Category: Marketing

Marketing Alternatives – Word of Mouth

Posted by WFG – August 15, 2011

With tough times ahead, marketing alternatives are a great way of advertising your company on the cheap. One of the best ways of doing this is word of mouth, despite many people believing this to be easy, it isn’t, and a strategy will need to be used.

With all new methods of alternative marketing, starting from scratch may help you put other campaigns behind you. It will give you a fresh idea on what to plan for and help with creating a strategy that is both fresh and innovative. Word of mouth marketing techniques aren’t about letting satisfied customers walk off to tell their friends. You have to push this yourself and consider the reasons why people talk to one another. Read the rest of this article

Alternative Marketing Strategy

Posted by WFG – August 5, 2011

With news of an upcoming recession many small businesses need to tighten their outgoings, and one way to do this is alternative marketing. But with marketing being such a broad area where should you start and what are the best ideas? Here are some steps to point you in the right direction.

The Importance of Marketing

To begin with it’s important to know why we need marketing. Putting it simply, without it the general operations of the company would be obsolete. Marketing creates an interest in your company and will raise sales. If no one knows about your business, how will you make sales?

But marketing isn’t as easy as telling everyone about your new business. There are methods, and even the biggest companies can sometimes struggle to compete. With an every changing market new techniques are created and staying still too long will see you falling behind. But what if you don’t have the money to invest in a large campaign? Read the rest of this article

Small Business Website Tips

Posted by Winflow – July 4, 2011

Designing an effective website for your small business is imperative if you want a wider market reach and new marketing medium. Unfortunately, there are also a million other businesses operating online. If you want your website to be successful it needs to stand out and should contain the following:

  • Discuss your services/products on your website. This may seem like a basic one but so many people get caught up in web design they forget to provide information about what the business does. Include prices and other relevant details about your products.
  • Make sure your website is easy to navigate. If your customers have trouble finding the information they are looking for they will move onto a website that is easier to use.
  • Keep your page updated. If customers can tell your page hasn’t been updated in a long time they may think your business isn’t operating anymore.
  • Keep your website professional. Don’t go overboard with font choices or flash sites. Keep it simple but informative.
  • Be careful when using photos. Keep your photos on the small side. Large images take longer to load and waiting can deter customers.
  • Include your business logo and company details. Visitors should know who you are and how to reach you.

Implementing a Customer Loyalty Program

Posted by Winflow – June 30, 2011

If you run a small business you should consider implementing a customer loyalty program. Doing so will encourage loyal customers to keep coming to your store over and over again. Why are returning customers so important to a small business? Because it takes more money to market your products or services to a new client than it does to keep an existing client.

Are you a small business owner looking to improve your sales and market reach? If so, contact the Winflow Financial Group today! Our consultants offer personalized strategy counselling for your small business so it can grow.

There are many types of customer loyalty programs you can try including:

  • A rewards program. Rewards programs give customers gifts based on how often they shop. A good example of a rewards program is the Shopper’s Optimum card. The more you buy at Shopper’s DrugMart, the more points you acquire. Acquiring enough points will earn you a percentage off of your next purchase.
  • Free gift program. This type of customer loyalty program rewards customers with a free product or service after they have already purchased the product or service several times. For example, if you operate an ice-cream shop you could come up with a program that gives customers one free ice-cream after they have purchased seven.
  • A membership program. Membership programs offer money-saving incentives if your customer joins the program. Think of any gym membership or bulk store membership you have had.

The best part about customer loyalty programs? You learn the most from your loyal customers and you can use the information they provide you with to better market your small business.

 

Boosting Small Business Sales

Posted by Winflow – June 22, 2011

The aim of every small business owner is to make a profit off of his business venture. To do this, you may need to think about boosting your sales. This can be difficult especially during an economic downturn. To boost your company’s sales, consider the following:

  • When marketing your product/service be specific about its features. Don’t just say your product is efficient, explain how it is efficient and why buying it would save a person time.
  • Be genuine with your customers. They can’t tell when you aren’t.
  • Base sales tactics on target markets. Become familiar with your target market and customize your sales technique to suit each market. Customers will appreciate that you have taken the time to understand their needs.
  • Use emotion to sell products. Most customers buy on impulse so market your products based on how your customers feel. Get them excited about your product and your sales will increase.
  • Develop promotions for products. Don’t go overboard though, you should only have promos on one product at a time. You don’t want to overwhelm your customers with product choice or feature fatigue.

