Small Business Marketing Strategist

Tag: small business blog

Get Inspired by this Brilliant Product Idea from Bauble Bar

I love creative product ideas, and this Pixar Toy Story Mr Potato Head stacking ring from Bauble Bar is brilliant. It lends to the nature of the Mr. Potato Head product, merged with a stacking ring, which have been so trendy the last few years. Plus, it makes a perfect gift for the Toy Story fan.

 

© 2022 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

How to Do a Monthly Marketing Audit

Are you planning, auditing and reviewing your marketing efforts each month?

My top-selling Marketing Planner offers a more comprehensive plan, audit and review, but I thought I would offer a condensed one for those who feel overwhelmed by marketing. So let’s keep it simple.

Step 1 : Set Your Marketing Goals for the Month

Your marketing goals and objectives need to be specific and measurable, such as:

  • Increase Instagram followers by 1,000.
  • Create a new ad campaign for Facebook to drive traffic to my website.
  • Grow email list by 500.
  • Increase overall site traffic this month by 30%.
  • Create a promotion for Valentine’s Day.
  • Launch a new product via email and social media.
  • Increase overall sales this month by 20%.
Step 2: Create a Tactical Plan

Goal: Increase Instagram followers by 1,000.

Tactical Plan: 1. Run a giveaway every Friday asking people to like and share the post and tag three people in the comments; 2. Boost one of my  Instagram posts that had a high engagement to my target market; 3. Post a fun reel showing how to use my product as reels have twice the engagement.

Step 3: Results of Goals & Plan

Goal: Increase Instagram followers by 1,000.

Result: 460 new followers.

What Worked: The giveaway brought the majority of the new followers.

What Didn’t Work: The reel brought engagement but not new followers.

What To Do Differently Next Month: Make the giveaway post a reel, and that is also the post to boost.

Step 4: Overall Marketing Review

This is where you chart your monthly results, so you can compare to last month and to next month. This should include:monthly marketing audit

  • Sales
  • Expenses
  • Profit
  • New Customers
  • Traffic
  • Email Subscribers
  • Social Media Follwers
  • Ad Spending
  • Ad Results

My 5-page Monthly Marketing Audit makes it easy to plan, review and evaluate your marketing each month. Again, you do not need this if you already have my Marketing Planner.

⭐ I need products to feature (for free) on OnlineShopLove.com so please email me a product link to attentiongetting{at}gmail.com. Photos must be high quality to be considered. Thanks!

 

 

 

© 2021 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Monthly Marketing Audit.

Try This Old Marketing Trick to Sell More Products and Services

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

I was in the drugstore yesterday and I saw an annual back to school favorite called the Teen Value Pack, which consists of 10 different skin and body care products from various brands packaged together in a box for a value price of $9.99 (retail value $42). Even though my kids may only need half the products in the packs (my son isn’t old enough to shave just yet), I still bought them because I felt like I was really just paying for one product and getting the rest for free.

Screen shot 2015-08-06 at 2.00.45 PM

The lesson here is that consumers love getting value for their money, and love getting many items at one expenditure almost feeling as if some were free. So, have you thought about bundling together your products and/or services?

There are a few advantages to this old marketing trick:

  • The customer might be more likely to go for the bundle because of the overall cost savings, allowing you to sell more product to one customer at one time, and hence make more money overall.
  • It is a good way to introduce new products and create future demand
  • You can take advantage of various selling occasions or events to create bundles or value sets around, such as Back to School, Having a Baby, Going on a Trip, New House, etc.

It can also be a way to quickly expand your customer base. Back when I was working for a computer software company, we wanted our customers to start buying the CD version of our software because it was much cheaper to produce. But a lot of people didn’t have CD-ROM drives in their computers (we’re going way back here). So the company bundled the CD version of the software with a top-notch CD-ROM drive (they worked out a deal with the manufacturer to buy them at a really good price). They packed the software and CD-ROM drive together in a box and called it the Blockbuster Bundle for the same price as buying the software on its own and they sold like hot cakes. Why not, it was a chance to essentially get a free CD-ROM drive. The end result was not only did we successfully get our customers to upgrade to CD-ROM, but we got a ton of new customers in the process.

