Filed under: marketing | Tags: advertising, cross promotion, emailing list, marketing
Many small business owners believe it’s easier for big businesses to do cross-promotion, so the smaller guys don’t even try it. But cross-promotion, or cross-marketing, is simply a marketing strategy that any size business can use, if it has the resources.
Cross-promotion is partnering with another company that has similar products or services that complement your company’s products or services. The key here is “complement” – you don’t want to try to partner with a competitor. Basically, you join forces and save marketing money by marketing your product with the other company’s product.
Here are five ideas that you can use to cross-promote your company with another while saving money.
1. Display each others’ brochures, posters or other marketing materials. This is one of the simplest strategies. Set up a display at your cash register or counter with your partner’s business brochures and flyers. Hang posters around your store that show your partner’s complementary products. Your partner should do the same for you. This should help you both increase sales because if your products are truly complementary, most people will need both products.
2. Start a referral program. Give a discount to customers who refer business to your partner from your store and vice versa.
3. Exchange mailing lists. Your target market should be the same with whoever you decide to partner with. It’s a good idea to make sure this is true before you agree to be partners. Sharing mailing and emailing lists will double your reach to customers.
4. Be co-sponsors. Co-sponsor a community event in your area. You can share costs and the marketing spotlight by having both of your names in equal amounts when you co-sponsor a charity event, or a local little league team.
5. Include marketing inserts in each others’ invoices. Businesses do this all the time. The credit card statement you get in the mail every month includes little flyers for other businesses. That annoying flap you have to tear off before sealing the envelope is another cross-promotion. Just make sure that the added flyer(s) or brochure(s) doesn’t add weight to your invoice. You don’t want to have to pay for that extra weight – you might end up losing money that way.
Don’t be afraid to approach other business owners in your area with products or services that complement yours. Most businesses jump at the chance of sharing marketing costs and customers, as long as you aren’t competitors. Just make sure you write down and both sign and agree to any terms – like who pays for what or how you’ll split costs. Even though it’s a partnership, you still have to make sure you watch out for yourself.
To be a successful entrepreneur you need many things: money, drive, a business idea. Most importantly though, you need a great marketing plan. Part of that great marketing plan is developing or identifying your unique sales proposition (USP).
Your USP tells consumers what you can do for them that none of your competitors can do for them. It’s not telling people what you do; it’s telling people what you can do for them. So how can you get your USP message out to consumers? Here are a few proven ways to make sure consumers understand how your USP sets you apart from your competition:
1. Focus on the customer. This might seem like an obvious one, but go ahead and try to write down your USP. I’ll wait.
Did you start it with the words “we” or “I”? If so, then it’s not so obvious that you must focus on the customer. Customers want to know what you can do for them and that means using the word “you” in your USP. Try to put “you” at the beginning of the USP in all of your marketing materials. “You’ll save money.” “You need to relax.” “You could use a vacation.” By changing the phrase to “We can save you money” you take the focus off of the customer and onto you. Put “you” in front of “We” or “I.”
2. Target your USP. Your marketing materials should be tailored to your target market. That’s Marketing 101. If you have several products that can cater to several markets, tailor your USP to each one. If you market to doctors and dentists, simply change the language in your marketing materials for each audience: “You want your patients to have a healthy smile” versus “You want your patients to have a healthy heart.” It’s not hard to tweak your USP focus just a bit. Just make sure it stays focused on the customer.
3. Keep It Short and Simple. This is known as the KISS principle. Keep your marketing materials short and simple so they don’t take long to read. You also don’t want consumers scratching their heads trying to understand your message. If they don’t understand it the first time they read it, odds are pretty slim that they’ll take the time to read it again and try to figure it out.
4. Leave out the jargon. This ties in with Number 3. By using simple language and leaving out jargon that your target market might not understand, you’ll create a greater understanding.
5. Offer a solution. You don’t need to state your target market’s problem for them; they know what their problem is. And by offering a solution to their problem they’ll understand that you already know what their problem is. Give them an obvious benefit of working with you – you’ll make their lives easier or more satisfied in some way.
Make that benefit your USP and focus it on the customer and you’ll find entrepreneurial success.
