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Benefits of Social Media Marketing

More online conversations about your brand
A successful Social Media Marketing campaign leads to a lot more talk about your brand online. When your message works with your users, they will spread your message more effectively than tradition methods.

Quick turnaround
Hitting a front page of major social video, news and bookmark sites will send you huge amounts traffic and almost instantly. This doesn’t mean the traffic will equate to conversions, but it should generate momentum in the right direction.

Low costs
A comprehensive SMM strategy may provide a partial or full replacement of traditional advertising and marketing at a fraction of the costs.

Impact on search engine rankings
SMM campaigns bring you large amounts of backlinks that benefit your ranking in search engines.

Compatible with traditional Marketing
No one says you have to approach and embrace SMM full on. SMM campaigns can be run along side traditional marketing and advertising.

The power of recommendation
Would you rather buy from a faceless company or from a company that people recommend? We know that initiators and influencers play an important role the buying process and you can reach these people with SMM.

Sidestepping ad blindness
Traditional online advertising methods, such as, banner ads are seeing drops in the level of their effectiveness. As ad blindness increases, social media marketing has the potential to send visitors to your website without traditional advertising methods.

Read the rest of the article at http://socialmediatrader.com/social-media-marketing-for-small-businesses/

New Ways to Market with Discount Programs

Marketing is always changing so it is important for small businesses to stay up-to-date on the new ways to market through the internet, email, and more while still saving money.

Look into the following programs to enhance your marketing.

 
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- On Hold messaging discounts - up to 25%

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Full Service Directional Marketing Agency

- 5% price match guarantee with Yellow Page advertising

- Direct Marketing: customizable ad templates & business/social networking,
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Email Marketing & Online Surveys

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How Will Your Customers Spend their Money when the Crisis Ends?

When the current crisis ends, will your customers spend as much money as they did before it began? Will they buy the same products, or have their tastes changed?

Some answers to those questions can be found in “New US Shopper to Emerge from Crisis,” an article by Jonathan Birchall in Financial Times. Let’s take a closer look at Birchall’s findings:

• More upscale customers have gotten hooked on coupons. Consumers who earn $100,000+ have gotten into the habit of using coupons – and they will continue to do so when the hard times end, according to a TNS survey.
• People will spend about 14% less on discretionary items. Customers will only spend about 86% of what they spent before the recession, according to a survey conducted by Alix Partners.
• The use of credit cards and credit lines will diminish. Birchall notes that cash and cash cards have become preferred payment vehicles – and he predicts that they will remain so. Also: Store brands, which have built a larger market share in their categories, will continue to attract more consumers.
• We are entering the age of thriftiness. Even affluent consumers will continue to be more oriented toward value – and less inclined to buy “aspirationally.”

Those findings support an opinion that I have written about before. It is my view that the companies that succeed after the recession will be those that viewed it as an opportunity to improve their marketing, selling and systems.

Slumping Sales: Do You Have Yourself to Blame?

Are your sales really slumping – or are you in a slump as a marketer?

That can be a hard question to ask. But as some recent news stories show, savvy marketers are coming with some very innovative strategies to boost sales. Here are some you might not be exploiting...

• See who is in your store and sell to them. In the current recession, more upscale shoppers (or shoppers who were formerly upscale) are cruising WalMart aisles. So the retailing giant is expanding its offerings to be sure that those new shoppers will find the high-quality products that appeal to them.
• Save your customers money without bruising their self-esteem. Reuters reports that Saks plans to offer loss-leader items from Prada and Christian Dior at discounts of up to 75%. Buying an entry-level handbag for $900 is not exactly bargain-bin shopping, but it speaks to Saks shoppers who might not mind saving a little money on luxury items today.
• Offer more than merchandise to make customers feel at home. Several menswear stores are offering alcoholic drinks to customers, the Wall Street Journal Reports. It might be a bit extreme, but men feel more comfortable, and buy more, when the store offers them a complimentary beer or glass of single-malt scotch.
• Give bargain items center stage. Toys R Us, for example, is highlighting ultra low-cost toys. According to the Los Angeles Times, the toy-selling giant hopes to capture lots of dollars by creating prominent displays of toys that cost $3 or less.

So how innovative are you willing to be, in the interest of boosting profits? How many of your fundamental assumptions are you willing to question? It's time for you to move your success to the next level.

Best Practices in Retail Links - Week Ending 11.21.2008

• Employers Try to Preserve Perks Amid Downturn
  Tags: compensation, perks, finance
• Thinking of Buying More Stores? Remember, Loans Come With a Catch...ALWAYS!
  Tags: acquisitions, expansion, financing, finance_best_practices
• Healthcare: Two Workplace Trends to Watch
  Tags: benefits, healthcare, human_resources_best_practice
• Reality Check: What Biz School Can't Teach
  Tags: blogging, marketing, management, management_best_practices
• 101 Things to Do in Business Before You Die
  Tags: management_best_practices, management
• Lifelong Learning: Essential in These Turbulent Times
  Tags: leadership, learning, management
• Reality Check Checklist
  Tags: leadership, success, entrepreneurship, management, management_best_practices
• "A Man Without a Smiling Face Must Not Open a Shop"
  Tags: management, leadership
• How to Remain Sane in the Face of Competition
  Tags: competition, marketing, branding, management_best_practices, management
• Keep Supporting Your Salespeople in Tough Times
  Tags: sales, selling, training, management, management_best_practices
• The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
  Tags: management, presentations, business_planning, management_best_practices
• Zen and Business Planning
  Tags: management_best_practices, management, business_plans
• Give Acceptance - Even to Employees who Drive You Crazy
  Tags: management, sales, supervision
• A Downturn is a Terrible Opportunity to Waste
  Tags: selling, hr, recruiting, sales, sales_best_practices
• Three Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts on Selling
  Tags: sales, sales_best_practices, customer_relationships, customer_service
• Top Sales Myths Dispelled
  Tags: sales_best_practices, sales, training
• Creative Training Delivery
  Tags: training, training_best_practices

Understanding the Marketing Mix 4 P's Model

The Egghead Retailer Part Three:
Understanding the Marketing Mix 4 P's Model

The third in a series of articles on MBA-level thinking for the independent retailer
To read more in the series, go to our Marketing Best Practices section.

Back in 1965, a marketing professor named Neil H. Borden invented The Marketing Mix 4 P’s Model. This model theorized that organizations never exist in a vacuum. They have specific strategic strengths or weaknesses in each of the following areas:

1. Product - Is it what consumers want? Consider brand name appeal, packaging, quality, styling, and warranties.
2. Price - Is the pricing strategy working? Consider competitive products, suggested retail price, wholesale pricing, cash discounts for volume sales, and other factors that impact on per-unit profit.
3. Place - Where is the product being bought by consumers?
4. Promotion - How well is marketing working? Consider advertising, public relations, sales force, and sales promotions.

The 4 P’s model sounds a little abstract – until you use it as a tool to analyze competing businesses.

Let’s say that you are a tire retailer, for example, and that another tire retailer down the road is doing a lot better than you are. In such cases, even a very basic 4 P’s analysis can turn up areas where you are falling behind. Maybe they’re beating you by selling a particular product line, or on price – or by having a better location. Or maybe they’re outspending you on advertising.

If you use the 4P’s model to look at your place in the marketplace, you just might discover some lapses in your competitive strategy. If you address them, could your profits soar?