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Diverse Local Advertising Methods Reach Wider Audience

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by Liz Jones

For small business, advertising is the key to drawing in customers. There are several different ways to go about it. Using only one form of advertising is not always effective. Using multiple types of advertising venues reaches a broader audience, and therefore, more potential customers.

Demographics

Knowing some demographics about clientele is helpful in discovering what types of advertising will reach the. There are several ways to find out preference and background on present customers.

Conduct surveys with cards at cashiers counter or send them out with the mail on delivery orders. There are several online programs that can calculate demographics of those visiting a business’ website. These statistics can be used to streamline marketing and advertising strategies.

A business can cater marketing strategies towards its clients. If most of them are married adults without children, for example, a buy-one-get- one free coupon online might be successful. A local radio spot might also be efficient. Radio stations know their demographics, so, statistics can be mated to certain stations and commercial air times.

Format

Where and how a customer conducts business is key to reaching them in marketing strategies. If they rarely go online, the best pay-per-click advertising campaign is not going to reach them. If they never read the newspaper, classified ads will not help. Using both methods of advertising, however, will reach both clientele.

Methods

The type of online advertising used affects how a potential customer discovers a business, especially a small local one. If a business does not have a website it will be difficult for people to find them online. These businesses must use advertising online though social media websites or piggyback off of other websites such as the local Chamber of Commerce or a review site. Small businesses that are offline may also need to cater to an audience that is offline. Strategies might include flyer distribution, newspaper advertising, radio and television campaigns, direct mail and outdoor billboards.

Cost

The least expensive advertising with the greatest return on investment is always the best strategy. Some forms of local advertising cost very little. For example, writing a company blog is one way to advertise online at a cost of paying a professional or doing it in-house. Running coupons and flyers costs little and the method of distribution could also be low. However, if no one pays attention the cost won’t matter. If spending $3,000 on advertising online or through a radio campaign brings in $6,000 in customer sales, it is probably worth the investment.

About the Author

Author writes about a variety of topics. If you would like to learn more about local advertising, visit http://www.local-advertising.com/.

Offline Promotions, Promotional Products

Offline Marketing Ideas Anyone Can Use to Grow Their Business

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by Andrew McCombe

There is a lot of buzz these days about internet marketing, and it is true that it is a great, cost effective way to build a brand, and gain new business. However, whether you are running a brick and mortar business, or an online enterprise, there are still some great offline marketing ideas that you should not ignore.

Every day, you come into contact with hundreds, if not thousands of people, all of whom are potential clients for your business. While your online marketing and other advertising methods are important, it’s as important to take advantage of those chance encounters, and there are plenty of ways you can do that.

Offline marketing has the same goal as your marketing efforts online – it is designed to help drive traffic to your website or business. Print advertising, radio ads, and other forms of marketing and advertising that are not on the internet all fall into this category, but often, they are far beyond the budget of the small business owner.

The secret is to think outside of the box a little bit, and come up with offline marketing ideas that cost as little as possible, but that have maximum impact, and will get you the most exposure possible.

One of the most important things you should do is to always be armed with your business cards. You never know when you will meet someone who may be interested in, or useful to, your small business, and this is the cornerstone of offline marketing for your business. Keep business cards in your car, in your wallet or in your purse, and make sure that you always have them ready to hand over to anyone who seems interested.

Another great offline marketing idea is a low tech one. Have a t-shirt printed with your company details on it, and wear it when you go to events. You never know when someone at your child’s sports day will be your next big client, or someone you meet on the golf course is a new supplier with a great product, and by wearing your t-shirt, you open a channel for dialogue.

Flyers, or discount coupons are another great offline marketing tool that you can use to generate interest in your business. Have them printed with your latest special offers, or with a promotional code that customers can use to save on their next purchase. At the very least, when someone who receives one needs a product or service you provide, they will contact you for a quote.

