Every business needs marketing in some shape or form to be successful. Learn why marketing is vitally important, the different types of marketing and what makes an effective marketing strategy.
Depends on your business strategy too. if you have plenty of parking that is a bonus. you can sell the parking which is a great thing. for a person like me i would love to park my car walk to the restaurent and have a good food. On the other hand if you go to menulog and other providers you can get a ... expand
Depends on your business strategy too. if you have plenty of parking that is a bonus. you can sell the parking which is a great thing. for a person like me i would love to park my car walk to the restaurent and have a good food.
On the other hand if you go to menulog and other providers you can get a few delivery guys and grow your business that way.
I see lots of restaurent owners have a good location paying high rentals but no parking so they resort to take aways and menulog and try to survive. you are good in that way as you can sell the old way to dine in and easy parking for your place.
as for marketing budgets, if i was in your shoes, i would stick with menulog, groupon etc as they do loads of seo and promotions and drive sales. but yes having a basic website and doing some local seo always pays good.
If the giveaway is for someone internal, I'd say make sure it adds value is desireable (not a cheap pen or old marketing swag). If it is something you'd want (potentially a gift card, cash, extra vacation day, etc.)
If the giveaway is for a customer, make it meaningful. Perhaps it is a ... expand
If the giveaway is for someone internal, I'd say make sure it adds value is desireable (not a cheap pen or old marketing swag). If it is something you'd want (potentially a gift card, cash, extra vacation day, etc.)
If the giveaway is for a customer, make it meaningful. Perhaps it is a 1 year subscription for free, a free product, something limited (that can't be bought from your company) potentially a tour of your facility, autographed version of your product, or free swag (t-shirt, stickers, etc.).
Keep in mind, the more unique it is, the more desireable and coveted winning it will become. So keep it interesting.
I think combining traditional and digital marketing will return the maximum ROI. A wide-ranging holistic approach is probably the best; worst-case scenario, you'll be able to determine what works for you and what doesn't. Traditional marketing typically comes in posters, banners, direct mail, ... expand
I think combining traditional and digital marketing will return the maximum ROI. A wide-ranging holistic approach is probably the best; worst-case scenario, you'll be able to determine what works for you and what doesn't. Traditional marketing typically comes in posters, banners, direct mail, brochures, tv advertising, billboard, and radio advertising; if it's promotional and offline, it could be considered traditional marketing. Digital marketing, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, coming in the form of blogs, social media posts and advertising, email, video, internet advert, a website, and other web content. Here are the pros and cons of both more traditional forms of marketing and digital marketing.
Traditional Marketing
Pros:
Allows you to target local audiences more easily through local newspapers, radio, and magazines.
Allows targeted people to have a physical reminder to walk away with, whether swag, ads, or coupons.
An easy process for less technological savvy consumers to respond to.
Cons:
A more passive form of marketing.
More expensive than digital marketing
Hard to gather data and gauge your ROI.
Digital Marketing
Pros:
Allows you to reach large audiences.
You can curtail content to a specific targeted audience.
A more engaging form of advertising. You can converse directly with your audience.
More cost-effective for advertisers.
Your target audience gets to choose your content.
Consumers can respond immediately to your advertising.
An easy way to measure ROI.
Cons:
You can receive negative feedback that is available for everyone to see.
Search engines have regulations and guidelines that need to be followed, or you can risk getting banned from those search engines.
In all honesty, I would continue to recommend a holistic approach, but I think businesses can use one form more than the other, depending on the type of business they run. With both traditional and digital marketing (digital marketing especially), you can "dip your toe in the water" by setting low daily budgets to get a feel for the potential ROI you may receive. Since I run a business online, I mostly do my advertising online; however, I don't do all my marketing online. I believe business owners have to take a good look at their business and think about where most of their prospective clients will come from. They should ask themselves questions like, "Do I need to generate foot traffic? Do I own a brand that needs an online presence? Things like that.
