Level2wo

10 Low-Budget Marketing Tactics

If you’re a startup or small business on a shoe-string budget, there’s some tactical things you can do to maximize your marketing efforts that won’t cost you all that much to do. Below you’ll find a list of ten things you can do without breaking the bank. Remember, it’s about sticking out in the crowd, and attracting attention. You want to get the conversation going, which will hopefully lead to your selling your product or service. That’s what’s important, because that’s the ultimate metric of success.

1. Donate to charity, and promote the fact that you’re doing so.

2. Give your prospects and customers/clients the opportunity to win something. The game is what will bring them in, but it gives you the opportunity to build the relationship.

3. In all the correspondence you have with prospects or customers, include something sweet or interesting beyond the marketing piece or invoice. Candy works–and it’s relatively inexpensive. If clients and prospects know your envelope has something fun in it, chances are they’ll remember you.

4. Blog. Blogging is a great–and cheap–way to get your message out there.

5. Be exceedingly nice to whoever you’re talking to where you’re looking for business. Sending thank you emails and notes make people feel good about you–and any advantage you have over your competition is invaluable.

6. Create a MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, or whatever account for your product or service. Sure, your product or service isn’t actually doing all of the writing or edits, but it definitely brings your product or service before the eyes of some consumers.

7. Leave your business card everywhere. You never know who’ll come across your card. If they’re looking for your product or service, there’s a good chance they’ll look you up.

8. Comment on blogs that your prospects and customers read. A lot of blogs let you have a link to your website, which is not only a way to have readers go directly to your site–it’s also a cool and quick SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tactic.

9. Network. Send emails to your friends, family, associates, and whoever else might need your product or service.

10. Be creative, not only in your marketing and web design, but in general. Think outside of the box. I know, it’s a cliche, but truth be told, the more creative you are, the more likelihood of someone finding your product or service that normally would not find it.

Good luck!

If you have any low-budget marketing tactics you’d like to share, let me know if your comments. Also, check out some of Level2wo’s previous entries, including this one on Search Engine Marketing.

2008’s Marketing Trends

2008 will be a good year for technology, new media, interactive marketing, and even television. If you want to maximize your marketing ROI, then you should definitely try to stay abreast of the trends affecting your industry, and see if you can’t ride some of that new wave. While it may mean getting a little bit out of your comfort zone, that’s probably a good thing.

For 2008 you’ll likely start seeing more money being spent online than in previous years. While traditional media will keep chugging along, it’ll likely be in conjunction with some online advertising, as well as mobile and other new media outlets. Don’t be suprised when some of the big companies on the block start showing up where you’d normally not expect them. Part of this is obviously a lot of the ‘Me-too’ factor, but a lot of it simply has to do with the reality being faced by advertisers, as well as the demographic that’s becoming more and more important to their bottom line.

Marketers, most of whom are pretty savvy themselves, understand that to reach not only their normal/older audiences but also their younger/hipper audiences, they’ll need to funnel some of their money into alternative media.

According to Forrester Research, interactive marketing (think e-mail, search marketing, video ads, social media, game marketing, RSS feeds, podcasts, and other forms of marketing that include ‘interaction’ between the target audience and the marketer) will reach approximately $61 billion within 4 years. As a percentage of overall marketing, that’s a jump from less than 10% to nearly 20%. Big money, for sure.

Marketing Synergy

Gotta love the word ‘Synergy’. If you’ve been in the working world for a while, you remember hearing that word for the first time, and then wondering if it would ever go away–I know I heard it repeated over and over as if it was the cool word of the day. But for marketing, I have to admit, it definitely encapsulates the concept of getting your marketing and advertising working together.

