Posts Tagged ‘ advertising ’

How To Use Trade Shows as a Marketing Platform

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Trade shows can prove to be an excellent source of marketing. If you want to get noticed in the public eye and have a great headstart, then trade shows are the thing for you. If you are a small business owner, you would understand the importance of it and are probably already using this tool. Trade shows are organized exhibitions by companies of a specific industry where they come together to showcase their products and services. This is easily one of the best ways to promote your offerings and get hold of new clients in the process. For scoring better clients and getting highlighted during one of the trade shows, you need to promote yourself well and be seen frequently.

The best part about trade shows are that they are easily accessible and are generally promoted on big platforms. Most of them are open for the public in general and that is when you can strike a blow on your potential clients. Every now and then you will come across companies which organize industry specific or client specific trade shows. Getting the right display is what draws the line between successful and failed company stalls. What should be paid attention to is getting an attractive display which will attract more customers and force them to come and check out your products/services. In fact if you are planning to get noticed in any trade show soon, some of the following pointers could be helpful:-

• Spend some time on researching. Make sure you choose the best and the relatively successful trade shows. Talk to people who have been there before and use the feedback.  This will save you a lot of time and disappointment as well.

•  If you are planning to go to a far off place to attend one, you might want to make sure you arrive as early as possible. Try and grab early discounts on the stall bookings or booths, arrange your accommodation, travel and printed materials etc. One of the best places to book your own booth would be somewhere near an already famous corporate name. This shall automatically increase the prospects of being seen that that in normal circumstances.

• Make sure you make full use of the exhibitor’s kit that is given to everyone who books a booth. It is very easy to get lost in the confusing forms that must be filled out. You might have to deal with 2 companies in all: one the producing company, the other, which is responsible for renting out the necessary equipment. You might also require a little bit of manpower for carrying your display materials in and out of the hall/center.

• Make a budget and stick to it. If you are a small business owner, don’t forget counting expenses like employee accommodation, snacks, meals, traveling, etc. Try and cut costs and make a realistic budget.

• Create a schedule for the day. Take out time for everything including setting up right, taking a walk on the floor to make your face a little familiar, checking out the competitor’s booth etc.

• Give out something for free. Offer your clients a free give-away like a pen or a calendar. The chances are that they will keep it and in fact use it which will in turn only be beneficial for you. In fact, giving out free chocolates or mints to passersby is a good and efficient way of attracting your audience. Small things like these can be really beneficial.

• Keep the energy alive. If you want a response from your customers, you better keep your team happy and enthusiastic. They should feel good about what they are promoting and never lose a smile. Ask them to be dressed appropriately and be attentive.

These are just some of the pointers that can help you take off the pressure of work. Use video, audio etc. as it will give it a more authentic and classy look. Just don’t be afraid to experiment with ideas and stay creative in limits.

What You Need to Know About Cross-Cultural Marketing

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Culture is a set of beliefs, norms and traits of a particular group. Any marketer who knows his job understands the importance of culture. Culture is an extremely important factor which can influence any marketing decision. It is very simple to consider your product a winner from your own perspective but it is important that you realize that other people might not consider it so. When you sit down to create a marketing strategy or an advertisement, you must have complete information about your target audience and their culture. Using the same advertising campaign in all the parts of the world can be dangerous. People in different parts of the world will have a different set of perceptions and thinking, hence, you must keep their sentiments in mind when you go out to do marketing.

For instance, not long ago Coca-Cola made a silly mistake of launching a product in China and translating that name into their local language. They were dumbstruck when they realized that the Chinese felt insulted because the name literally meant “bite the wax tadpole” in their local language. Therefore, it is vital to any cross-cultural campaign to understand the cultures you are going to advertise to. There are a few things that can be kept in mind when diversifying to other regions like:

• Language: First and foremost thing that should not be forgotten is the language. In the case of Ford Pinto’s launch in Brazil, they translated the name in their local language which unfortunately meant “tiny man’s genitals”. So make sure when you translate something in a local language, you don’t hurt people’s sentiments.

• Religion: This is another influential factor. There are thousands of cases reported every year where MNC’s have made blunders in marketing campaigns by pressing the wrong (religious) nerve of the residents of the country. Recently a game manufacturer’s marketing tagline for its new game was “Challenge everything”. The residents immediately revolted as they felt that THE GOD cannot be challenged. You might for a minute consider this outrageous but this is a very serious issue.

• Colors: There are places everywhere in the world where a particular color will either attract the crowds or distract them. Colors have different meanings in different places. For eg- in China, red is considered to be a lucky color while black in Japan is thought to be unlucky. 