You can download at https://play.google.com/store
Then simply type in SALES ANALYZER in the search facility - my colleague is Michael Tregonning (it is his IP) and was developed by the University of Ballarat
Greg
This is an interesting question and my first thought was 'Local SEO- affordable and effective'! But then I thought, OK, ket's take another INDEPNDENT look at this, so I asked the new AI Chatbot GPT what it 'thought'. Here's the question and answer:
This is an interesting question and my first thought was 'Local SEO- affordable and effective'! But then I thought, OK, ket's take another INDEPNDENT look at this, so I asked the new AI Chatbot GPT what it 'thought'. Here's the question and answer:
Sydne Business Web: What is the best way for a tradesman e.g. an electrician to find local work in Australia?
ChatGPT: There are several ways for a tradesman like an electrician to find work in Australia:
Networking: Leverage your existing network of friends, family, and colleagues to get referrals or recommendations for new job opportunities.
Online job boards: Websites like Seek, Indeed, and Gumtree offer a wide range of job listings for tradesmen, including electricians.
Trade associations: Joining trade associations such as the Master Electricians Australia can help you get connected with potential clients and job opportunities.
Social media: Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook can be used to connect with potential clients and showcase your skills and portfolio.
Local classifieds: Check local newspapers or online classifieds for job listings.
Direct outreach: Reach out to local businesses and offer your services as an electrician. You can also approach building contractors and offer your services for their projects.
It's important to have a professional portfolio and a well-designed website to showcase your skills and experience. Additionally, obtaining certifications and staying up-to-date with the latest industry regulations and standards can make you a more competitive candidate for job opportunities.
As you know, the healthcare industry is constantly changing and evolving, so it's important to stay nimble and map out your objectives. I'm in healthcare marketing for oral surgeons and dentists and here are a few marketing and PR strategies I implement that have been successful in increasing ... expand
As you know, the healthcare industry is constantly changing and evolving, so it's important to stay nimble and map out your objectives. I'm in healthcare marketing for oral surgeons and dentists and here are a few marketing and PR strategies I implement that have been successful in increasing brand awareness and ultimately increasing new patients.
1. Create videos featuring your physicians. YouTube is the second most popular social media platform behind Facebook and is the second largest search engine behind Google. Video content not only can help market your practice and help you stand out from competitors, but it can also boost your SEO. Now more than ever it's important to stay human, and videos help establish a comfortable doctor-patient relationship that can help attract new patients and retain ones you already have.
2. Give back to the community. Retargeting past and current patients to promote services and procedures is an all too often overlooked healthcare marketing tactic. For example, offer a promotion, reward program, or even a free service. One of my dental clients offers free teeth cleanings for children during February which is National Children's Dental Health Month. This is a great way to earn press, get new patients in your practice, and boost patient loyalty.
3. Social media Instagram is a visual platform that offers an excellent opportunity to connect with your audience in a new way. If you’re a physician in aesthetics or cosmetics, Instagram can be a fantastic tool to generate new patients. Utilizing Instagram to share before and after’s and successful aesthetic results can be great exposure for your practice and show off your advanced capabilities as a doctor. Facebook provides a two-way communication channel and is an extremely targeted tool. You're able to interact with your audience and give a "voice" to your practice. It's also a fantastic advertising platform.
I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to this, primarily because I've seen both the advantages and disadvantages of event marketing in action. After all, my husband is a DJ and we occasionally get sponsors for parties. What Are The Major Advantages And Disadvantages Of Event Marketing? The Benefits ... expand
I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to this, primarily because I've seen both the advantages and disadvantages of event marketing in action. After all, my husband is a DJ and we occasionally get sponsors for parties.
What Are The Major Advantages And Disadvantages Of Event Marketing?
As someone who has been to many, *many* parties that were thrown by companies that specialize in party promotions, I can tell you that one of the key benefits is that you have people that are actually there, in-person...
The Benefits Of Event Marketing
People often forget how important and telling it is to have people in a room with people who represent your brand. Your brand ambassadors can get the word out about your company, engage with potential clients, and also find out what they think of it. This is why Red Bull ended up hitting so many concerts when it first came out and why they invented the Flugtag.
