Small Biz Success Tips – Since 2012
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.
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.
Your marketing goals and objectives need to be specific and measurable, such as:
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.
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.
This is where you chart your monthly results, so you can compare to last month and to next month. This should include:
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.
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.
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:
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.
© 2015 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.
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?
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.
I hope you will:
Thanks so much for your support!
Gail
© 2015 Gail Oliver, Attention Getting Marketing. All rights reserved.
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.
© 2015 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.
I'm Gail Oliver and since 2012 I have advised thousands of small businesses and I can help yours too! Feel free to email me at attentiongetting@gmail.com with a question!
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