Then there are so called guerrilla marketing tactics. These are marketing tactics that are designed to get people’s attention, but they need not be difficult or complicated to achieve. Simply having your website, and nothing else, printed on stickers, and then placing those stickers wherever you are allowed to, can generate more traffic for your business, and more sales.

If your budget for offline advertising is a little bigger, consider sponsoring an event, or even the scoreboard at your local school. Many organisations are always on the look out for sponsorships, and by taking part, you are doing some good, and you will get credited for it.

Networking is another great method of offline marketing. Nearly every city and town has at least one business networking group, and there are usually trade or commerce associations you can join too. These events usually put you in touch with likeminded business people, and can be a great source of referrals and business to business leads.

There is an old saying – no man is an island – and the same is true of your business. While the internet is great as a marketing tool, and it may even be your entire business, there is still a lot of value to offline marketing too. Personal connections, and real interactions with people can often be the catalyst that takes your business to the next level.

When you spend time on offline marketing efforts, you will connect with real people. Those people may just become your biggest clients, or they may be valuable business contacts. They are also likely to share what they have learned about you and your business with their friends, and word of mouth is still a powerful form of advertising.

So whether your business is online or off, it is a good idea to look for offline marketing ideas that meet your budget and your marketing needs, and put them into practice. It cannot hurt your business, and it can certainly do a lot to boost your success.

About the Author

Andrew McCombe is the owner of Activate Your Business where they teach new and existing business owners to Start, Grow and / or Automate their business(es) with EASE, so they can live a life of EASE. For more information and to get a free copy of the 10 EASY Steps to Your Perfect Business EBook, visit http://www.activateyourbusiness.com.au

Email Marketing

Local Marketing With Email

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By Melanie Oca

You will sometimes listen to people singing the good remarks of the world-wide-web with regards to advertising and marketing a company. They will speak about the capacity to get to lots of people from all around the globe through the use of marketing via email. Using the simple push of a mouse button they will have instant, and cost-free, hitting the ground with thousands or millions of prospective customers. While this is a great facet of using the world-wide-web for your business making, what happens if you would like to target your local area? How can local e-mail marketing succeed?

The identical concept can also work equally well for you even if you have a more localized focus. Email marketing is very user-friendly and even if you have never sent an e-mail before a person may easily learn a couple of basics and set this method to help you.

Certainly, the vital thing you will want is a list of clients, or potential customers, names and emails to deliver your email to. There are a few methods you could use to begin to build a ‘subscriber’ list.

If you have an internet site you should incorporate an ‘opt-in’ box on your website. When they join to be given your emails they’re opting-in to your list, which means they’re providing you with authorization to contact them and shields from spam problems. The procedure can easily be computerized by the use of an economical auto responder support.

Yet another way you are able to build your subscriber list is to ask the consumers who come into your store to join up for your emails. One aspect will be present with both scenarios: to get them to join receive your email messages you have to supply them a reason why. Never forget that your customers will be asking ‘What’s there for me?” That is why it’s important to inform them that they will gain by joining your list.

As soon as they have opted- in to your list you may send them coupons, early bird sale details, etc. This can provide much more customer loyalty and make them feel like they’re special and valued. Let your customers know what incentives they’ll get and that will motivate them to join your email list.

Once you’ve got some folks on your list, in order to send out a group of emails you can either send them yourself manually (all you have to do is put all the e-mail addresses into a group and they’ll all receive the same message) otherwise you can use a specialist service to handle your e-mail marketing, it’s all your decision.

The most important thing to keep in mind that local e-mail marketing is a very successful and cost-effective way to improve the amount of consumers you’ve got as well as enhancing customer loyalty with your existing consumers. Never forget about this very efficient solution to assist you to improve your business. In todays competitive business surroundings you’ll need every advantage you can get. [http://www.mindgamemarketing.com]Video Marketing is actually a scheme which facilitates and encourages people to pass along marketing video clips about services and products available. This could be successfully done by using [http://mindgamemarketing.com/social-media-marketing/]Social Media Marketing, a great method that provides links, attention as well as huge numbers of page views by advertising your website or organization through social media channels.

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