If you need help determining a sales strategy, contact the Winflow Financial Group. They can provide strategy consulting for start-up businesses.

Marketing Piece Design Tips

Posted by Winflow – June 21, 2011

A lot of small business owners design their own marketing pieces. This is fine but you want to make sure you don’t end up looking like a design novice. When creating your own marketing pieces be sure to consider the following tips:

  • Be careful with font choice. When choosing a font for your marketing materials, choose one that will help build your business image. This means no crazy circus fonts for a serious business. Also, try to stick to one or two fonts. With all the cool font selection, it can be tempting to use a lot of different fonts to make your marketing piece stick out but this isn’t very visually appealing.
  • Don’t overuse colour. Yes, colour can make a marketing piece pop but be careful not choose loud or obnoxious colours that can leave the client feeling put off.
  • Be consistent with your marketing pieces. While it is a lot of fun to experiment with design and layout you should have consistent look for every piece of marketing.
  • Choose high-quality photos. People can tell when you use images that are poor quality. It looks much more professional to use high-resolution images.

If you need help determining which marketing tactics are right for your small business, contact the Winflow Financial Group.

 

Free PR for your Small Business

Posted by Winflow – June 20, 2011

Start-up business often don’t have the money to hire PR practitioners or spend a lot of money marketing. Unfortunately, without marketing and PR there is no way for your business to grow. Luckily, there are a number of free PR techniques your small business can utilize including:

  • Participate in online forums. This is one of many ways to get prospective buyers aware of your business. Provide advice to business forums and you may be able to position yourself as an expert on the topic. Forums usually allow you to use email signatures with links back to your business website.
  • Host an event and invite media. It doesn’t really matter what type of event your small business holds, just inform the media of your event and invite them to attend.
  • Write a letter to the editor. Letters to the editor end up published much more often than press releases do so considering writing one that involves some aspect of your business to get your name out there.
  • Write articles. Whether it is online through the company blog or offline as a guest writer, putting your articles out there will give your business credibility.

For your small business needs, contact the Winflow Financial Group.

Seasonal Products

Posted by WFG – June 16, 2011

With small business planning there’s a lot to think about, finances, clients and the general running of your company. But for retail business a lot of the work is already planned out for you. With a lot of shops offering a service for different times of the year, many know what’s around the next corner.

With seasonal products the focus shifts quickly and if you don’t keep up you’ll be left behind. As soon as the Christmas gifts are leaving, Easter eggs are hitting the shelves. When these are finished, the summer items are taking over. It’s a constant shift of different sales opportunities and maximizing the profits will depend on speed and efficiency.

But despite the hard work seasonal products bring in money as shoppers don’t only pick up the celebration items. Once they are in your store the chances are they’ll buy more than one Easter egg and it’s here that your employees will be able to raise your profits. But a lot of the time this seasonal items aren’t just small. With Christmas, father’s day and other bank holidays, many people are buying gifts for others. The price won’t concern them as long as what they buy is in good condition.

The advantage to seasonal products is that marketing techniques are already in place and advertising is simple. This lowers your efforts and will still invites customers to your store. For more on starting a business and maximizing profits contact Winflow Financial Group.

Marketing to the New Generation: Generation Y

Posted by Winflow – June 16, 2011

Today’s youth requires an entirely different form of marketing than most business owners are used to. Marketing to them can be tricky if you don’t understand their needs and outlooks. Generation Y, those born between 1980 and 2000, expect a lot more honesty than their idealistic boomer counterparts. To successfully market to this new generation, try the following techniques:

  • Use social media. Generation Y grew up in the age of the Internet. There was no learning curve to accessing the Internet, it seemed to be instilled in them. They primarily communicate online and most of them have never used a stamp. If your business isn’t utilizing social media, you are likely to miss out on marketing to this generation.
  • Be tech savvy. Most GenY’s can design a website themselves so they can tell when you’ve cut corners to build yours. Utilize new forms of communication as well. GenY’s use texts and tweets to communicate in social and business situations.
  • Use time management. Despite all the new technology available, GenY’s always seem to be low on time. Return calls promptly because in this age of instant access, customers have become more inpatient.
  • Show your concern for the rest of the world. Thanks to technology, today’s youth is more internationally aware. They are also more likely to respond to social obligation and doing their part than boomers.

For your small business marketing concerns, contact the Winflow Financial Group.