Tag Archives: purchase

Are You Leaving Money On The Table?

Here is a quick excerpt from Tim Castleman’s recent blog post:

1. When a customer buys give them a chance to spend more money right away. They will never be hotter than they are at the time of purchase so give them every chance to spend as much as they want with you.

2. Make it easy for others to tell their friends about you. Give discounts, coupons, free trials, and more. One hairstylist I know offers a $25 discount per hair cut when you refer someone to his business. Get 4 friends to visit and the next cut and color is on him. He tracks the referrals on fancy 3×5 cards

Too simple you say?

Well he went from nothing to several dozen clients a week doing little more than this.

My point is make it easy for your champion customers to do battle for you and give them all the tools they need to do so.

3. Focus on the total customer experience. Remember that you will be judged on everything you do and send to your customers.

You can view the entire post here:
http://timothycastleman.com/grooveshark-com-marketing-lesson.html

The Three Keys To Successful Promotional Campaigns

pens... (part 3)
Photo by steveleenow
by Thomas Ajava

You are looking to crank up your marketing plan. There are many options, but few get as good a response as promotional product campaigns. That being said, things can go quickly askew if they are not done correctly. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the three keys to a successful campaign.

Let’s start off with the basics. What is a promotional campaign? It is a marketing effort that uses a free product or service to entice your pool of prospective customers or clients to take some action you desire. This action is usually not a direct purchase. Instead, it is often merely getting them to a store where a purchase might occur, gathering their information for later communication or some other option.

The first key to running a successful campaign is the product itself. You must offer something that is appropriate for your business and audience. Let’s assume you own a brake repair shop. Offering a free coffee mug to anyone that comes in for a brake inspection isn’t an appropriate product. It has nothing to do with your business theme and is of no enticement to your potential clients. Instead, you might consider offering a free brake inspection every 10,000 miles with an accompanying calendar they can use to keep track of their mileage.

The second key is to not just give away a product or service without getting your theme in front of them. What do most promotional products have on them? The name of the company. Great, but this hardly conveys anything. Instead, you want to include your marketing message. This should be a strong benefit statement like “A Free Brake Inspection Every 10,000 Miles!”.

The third key is to market to the correct audience. There is a temptation to try to market to everyone in the belief this will produce more sales. This is wrong. You must identify your target audience and market only to them. The more defined the audience is, the better the results.

Many businesses just plow into a marketing campaign without really thinking because they don’t know any other way to do it. Don’t make this mistake. Focus on these three keys and your campaign can be a success.

About the Author

Thomas Ajava writes for NomadJournals.com – your online source for customized leather promotional items.

HO, HO, HO! Bring Christmas To The Masses By Using Mobile Marketing

Digitalks #11
Photo by _dChris
by Drew Barnes

Think about it for a second. Who is ready to make a purchase more than the consumer searching on their phone? They are most likely searching locally either for the nearest store or a particular item. Get in front of these consumers and they are most likely to come into your store and make a purchase.

Marketers need to be aware that using mobile media during the holidays will put your product or store in front the people who are looking for it already. They have a question you give them the answers and scene.

Not to mention all the consumers out there checking prices, sending photos of potential gifts sharing them on Facebook and Twitter, and let’s not forget about checking in on mobile social networks like Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, Yelp and Facebook’s Places. That may me all it takes to get someone to your location. Someone checks in and his or her friend notices and thinks, “I completely forgot about that place they have great gifts. I am going over there right after work”

Consider this for a second. How many freaking ads do you see over the holidays? So many that most are simply blocked out. Me personally, if I see another jewelry ad it may end with a hurt jeweler. With mobile this opens up a way to get in front of the consumer when they are away from all the competition and when they are in a buying mood. Great combination. Don’t you think?

Most people who have the capability use their phones will user their phones as a shopping tool from anything to price comparisons, sharing purchases and links with other and to stay entertained in a long checkout line.

According to Webster Lewin, senior vice president and director of digital innovation and strategy at MS&LGroup Digital, New York .’Providing useful mobile applications that actually help the holiday shopping process is a great way to stay top of mind and drive repeat brand engagement. However, the challenge of discovery is one of the biggest hurdles in mobile.”

‘Fortunately, there is a wide range of mobile advertising opportunities within applications that support the shopping process,’ he said.

‘In many cases the consumers that spend the most time doing those activities are also the ones most likely to have more disposable income,’ Mr. Lewin said. ‘Also, consumers that engage with your brand on their mobile devices are more likely to have a favorable brand impression, and purchase intent.”

Just those quotes alone should spur any marketer into action!

Here are a few facts to consider:
1. An analysis done by Microsoft of their mobile search data found that 53 percent of mobile searches on Bing have local intent.
2. Google suggest that 20 percent of all search is related to location.
3. Differences between mobile search user behavior and PC search: 70 percent of PC ‘query chains’ are completed in about one week while 70 percent of mobile users do so in one hour. Talk about being motivated to buy!
4. Over 50 percent of the mobile search queries are about things that are not very far from the user or right in front of them.

One thing to consider is to make sure your doing local search optimization as well so your store or product can be found on mobile devices when people are searching nearby.

Ramp up your mobile marketing campaign this holiday season and make sure you track your results so you can tell your boss the ROI and watch his job drop.

Happy Holidays Kiddos

About the Author

Drew Barnes is an expert in the area of local search optimization. Read more about local search marketing at the http://www.turnuplocal.com