When you have your brand at events, it automatically makes your company look successful. People want to be with winners. So, that's a huge perk. This is especially true if you're at a trade show OR marketing towards the young and trendy crowd.
The Pitfalls Of Event Marketing
While event marketing can go well, it can also turn into a major money sink. As someone who has watched sponsored events take a turn for the worse, I can tell you that event marketing is definitely a "make or break" kind of deal.
A good example of this happened with one party that my friends threw. This was the only sponsored party that a local business invested in. When all was said and done, things were hyped up...only to find out that the venue they booked and the promoter they hired botched the booking.
This meant they had to move the party THE NIGHT OF THE EVENT. It went from a 7-room club in Times Square to a gutted automobile dump in Queens. There were no lights, barely a DJ setup, and the place got stopped by police mid-party. Not even a display set was available for the company!
People came from as far as Florida to NYC for this show. They were so disgusted they demanded refunds. The company that put money towards the event my friends ran never saw a penny and were disgraced by the disaster. The party promoter was sued, too, putting him out of business for a hot minute.
This brings me to my next point: event marketing is EXPENSIVE. Throwing a full party around a specific industry can easily cost $15,000 or more depending on the amenities you get. Even getting a booth at a convention can cost upwards of $2,000.
The Bottom Line
If you want to go through event marketing, you need to make sure that you have a solid plan, work with solid people, and get event insurance. If you cannot get people at your event, you're going to lose your money and rep. That alone should make you hit the pause button and ask if the pros and cons of event marketing are worth working with.
I think because everyone and possibly their dog is capable of creating a professional looking website and list of products and services I look for: The internet is not getting any easier :)
The internet is not getting any easier :) ... expand
I think because everyone and possibly their dog is capable of creating a professional looking website and list of products and services I look for:
Continuous participation in the industry - through certifications and community involvement outside just the required. This may include continuous study of their key areas. One company that does this really well is Hubspot. This can also bring in lots of leads.
Testimonials from people I know or reputable sources
High participation on social media/blogging
Portfolio and examples of case studies is the most key for me.
A working online sales funnel where there is continuous qualifications and reminders sent through.
Whether you are a newly established startup or you’re an established business with a loyal customer base, staying up to date with marketing is vital.
Marketing encompasses so many things and overlaps with other areas such as advertising and sales.
At first glance, it can feel a little overwhelming trying to understand what’s what and how it applies to your business.
So, we’ve broken it all down into bite size chunks so you can understand the fundamentals of marketing.
What is marketing?
In the most simple sense, marketing is the process of promoting your business and driving sales and other profitable customer actions.
This is achieved with a range of strategies and activities such as direct marketing, online marketing, social media and search engine marketing.
Marketing is critical for all areas of a business, from sales and product development to HR and logistics.
What is the purpose of marketing?
In case you’re wondering, “Do all businesses need marketing?” The answer is a simple yes.
There’s only one way your business can survive, and that’s if:
people know about your business;
people what products or services you offer;
and why they should choose you instead of your competitors.
The bottom line of marketing is to create strategic messages and distribute them across relevant challenges to attract consumers to your brand.
Regardless of how unique your business offering is, many businesses would cease to exist without marketing because they would fail to reach the target audience and generate sales.
What are the different types of marketing?
There are many different types of marketing. Some are age-old strategies that have survived the digital evolution and others are much more recent.
Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of some of the most popular strategies:
As you can see, there’s a lot! That’s why it’s imperative to get to know who your target audience is and where they’re spending their time so you can effectively reach them.
What is the difference between sales and marketing?
While sales and marketing teams work together to achieve the same business goals, they do work in different areas.
Marketing works on how best to reach and engage a target audience to promote, inform and educate about a particular product or service, while advertising or sales teams close leads generated by marketing and implement advertising strategies to increase revenue.
What is the difference between traditional and digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a subset of marketing and simply refers to marketing used on digital and online mediums.
In a sense, digital marketing is simply marketing, but in today’s world.
It’s not a case of whether digital or traditional marketing is ‘better’, but rather which type of marketing gives you the best ROI in reaching your target customers.