Labels are everywhere. You see them on the hot sauce bottles in restaurants, on that package of vitamins you ordered, on the peanut butter jars in the grocery store. Labels are those permanent identifying marks on products in stores or mail packages. Don’t make the mistake of using pre-designed labels as these contain generic artwork that won’t properly represent your company. Instead, use custom label printing.
Placing custom labels on your company packaging allows customers to easily identify your brand. Whether for products on the shelf or mailing labels for shipping orders, labels put your company image out there for consumers to see. Make your product stand out from your competitors’ items by designing a label that is uniquely yours.
Designing your own labels allow you freedom to create the look that you desire. If you want to create labels that are a little bit different, you can with custom labels. Some companies have started to take advantage of placing “stories” or sayings on labels to make each product unique. Instead of having the exact same label on each product, using different stories creates a variety. You can still maintain your brand by using the same design, colors, and images.
Labels are easy to design when using a template. Check with your label printing company. They might provide free templates that you can download. This can be especially helpful for making sure that your layout adheres to their printing requirements.
Because labels are needed in such large quantities, using a wholesale printer will save you money. Just make sure that your commercial printer uses offset full color printing so that your labels represent the professionalism of your company and the quality of your products.
Filed under: Printing Help, brochures, marketing | Tags: advertising, brochure printing, commercial printing, marketing
With so many brochures available almost anywhere you go, your brochure design needs to be unique. When glancing at a rack of brochures, prospects will be most likely to pick up the one that stands out from the sea of headlines in front of them. Prevent a boring brochure printing piece by avoiding the following mistakes:
Mistake No. 1 – Don’t plaster your brochure with lots of text. No one has the time to read a book about your product for sale. Instead, use minimal wording and lots of headings and subheadings. Create a bulleted list to replace long paragraphs. These techniques will provide for easy skimming, which is what most people only have time to do anyway.
Mistake No. 2 – Don’t just throw in any old photograph. Use relevant and appealing pictures. For instance, take pictures of the product at different angles or of customers using the product. Use high resolution images to avoid blurred or pixelated appearance.
Mistake No. 3 – Often, brochures do not take advantage of captions underneath the images. Including the benefits shown in the photographs in a caption below helps to promote your sales pitch. Viewers look at a picture first and the captions second before finally moving on to the text. Even if prospects do not read the text, you still have a chance to make a sale through the captions.
Mistake No. 4 – A boring headline on the cover of a brochure will never be able to capture enough attention to be worth the cost of brochure printing. Pack your headline full of benefits and make an offer never before made. Also, make sure your headline pops out from the background by using stark contrasts.
Mistake No. 5 – Some brochures seem to have a hiddedn call to action. You don’t want to get your readers excited about your product and then have them searching throughout the document for what they need to do next. Place your call to action in a logical place in the brochure layout, make it stand out by using bold or contrasting highlights, and make it clear what you want them to do, for instance visit a website.
Your brochures should one-of-a-kind so that when someone sees it next to several other brochures, they will be intriqued enough to find out what makes yours the best.
Arlington, Texas – Generally by invitation only, PrintPlace.com is now extending special online coupon codes to the general public. By going to this printing coupon page, customers can request online coupon codes for various printing services; the coupon codes will be sent to the customer’s email address. These offers expire at midnight, September 30, 2008.
Marketers and small business owners can now get 10 percent off selected printing services, including calendar printing, brochure printing, booklet printing and envelope printing ordered with a 1, 2 or 3 day turnaround. Customers can request a coupon code to get up to $100 in Free Ground Shipping on any purchase over $250 printed on a 1, 2 or 3 day turnaround. To qualify, customers must choose FedEx Ground Shipping when checking out on the Web site. Customers can also get 10 percent off any mailing services regardless of product, size, turnaround time or quantity.
These offers cannot be combined.
Customers have the option to easily email the Web page filled with coupon code requests to colleagues and friends by filling out the “Invite A Friend” fields at the bottom of the page. The customer’s name and friend’s email is required.
Call PrintPlace.com customer service toll free if you have any questions at 1-877-405-3949.
