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How to Avoid Wasted Effort and Make the Most of Your Marketing Dollars

We’ve talked with a lot of clients recently who are coming to us fresh off a series of marketing failures. These business owners are understandably frustrated and ready for something new. As we talk over their previous efforts, a familiar pattern emerges. The failed campaigns were almost universally underfunded, given too little time to succeed or were too limited in scope.

In the end, they were a waste of money.

Marketing needs a fighting chance. You can avoid wasting time and money by understanding the basics of what makes a successful campaign.

We all love stories about marketing campaigns that were wildly successful right out of the gate, and it’s great when it happens, but the hard truth is those campaigns are just plain lucky.

Your business needs a marketing strategy, not a lottery ticket.

[Read more…] about Give Your Marketing a Chance: 4 Essentials for a Winning Campaign

How to Compete More Effectively and Earn Customer Loyalty Through Niche Marketing

It can be tempting to try and position your business to do it all, but, unless you are WalMart, it’s just not good marketing.

Remember the old adage, “When you are talking to everyone you are talking to nobody.”

A shotgun-style approach is largely inefficient for small businesses and may dilute your message to the point where it’s missed by the people who need to hear it. Niche marketing allows you to narrow your focus, specialize and take the time to understand your target market. Done right it will bring better returns and give your business the advantage where it counts.

[Read more…] about Find Your Market Niche: A Smaller Focus Can Bring Bigger Results

What the Law of Reciprocity Means for Marketing and How You Can Use it to Build a Successful Campaign

As humans it is hardwired into our brains that getting something means giving something in return. Whether it is gifts or favours, our drive to reciprocate is so ingrained sociologists call it the Law of Reciprocity.

Businesses have long tapped into this principle to engage with their customer base and generate revenue. But before we get down to the nuts and bolts of how this principle can be used in marketing, let’s look a little more closely at what is going on with this unwritten social rule.

Say you just moved into your new house. There are boxes everywhere and your new neighbor comes over with a pot of chili and a friendly smile. Two weeks later they ask you to keep an eye on their dog for a couple days while they are gone. What do you say? You could say no, but doing so will likely leave you feeling uncomfortable. That is because social norms, and even the wiring of our brains, tell us favours need to be returned. We want to give something in return for getting something.

[Read more…] about The Law of Reciprocity: Sometimes You Must Give to Get

 

3 Perspective Shifting Ideas During COVID-19

A lot of businesses, big and small, are struggling in the current COVID-19 pandemic. In a short few days many businesses across the world were forced to shut down or had their sales decline. Of course, this leads to economic struggle.

Business needs to adapt.

Actually, most of us business owners know that we need to adapt. For a small few of us, what we adapt into is obvious – but for most of us that answer isn’t immediately clear.

You might just need to shift your perspective during this pandemic. It is possible for you to make new sales and grow your business. There’s 3 things that business owners, employees, and consumers need to understand during this time.

[Read more…] about How to Grow Your Business, the Right Way, in the Midst of a Pandemic