So come up with a bundle that makes sense, offer it at a value price where you still make a decent profit, make it a limited time offer, and see what it does for your business.

No Sales? Get a Marketing Critique of Your Business for Just $99 and I’ll Tell You Why

© 2015 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.

My Latest Surefire Tip for Getting Publicity for Your Business

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Do you ever get frustrated trying to get publicity for your business with the media outlets specific to your industry? For example, fashion magazines are besieged with requests from vendors to use their products in editorial, so how good are your odds? But you do have other choices. Have you ever thought about stepping away from your industry’s mainstay magazines and blogs, and try a different approach?

How to get publicity

Let’s say I owned a restaurant, I would typically be trying to get a review or included in articles from local magazines, lifestyle and travel blogs, and as such would be competing with many others for the same editorial. However, consider a story pitch that would work with a different type of publication and have the same effect.

For example, I was recently planning a trip to Boston and I searched on Google for “Top restaurants in Boston”. One of the articles that came up was from the business blog, Business Insider, entitled “The 10 Best Restaurants For A Business Lunch In Boston“. Do you see where I am going here? Would you normally expect to see restaurant suggestions in a business publication? But this article makes sense for this particular type of publication.

Maybe you have a pet products business. You are likely always targeting the pet-related media. However, earlier this year the men’s fashion magazine GQ ran an article called, “The Ultimate Dog Accessories for a Gentleman’s Best Friend“. Would you have thought to pitch to them?

If you own a resort or tourist-related business, I imagine you are always trying to get featured with the travel media. However, Time Magazine ran an article last summer entitled, “7 Great American Vacation Spots That Won’t Bust Your Budget” as part of their money feature, and it listed and linked to several hotels, restaurants, bars and attractions.

What if you sell beauty products and you have had no luck with the beauty editors at the popular beauty blogs. But did you know that Shape Magazine, which typically focuses on fitness-related editorial for women, also has regular beauty editorial, even an annual beauty awards?

I hope this gets you thinking about how you can increase your chances of getting publicity for your business by targeting non-industry media with a story relevant to their editorial.

Before You Leave….

I hope you will:

Thanks so much for your support!

Gail

© 2015 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.

5 Ways to Promote Your Business at Popular Summer Events

 

Summer is almost here and it provides a ton of opportunities to promote your business at every type of popular, well attended event. This is a great time to use your friends and family members to get the word out about your business, and it won’t take much of an investment but could offer big returns.

 

For example, every city and town has some sort of big race – a 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon, Spartan race, triathlon, bike race, walk – you name it. These events typically have a high attendance (and media coverage) and gives you a chance to get your business seen by your local market.

5 Ways To Get Your Business Noticed at a Major Event

  1. If you know anyone (or even yourself) who is participating in a race, it is a chance to get your business name and website url seen on a t-shirt they wear, a headband, a hat, the side of a baby jogger – so many possibilities!
  2. Think about parking your car in a spot where the majority of spectators will be walking, both towards and away from the finish line (so get there early) and make sure it has a large windshield sun visor that displays your company name and website url.
  3. Have a friend or family member that lives close to the finish line? Ask it they will display a lawn sign, window sign or banner promoting your business. Get creative!
  4. If taking public transit to the big race (along with crowds of other people), wear your t-shirt or even carry a large canvas bag that has your business logo on it.
  5. If the race is getting covered by the local news, be sure to have someone wearing your company t-shirt standing behind the reporter when reporting.

Other Big Summer Events

  • Outdoor Concerts
  • Music Festivals
  • Outdoor Movies
  • Farmer’s Markets
  • Art Festivals
  • Food Festivals
  • Film Festivals
  • Children’s Festivals
  • Bazaars
  • County Fairs
  • Parades
  • Trade Shows and Conferences
  • Museum Exhibitions
  • Traveling Amusement Parks
  • Yoga in the Park
  • Fourth of July Events
  • Public Bike Days
  • Major League Baseball Games
  • Golf Tournaments
  • Tennis Tournaments
  • Air Shows
  • Boat Shows
  • Fishing Derbies
  • Rodeos
  • Proms
  • College Graduation Ceremonies & Events
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© 2015 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

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