorable impression of an advertiser after receiving a promotional product.

·         24% nearly one quarter, said they are more likely to do business with an advertiser based on items they receive.

·          #1 most commonly owned promotional item is a writing instrument, followed by apparel, caps, and bags.

·         81% of promotional products were kept because they were considered of a useful nature.

·          Over 66% of participants kept their items for seven months.

With all the negative noise about the ecomony, seize the opportunity to grow and resist the temptation to be a reactionary marketer. Focus on your core fundamentals to deliver a great serivce or product. Maintain or increase your marketing efforts in 2009 and gain a great competitive edge.

How does my company achieve this?

-Brand Promotion
-Brand Reputation
-Brand Consistency