marketing

How to market effectively to people who don't give a damn

1 in 5 marketing emails are blocked by spam filters, and probably others are filed in the "to read later" box or deleted out of hand… so how do you get your message across when people, frankly, don't give a damn?

According to the ‘Australia and New Zealand Email Intelligence Report’, by email intelligence firm Return Path, reaching the inbox is tough enough for Australians, and its even tougher for Kiwis: 

"Australian email marketers scored 74 out of 100 on Return Path’s rating system, performing well against key reputation measures of complaints, unknown users and spam traps. By comparison, New Zealand marketers scored 40."

So what to do about it? Three things…

1. Maintain the integrity of your database by emailing people who have opted in; that is they have subscribed on your website. To begin with, your list may be small but the quality will be excellent and it will grow. 
2. Start by not sending people emails they don't want. Marketing firms send emails about marketing, accountancy firms send emails about accounting and… well, you know what I mean – what is relevant and important to you isn't necessarily so for your clients and subscribers. So mix it up a bit. By all means, be informative. Use your expertise to provide content that helps your clients and subscribers in some way shape or form, but give them some variety on the menu. You can do this by aggregating content from other sources - content that is informative, entertaining or educational but completely off your traditional beat.  I saw a real estate agent's newsletter the other day with some real estate advice (namely how to prepare your house for sale), but she also had a recipe for pavlova and advice on what vegetables to plant in February. A wide variety of topics will have wider appeal.
3. Click throughs are the real gold. Click through rate is the percentage of people who click one of the links on your email. By sending a variety of content and offers to your subscribers, you will be able to measure who is interested in what.  When you understand what people click through on, you will be in a better position to segment them in to different database. I have a client who sells environmental testing equipment. Some of their customers clicked on air testing offers, and others on soil testing offers. By segmenting the database into those who are interested in air quality and those in soil quality - as well as other segments - we can dramatically increase click through rates by between 300 and 600 per cent.

Finding the Best Marketing Services For Your Company

Owning a business is a lot of work. There are many different elements that you have to juggle in order to ensure that you keep everything balanced. Marketing is a large part of your business, and you always want to make sure that you are able to work with the best of the best whenever possible. Take a moment to consider what types of marketing services your business might need and which professional companies would be best to provide those services based on what they have to offer. Not sure how to choose? Here are some things to keep in mind. 

Marketing is a serious business. You need to find professional companies who have experience and success in the area of business marketing. You should look at what they’ve accomplished, how they’ve done it, and how many people have benefited from their services or would recommend them to another business. It doesn’t matter how proficient or effective a marketing group claims to be, because the customers will be the true test of whether they have been successful. 

Think about how you want to approach your marketing. If you want a basic marketing package that can simply get your business’s name out there, you can find that. However, if you want to pull out all the stops and make sure that no matter what you do, it’s a great marketing move that is setting the stage for business success, you can find that also. When it comes to running a successful business, you have to make sure that you plan your strategy for creating success, which includes proper marketing and advertisements so that people know that your business exists and what it can do for them. 

Creative specialists are accessible all over New Zealand, and you can find plenty of great marketing solutions if you just take a moment to look. This doesn’t have to be something that you struggle with or have a hard time finding. It just needs to be a part of your business that you take very seriously. Marketing is easy, affordable, and very affective when done properly. Make sure that you don’t sell your business short by not taking advantage of these opportunities. If you want to be a successful business, you have to make sure that people know and respect your business and effective marketing will do that for you.

What’s the Difference Between Advertising and Marketing?

Many people tend to confuse the meanings of advertising and marketing, and it’s easy to see why. The ultimate aim of them both is to heighten consumer awareness of your product or service in order to create a loyal user group and increase sales. But what’s the difference between the two?

Advertising
Advertising is the form of communicating the benefits of your product or service in order to persuade potential clientele, that they need what you have on offer. There are many forms of advertising - more common forms are TV, print and radio advertisements, however web based avenues are becoming increasingly more popular, with the likes of Pay Per Click Campaigns and Banner Ad’s. 

Marketing
All your customers want to know is: Why should I choose you? Why should I spend money on your product / service? Marketing provides the answers to those questions by tapping into precise psychological triggers, in order for sales to begin before the salesman makes the call. It’s the planning, implementation and control of communicating, delivering and exchanging your service or product offerings. Marketing is the process as a whole, whereas advertising is just part of that process which also includes branding, research and pricing to name a few. 

So how do you get an advertising campaign and marketing plan established? Once you employ a advertising / marketing specialist, they can define the things which are important to you, as a business, and deliver a concept that is sharp, creative and strategically sound - something which will assist you in attracting new customers, whilst keeping your loyal customers more than satisfied. By working with you your specialist will be able to ascertain what your product / service appeal is, identify your target markets, explore growth strategies and form your current and future communication needs. It doesn’t matter whether your business is new or existing, you will need a marketing plan, whether it be something extravagant or something minor, all it needs to do is get your message out to your clients.

So it’s fair to say that advertising could not work without a marketing plan, it’s merely one small part of the bigger marketing picture and without marketing your business would not reach all of your potential clients, therefore the success of your business would be hindered.