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Where to turn in 2009

Top 5 Shoe String Marketing Ideas for 2009

2009 is going to be a challenging year for many companies. Where do you turn when margins are tight and all signs say “proceed with caution”?

Here are Glow Marketing’s Top 5 Shoe String Marketing Ideas to help you market to Mom in a cost effective way to stay afloat in 2009:

1.    Make the Customer #1

Forget new customers for a moment and focus on the ones you have. Treat them well and ask them what they want to see your company provide them in order to meet their needs better. A customer survey will reveal where you need to improve and possibly shine a light on new products or services that you could be offering. Customer retention and developing “greater share of customer” are more cost effective than acquiring a new customer. A happy customer will bring you more business in word of mouth referrals and has the potential to spend more if you offer more of what they need.

2. Strut Your Stuff with PR

Don’t be shy, use PR to get noticed and put your company in the spotlight. As scary as it sounds, the media are looking for innovative new products to share with their readers, interesting business people to feature and even articles to publish from industry experts. Dollar for dollar, PR can generate the awareness that a company needs at a fraction of the cost of advertising.

3.    Pound the Virtual Pavement

Social Network Marketing is the use of online groups and discussion forums to get the word out about your company or product. Sites like Facebook and Twitter Moms offer great opportunities to talk about your company via starting a group, joining other groups or discussions.

4.   Partnership Power

Partnering with complimentary companies can create a new source of customers for very little cost. Find other companies that have similar clientele and see how you can work together to build a larger customer base. Perhaps you exchange ad banners on your website, or trade prizes for draws. Their customers could become your future customers.

5. Plan Ahead

Lack of marketing planning leads to reactionary tactics that lead to ineffective or short-term results. Reactionary decisions are based on emotion, not reason. Planning ahead gives you the confidence and ammunition to say NO when “opportunities” present themselves that are off strategy. A one-year marketing calendar will allow you to prioritize when, where and how you will market. A template is available to download on the right hand side of our screen. Without a plan, you may spend all of your marketing dollars before you need it most and you may also miss opportunities and deadlines. It’s not too late to create your plan now. Consider adding the above activities to your plan as part of an overall marketing strategy.

If these ideas are foreign to you, please contact Glow Marketing to see how we can help your business shine in 2009.

Add comment December 30th, 2008