Business e-Book Collection September 2013 | Page 11

Improve your marketing
Marketing is an important component of business. It is the fishing that a business
does, hoping that customers will bite, and be reeled in to buy the product or
service. Actually, it’s more like seeking out the fishing hole that is jumping with
the particular type of fish you like to catch, choosing the bait that is most going to
appeal to those fish, then casting in your line.
But how can you improve your marketing efforts?
First, make sure you know the type of marketing that works for you. Measure the
marketing you are already doing to see whether it is bringing prospective
customers into your store. How do you do this? The simplest way is to ask them.
You could also hold some kind of competition where they have to visit the store to
put their entry form in.
Now, the problem with this information is this: just because people are visiting
your store doesn’t mean that your marketing is right. It means it is efficient at
bringing people to the store, but is it effective? Is it producing the required result
i.e.: people buying things.
To know this, you need to measure the number of new customers that have come
into the store, and their expenditure. Ask the people who are purchasing from you
whether they are there as a result of the marketing campaign, or even if they have
seen it (it may be that the marketing campaign reminded them to visit, even if
they didn’t particularly come for the marketing campaign itself)
Once you know the type of marketing that works, do more of it. If it doesn’t work,
don’t do it again. Albert Einstein is credited as saying “The definition of insanity is
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
If nothing you are doing seems to be working, you might need to change tack
altogether. Here is a list of possible marketing ideas for you – see if there are any
there that appeal to you and your budget:
Sponsor a sporting team

Local newspaper advertising

Editorials or press releases

Mailbox drop

Take a stall at a school fete or community fair

Advertise on shop-a-dockets

Advertise in a local services guide

Sponsor or advertise in the local school newsletter

Hold a free information evening

Cinema advertising

Business networking

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