Many businesses use a combination of traditional and digital/online channels.
What are the 4Ps of marketing?
The 4Ps of marketing is one of the most widely-known marketing concepts that underpins the four key elements of any marketing strategy:
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Businesses use this model when planning a new product or service launch, assessesing an existing offer or how the business can have a greater impact within the target market.
What is a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy refers to the what, why and how.
It’s your roadmap detailing how your marketing efforts will contribute to your overall business goals including your business’ key brand messaging, unique value propositions and your target audience demographics
A marketing strategy is usually long standing and addresses the bigger picture of where you want your business to be in the future. It is used to nform your marketing plan, i.e. the type of campaigns and tactics you will use to achieve the bigger picture.
Look at every marketing campaign and activity you do as smaller pieces of a large marketing pie (the strategy).
Half the battle is laying down a solid marketing strategy from the get go.
How do I create a marketing strategy?
Here are some top tips to help you devise a good marketing strategy:
Understand your value propositions
Research your competitors
Get to know your target audience
Create buyer personas
Determine goals and objectives
Choose your channels
What are the best B2B marketing strategies and tactics?
If your target audience is other businesses, there are some key differences in business to business (B2B) marketing.
Did you know that 97% of marketers use social media to reach B2B clients and customers,
Video content is also on the rise, with 73% of B2B marketing saying that video had a positive impact on their ROI (Review 42, 2020)
That being said, here are some ideas to help you create an effective marketing strategy:
Have a great website: Good web design is key and can impact your search rankings. It’s one thing increasing your online visibility and another thing creating a user-friendly and easy to navigate site that will retain users once they land on a page.
Amp up your content marketing: Content marketing is an umbrella for blogs, social, newsletters, infographics, FAQs and more. 75% of consumers say that a brand’s content has a considerable impact on their buying decision (BCG, 2017), So, start creating a range of content that demonstrates thought leadership and authority within your industry.
Get active on social: 50% of B2B customers say they are more likely to purchase from a business they interact with on LinkedIn (Review 42, 2020). You 100% need to be on LinkedIn and assess other social platforms that will help you connect with and engage your audience.
Video marketing: Video is one of the easiest ways to educate, inspire and inform your audience and the content we consume in video is significantly more retainable than other channels.
Search engine optimisation (SEO): Almost every search (for everything) begins on Google. Consumers don’t engage as much with paid ads and generally tend to trust organic rankings much more.
Event/network marketing: Create events to promote your business with real-time and face-to-face engagement either online or offline. You could also reach out to influencers to participate in your event or your business could be a sponsor at an event.
What are effective B2C marketing strategies?
If your target audience is individual people, your business to customer (B2C) marketing will need to encapsulate the personal element.
Here are some B2C marketing ideas:
SEO: Optimise your website to capture your users’ intent and search queries
Optimise for mobile: We live in a mobile world and consumers are always on the go. It’s important to have a mobile friendly website to reach your customers efficiently and effectively.
Retargeting: If users on your site leave without purchasing the items in their basket, a digital reminder will hopefully encourage them to return and checkout.
Get social: Get active on your social channels and start sharing content and running campaigns that will inspire your audience and give them more reason to engage with your brand.
Share your brand’s personality: Define who your brand is and how it would communicate if it was a person. Allow all of your communication to express who you are and what makes you different from your competitors. Transcend the transactional discourse between business and customer.
\What are marketing metrics?
Like anything you do in your business, it’s important to be able to track the effectiveness of your marketing strategies and assess their performance.
There are a number of key metrics, also known as performance indicators (KPIs) used in marketing:
Sales revenue: Income generated from the sales of goods or services.
Cost per lead (CPL): An online advertising metric where payment is based on the number qualifying leads generated by a marketing campaign.
Traffic-to-lead ratio: The number of visits to a website that result in qualified leads.
Lead-to-customer ratio: The number of qualified leads that result in sales.
Organic traffic: The number of people that visit your website as a result of organic (unpaid) search results.
Conversion rates: The percentage of users who take an action on your site, e.g. request a callback or purchase something.
