The Marketing Eye

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Marketing tips

Here are some of our top tips for marketing and advertising success. If you want to know more, feel free to Ask the Eye - it's free! Marketing tips

1. Add personality to your communications - in order to connect with your customers, your customers need to feel connected to you. A simple change might be adding a personal touch. Customers can develop a greater affinity to a person than a company and will be more likely to respond and stay loyal.
   
   
2. Put more value in your opening line – don’t waste the most valuable part of your marketing material. The first line might be the only line your readers take in at first glance, so you need to give them an incentive to carry on. Rewrite your opening line until it reinforces your proposition and drives home the customer benefit.
   
   
3. Don't neglect design - improving the design and layout of your communications is one of the easiest improvements you can make to deliver an immediate return. Design and layout are critical to pulling your readers through your marketing and motivating them to take action. We highly recommend that you utilise the services of a designer experienced in the marketing environment.
   
   
4. Establish and build trust - before asking for lots of information. Ask for only the most necessary information on your website and in direct mail forms. You can always ask for more information later. Your first objective is to get the information you need to make contact.
   
   
5. Personalise for greater cut-through - personalisation is key to making the recipient feel that your communication is relevant to them. The prospect’s name is the basic requirement, but where possible, make reference to buying history, industry developments or identified needs.
   
   
6. Target your campaigns using segmentation - if you have more information than the name and email address on your customers and prospects, use it. If you haven't collected information, perhaps this is the key missing ingredient from your marketing activity. Make sure that your prospects receive communications with products, offers and messages that are relevant to them.
   
   
7. Target inactive customers – existing customers are always easier to convert than new ones. Create a reason to contact previous customers. Reasons could include: a special offer, a new service, a case study, a survey, a desire to update your records – anything to put your brand back in the front of their minds.
   
   
8. Measure and analyse – some marketing can be justified on the basis of intangible benefits such as brand building, but wherever possible try to measure something to show the return and give direction on where future improvements are needed. E-mail and pay-per-click marketing has grown exponentially in recent years because the results are so measurable.
   
   
9. Don't try to be everything to everyone - just as customers screen you, you should decide what your strengths are and where your target market is. Consider creating a checklist of who shouldn't hire you! It will help you focus and save your marketing budget.
   
   
10. Work for referrals - word of mouth is the least expensive, most effective way to get new business. Collect mini-testimonials; call at least one customer a day just to keep in touch, ask for a referral – scary, but it works!