• Numbers, images and photos: Another thing that can raise issues while marketing is the use of numbers as well as pictures which can be considered offensive by a certain group or cultural society. For eg- Women in bikinis on billboards in USA can be a good selling strategy but can be very offensive for citizens of UAE.

These are small things and can easily be ignored by many businesses. But then the results of it can only lead to a failure. If you stick to these small points you can be sure of winning hearts all over. Try to find out things that can be appealing and exciting to people. Like in Caribbean communities, using sketches in ads can prove to be very effective and useful. Also try and get as much information from the locals about people’s interests and buying habits. Do not think twice before doing a solid research. Keep an eye on what’s new and the overall developments taking place.

For example- In Europe, using strong language and nudity is more acceptable than in the USA. Make sure there is something that can connect well with the audience. People connect because of culture. It binds them together as one, hence, making it easier for you to target a particular set of audience. The game seems to be tough initially and it is without a doubt, but once you have set an impression, it doesn’t take too long to be successful.

This is how culture plays a really important role in marketing. Some of the tips and suggestions mentioned here can be very useful for your business and marketing plans.

How To Write a Winning Newsletter

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So there has to be a good enough reason as to why you will do marketing with the most excruciatingly boring piece of e-mail sent to the customers, right? Right! Marketing with newsletters is not an easy job and may give you the results you are looking for. There are thousands of companies who are leaving out a huge chunk of the market share because their strategy for using them is not very good. Unfortunately, most of the businesses which fail miss out on a very important piece of information. According to them their latest offering is great and keeps them excited as they feel that the customers require their product and will fall for buying what they are offering. Due to this, their newsletter basically just revolves around the features, the company holdings etc. Well, for those who did not know, your clients are not interested in you or your product.

So how does one go about creating a newsletter which will be read and will help expand the possibilities of increasing more sales and clients? Well, frankly there are not management books you will come across which will teach you how to do the same. But you don’t have t be a Harvard graduate as well to write a brilliant newsletter. There are no set rules as such but keeping a few things in mind can actually show some great results. Read on to know a few reminders of how you can achieve brilliance with newsletters:-

1. Do not focus on your company and its offerings as it will result in certain death of your client newsletter. If at the very first go, you scream out your business efficiency and products, your clients will take zero interest. You need to understand the fact that this move will mean nothing but another “everyday” desperate marketing effort made to sell to your clients. It is in fact a hardcore truth that your clients are not interested in knowing about how your business operates. This in turn makes deciding the material or the content of your newsletter the most important and difficult task.

2. Content, believe it or not makes the whole difference. Think of content in a way that people can use in their real lives. This means the content should be engaging enough that the client gets hooked on to it instantly. Achieve this and your purpose is fulfilled. Try and make the content more useful and enticing, this will give your newsletter a more genuine and admirable look to it. The more time they spend reading it, the more are the chances that they will take an action afterwards. There is nothing like conveying genuine feelings, so make sure to give it a little personal touch as well. You will see the difference on your own.

3. Absolute consistency is vital. When you promise to send your customer a periodic newsletter, do it. If you fail to stick on your words, your customers will never care about you. Think of options, make use of festive seasons and keep reminding them that you are there. But be careful, you cross the line and all of it goes to the “junk” folder. In most cases, sending out monthly newsletters is very effective. People don’t mind reading what you offer, just like monthly magazines. After a particular time frame, they will automatically start expecting it.

4. At the end of the day, newsletters ARE an important marketing tool. Keep experimenting. Keep contests to get people hooked on, give out offers, free vouchers/coupons or gift cards which will leave the customers with a lot more than they expected. This will create a sort of bond between you and your clients. Another thing that can be tried is to include names of the people and their testimonials that have referred your company. Just make sure that you offer them something that is exciting and enticing as well.

These are just a few things that can make your newsletter really shine and stand out from the crowd. Also, do not expect instant results. Consider this form of marketing a long term one where customer relations can only be built over a period of time.

5 Tips On Affiliate Marketing That Will Convert Into Cash

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As we all know affiliate marketing is an internet based marketing practice where companies and individuals reward affiliates for each customer that is bought about by affiliate marketing efforts. If you knew this already, then you would probably also be aware of the huge amounts of cash it can generate. It can practically make money while you sleep. But most of the marketers fail in this aspect as they are not aware of how to go about it. The truth is that anyone can be an internet marketer with affiliate marketing.

Social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace etc. are being used by more and more people everyday and hence internet marketing has reached an even bigger level. The no. of people buying products online has crossed millions. So how can you benefit from this as a marketer? The method of promoting your affiliate marketing website is by using PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising with the help of one of the major search engines like Yahoo or Google. Here are some tricks that you can apply for better affiliate marketing and monetizing your website:-

• Product Reviews: Once you have set up a decent website, its time to decide what content should be put up. Reviewing products is an excellent way to promote our website and monetize it. People know their money and would like to know if the product is good or bad before actually purchasing it. So compile a list of reviews that people might be interested in. Also be honest while writing about them. You may just rank a particular product 5/5 while it may deserve only 3/5, your readers might not really appreciate a fake review. Make sure you use some “keywords” for which the search traffic is already high. This will automatically bring more visitors.