Click through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who see a specific link and click on it, e.g a blog, advert or email.
Return on investment (ROI): A ratio used to measure the total net profit made after the total cost of an investment.
Cost per action (CPA): The total amount you pay to get a conversion.
What are the best marketing ideas for small businesses?
The best marketing ideas for a small business are those that will continue to have a big impact in the long run.
Small businesses usually can't compete with big businesses in terms of budget, so your marketing strategy should be strategic and resourceful.
Highlight your value propositions: Whether in your marketing plans, ad campaigns or everyday interactions, emphasise the unique value propositions of your small business, e.g. your dedication to customer care. This goes a long way towards building a profitable brand.
Word-of-mouth advertising: Word-of-mouth for a small business is extremely powerful and requires the least amount of resources and money. Some examples are encouraging user-generated content, getting positive reviews out there and implementing referral programs.
Inbound marketing: The premise of inbound marketing is to help your target customers solve a problem in areas that are relevant to your product or service. Invest in content such as instructional YouTube videos, social media posts and helpful infographics and articles.
Use social influencers: Social media influencers on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Snapchat can help your business gain traction. Find micro influencers with loyal fans that align with your target audience demographics.
Utilise face-to-face marketing: Events, pop-ups and speaking engagement are great ways to talk to your target market and promote your business. They are low-cost and effective because of the personal touch you get with your audience.
Do smart partnerships: Leverage bigger brands or complementary businesses through smart partnerships and affiliate marketing. Partnerships are a great way to market your business while gaining new customers quickly.
Invest in SEO: SEO is a great way to market your brand on search engines, where consumers are flocking to. It might be best to hire an SEO expert or an agency as SEO is quite technical and there can be a bit of a learning curve if you do it yourself.
Social responsibilities: Many consumers love businesses who give back to the community, environment or a social cause dear to their hearts. This is a great way to do good while marketing your brand.
Focus on clever advertising: Plough money on channels where you are getting the highest ROI and ignore the rest. Other forms of advertising can be in sponsorships, outdoor advertising such as murals and vehicles.
As you can probably see, marketing is vast and if you are struggling with where to start, don’t worry.
While it’s absolutely possible to do your own marketing, many business owners decide to outsource some or all of their marketing to an agency.
Learn more about how marketing agencies can help you gain traction and drive your business forward.
FAQ
How do marketing agencies work?
When you embark on your journey with a marketing agency, the process will go a little something like this:
Introduction: They will get to know you, your business and what it is you’re looking to achieve.
Consultation: They will consult with you to devise a strategy and outline the key objectives of your marketing plan.
Feedback: They will give feedback to you and ask you for any additional ideas or changes you’d like to be made. Once you’re happy, you can sign off your agreement.
Timelines and deadlines: The agency will set a timeframe for key deliverables.
Rollout: They will begin rolling out campaigns and other marketing activities.
Analysis: They will track, measure and iterate.
Why should I hire a marketing agency versus in-house marketers?
The value to be gained from hiring a marketing agency is immense. Here are some of the main reasons why:
Access to a collective of marketing experts: When you put a load of marketing brains together great things can happen. They often have teams dedicated to particular areas such as SEO and paid media.
Gain new perspectives: It’s easy for the cog to get stuck in the wheel when the same people keep turning it. Reaching out to an agency will give you some fresh ideas and maybe even totally new perspectives on how to market your business.
Free up your time: You might have time to do some marketing, but do you have the resources to pump as much time as you’d like to get the results you’re looking for?
Scale-up: If you really want to scale your business and are transitioning into your next stage of growth, an agency has the expertise to take you there.
Stay current: The world of marketing is constantly changing and evolving. What’s current today might not be as effective a few months down the line. Marketing agencies are in the know about industry news, trends and best practices.
Meet deadlines: Marketing agencies are used to working to tight deadlines. If you need something done last minute, chances are they’ll go above and beyond to help you.
Save payroll costs: Hiring an agency can be considerably cheaper than hiring an in-house marketer, especially if you hire on a project-basis.
