Category Archives: marketing

Dell digs Twitter

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My social Network on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter...

It’s interesting to watch Dell start to adopt Twitter as a promotion channel. It recently launched a campaign whereby people who were following them on Twitter were given an exclusive voucher offering them 30% off a laptop, with the promise of offering new vouchers every week. This was a follow on from a campaign that made them $1 million before Christmas. Granted, $1 million may not be a huge impact on Dell’s revenues but it’s a huge number by any stretch of the imagination.

What this also shows is that communicating with your audience is a golden when it comes to improving your bottom line. Twitter is but one mechanism to do this, but social networks in general give you an extra edge when it comes to pushing your promotional products or just listening to your audience and finding out what they want, need and desire.

Marketing on a budget

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Interesting post about how simple measures to keep your customers engaged can work wonders for your business. Here are some options to keep in mind:

  • Actively promote recommendations
  • Promote your business through networking
  • Build ‘host relationships’
  • Create a newsletter

These are all relatively cheap options that can help you give your business a boost in the time it needs it. Remember, you don’t need anything sophisticated like live video streaming solutions to get people interested in what you do. All you need to do is remind them every now and again that you’re still around.

Selling a package

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I was looking through a website that sells holidays in Branson and thinking of the great way they package the holidays to be much more than a visit to Branson. For example, they sell their vacations as “Fun and Excitement”, “Comfort and Elegance” and “Music and Magic”; all great themes that put great images in the mind of the reader. There seem to be a number of shows you can go to, and also a number of attractions.

If I had to visit, I think I’d like to visit sometime in summer as they have water parks and caves and caverns to visit. They have a calendar of events, but unfortunately it only goes up to December, so I’m not sure what’s happening next year. Notwithstanding there seem to be loads of parks and other attractions to visit, so if I were looking for somewhere to visit in the US, it would be on my list.

Anyway, back to the idea of marketing themes; they help to build a story in the reader’s mind and so are easier to sell than just a list of features. So keep this in mind when you’re putting together some thoughts for your marketing strategy. Focus on a cohesive story and you make it easier for your customers to understand what you’re offering.

Personalised Marketing Material

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I came home today to find an some interesting advertising material from one of the leading car insurers in the UK. What caught my attention (which was probably as was intended) was the fact that ther advertising material had some interesting personal information used all over it. For example, a photo of a car in the marketing brochure had the same number plate as my car. The road sign next to what was supposed to be the street where I lived actually had our real street name on it. The photo on the outside had a set of keys with a tag with my name on them.

The interesting thing wasn’t quite so much the auto insurance, but the way it was presented. The personal information grabbed my attention and made sure I gave the brochure a second look. Interesting how marketing companies get more clever.

The best thing for your online business could be a bad economy

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Image representing Danny DeMichele as depicted...

I came across a great post today by Danny Demichele, an Internet Marketing Consultant, who puts together a good argument how troubled times could actually have a positive impact on an online business. Here are 10 factors that you need to look out for:

  • Gas – The cost of travel mean more people shop online
  • Price Comparisons – The Internet makes comparison easier leading to more online purchases
  • Advertising Efficiency – As marketing budgets get squeezed more money is pumped online into trackable advertising
  • Less Big Brand Advertisers – As big brand advertisers shrink they budgets, smaller organisations get more space
  • Previous Brand Reluctance – Manufacturers will allow more retailers to sell their products
  • TV Shows – More TV shows will move online opening up advertising possibilities
  • Investment Dollars – As more people move online, more money is pumped into the Internet
  • Lower Overhead – Online businesses are typically cheaper to run that traditional models
  • Less Taxes – Avoiding local taxes by shopping online
  • Virtual Services – Helping customers reduce their costs

Danny is an SEO Consultant who focuses on internet marketing consulting and has a pretty rich background in Internet-based organisations. His website also has weekly tips to help businesses success, so look out for them after you read the post.

Marketing can get tricky ..

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coca cola pepsi

Image by culture.culte via Flickr

Some jobs are easier than others, even if they are pretty similar. Take for example working on the sales team of a company that has a monopoly in a certain product. Marketing in this case is rather easy as it involves maintaining the image of the company and persuading people that the company is really serving them the best they can.

On the other hand there are the really tricky marketing roles. For example, take Pepsi, basking forever in Coca-cola’s limelight. Now that’s a hard job. Or selling diet pills on the Internet, which is a really competitive market. Alternatively, try selling polaris suspension parts in a country that doesn’t really practice off-road racing. The secret is always to focus on your product’s strengths and making sure you understand the competitive environment you need to operate in.