• Web 2.0 and Programs: Using Web 2.0 techniques can also be great way to get noticed. There are many affiliate programs available out there that can help you monetize your website. But remember there is no single merchant program that can give instant results and prove that it’s the best. In fact the best strategy is to use many merchant programs in the same niche. Most of your success will depend upon what content is and how you do your search engine optimization. People think that putting banners everywhere on the site can double their chances of getting more customers. IT’S A LIE! Having too many banners will make your site look ugly, use them judiciously.

• Viral Video: Web videos are hot and will remain as one of the main attraction for a while. If you really want to market your website well, make use of videos. You can create a video giving information about the company and the niche its targeting. Websites like YouTube and Daily Motion receive million views a day. There are good chances that you might get noticed as well. Once you have a good amount of hits, it becomes very easy to promote the video and the business. This in turn would means getting huge traffic for your affiliate websites and links.

• Squidoo and Hub Pages: These are 2 amazing websites that can help you create pages of your own on anything you want. Pick up any product or topic and create detailed pages of it on Squidoo giving all information necessary. The more the detailed information, the more the chances of increasing traffic to your website. Sites like these also allow you to make money with the help of Google AdSense, Amazon, Ebay and of course your own affiliate links that you would like to add.

• E-mail and Lists: E-mail is still one of the most trusted ways of marketing. If the customers signs up on your website, the least you can do is send them a newsletter or the latest on what you are offering. Doing this can turn your short term visitors into potential customers without having to do much. Just stay in touch with your regular and registered customers. If they feel you care about them, they will talk about it in as many social circles as they can.

These are just some of the tips but the end point is that content should be unique. This is what will get you listed on the search engines. You can start selling someone else’s products or services online and charge upto 80% commission sometimes in a matter of minutes.

 

Written by Mark

Strengthen Your Ads with Power Words

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It’s amazing what a word can do. One word can evoke a feeling of trust, while another can evoke a feeling of dread. Using words that appeal to many people is key to a strong ad. Here are some power words to include in your next ad. Try to use them in your headline, but if nothing else, use at least one in your body copy.

Basic Power Words
Free – this is the “magic word” – not “thank you”! Most people are trying to get something for nothing, or at least wouldn’t mind it! When you can offer something for free, that’s one of the best ways to get people to try something. When something is free, it takes away the risk of losing money, which makes people more apt to try it. Just make sure that whatever you are advertising as “free” really is free. There’s nothing more irritating than seeing the word “free” with a little asterisk next to it. If you’re having a buy one get one free sale, be sure to make that clear and not just accentuate the “free” portion of it. Consumers will only fall for this type of ad from you once. Then they won’t even give you a second chance.

Save – this is powerful because everyone wants to save money and/or time. If you can help them gain either in their lives, they’ll flock to you.

Secret – knowing a secret makes people feel powerful. They feel like they are part of an elite crowd. And, people are naturally curious, so they want to find out what it is that you know that they don’t. People don’t like to think that they’ve failed at something because of their own effort – but failing because they didn’t know the secret – that’s perfectly fine.

New – who wants something old? This word evokes a sense of urgency in people. They want to have the latest and greatest thing. They also want to have it before their friends do. A lot of ads use “new and improved” which is somewhat odd, because if something is improved upon, doesn’t that make it basically new? There’s gotta be something new about it to make it improved.

Magic – everyone from kids to adults like something that works like magic. Just that word makes you think of Disney, doesn’t it? People like “magic” because it appeals to those that are lazy and those that want to get an immediate result.

Novelty Power Words
People like to be different, and these words will help you stand out from the crowd.

Technology – this is increasingly becoming a buzz word in ads as most people are gaining knowledge of technology. You can do cool stuff with technology, so if you have updated equipment of some sort, be sure to play it up with your “new technology.” (Combining power words here for an even better effect!)

Re- words – This is a new twist that I haven’t really considered before. Jose DeJesus came up with this one – and he’s a doctor, not even an advertiser! Anything that starts with “re-” like reinvent, rearrange and reuse make people think of something new and fresh. Again, that appeals to people who want to the first on their block to have something new. 

As you can see, there are plenty of power words out there to choose from, and you can find lists to give you ideas by Googling “advertising power words.” Many of these words appeal to the emotions, so if you couple emotional words with an emotional image, you’ll find customers at your door.