Online advertising is great, and so it off-line. Getting the two working together is even better–because, my friends, it creates SYNERGY! Think about how you or someone you know (and it helps if the people you’re thinking about are vastly different in terms of age, if they’re tech-savvy, read certain magazines, etc.). Now, imagine the many different ways you could reach those varying audiences–in print, online, etc. Your goal is to get their attention, and lead them to the same place–that is, to buy your product or service. Well, if your teenage son or daughter plays racing games online, and sees an ad for a ‘cool’ car, and then your husband or wife is reading about something of interest to them in a magazine, and sees an ad for a ‘practical’ car, and then your friend is driving to work, and sees a billboard for a ’safe’ car, and mentions it to you…what are the chances that you’ll be hearing about all these cars if someone brings it up? And what if they’re the same car? Well, that’s marketing synergy for you.

Making sure you’re staying on top of the trends, looking at the big picture in terms of who your audience is and how best to reach them with the budget you have to work with is a good way to stay ahead of the game. If your budget isn’t that large, it means you have less to work with–so be creative. Look for ways to integrate your different marketing and advertising activities. Engage the customer in different ways, which will create that all important synergy.

Following your customer’s buying and browsing habits is a sure fire way to at least be in the game–which you have to be if you want to win the game.

We at Level2wo constantly read everything there is to read, and participate whenever we can in not only technology trends but marketing trends conversations and blogs. If you’re a small business owner, try to do the same. It will help you out in the long run–and save you money.

Our Thoughts at Level2wo on Web Design and Marketing (random, and stream-of-conscienceness. Sort of).

Erik’s (Level2wo’s Lead Designer’s) Ten Random Words and Thoughts:

1. Color Palete
2. Audience
3. Information Structure
4. Functionality
5. User Experience / Workflow
6. Purpose
7. Clean Code
8. Fast Loading
9. Efficient Code
10. Layout
11. Information Hierarchy

Erik’s process is to start with a color palette that fits into what the client is trying to showcase and say–reinforcing the messaging behind the brand, using color theory to enhance and drive the entire concept.

My Ten Random Words and Thoughts on Marketing:

1. Pop–does it pop, whatever it is–the tagline, the look and feel, the brand, etc.
2. Strong–is it strong. Do I know what you do? Is it clear?
3. Compelling–are you happening? Do I need to use your product or service? Are you convincing or not?
4. Well done–sort of like compelling, but more about style. Are you original? Or are you the same old pie with a different crust?
5. Smart–Do you know what you’re doing? Do I trust you after reading and inhaling your message? Or is there someone better?
6. Positioning–are you top of the run or bottom? I like both, but it depends on what we’re talking about.
7. Easy–I don’t particularly like reading, and neither do a lot of people. Not at first, anyway. So let me in. Take down the hurdles.
8. Good–are you good? Attentive? Know what I want, not what you want and how you’re going to get it? Because it’s all about me.
9. Bond–can we bond? Do you give the vibe of building a relationship, or are you all about wham, bam, thanks for the easy work?
10. Wow–did you or can you wow me? I want to be impressed. Make me smile–help me reach that next level with my brand. Make me win.

That, my friends, was a fun exercise. Hope you enjoyed it too. If you want to see more of what we can do for you, check out our site.

Nighty night.

Branding and Brand Management

Brand management, according to Wikipedia, is ‘the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand.’ Brand management is geared around increasing the perceived value of a brand by the consumer. Brand management is important because the building of the brand in the consumer’s mind is critical to generating sales, and thus profit. Depending on the brand equity, a company may be able to charge more for their product, because the consumer will perceive–and thus likely prefer–the brand that has more brand equity.

Different types of brands are recognized in marketing, including premium brands, economy brands, fighting brands, national brands, private brands, and other types of brands.

Premium Brands
Premium brands are brands that tend to cost more than other similar products in the same category.

Economy Brands
Economy brands are brands that are geared towards consumers for which the price is more important.

Fighting Brands
Fighting brands are brands that have been devised to block and tackle a competitor’s brand.

According to Interbrand, the top 20 global brands (in 2005) were:
1. Coca-Cola
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. GE
5. Intel
6. Nokia
7. Disney
8. McDonald’s
9. Toyota
10. Marlboro
11. Mercedes-Benz
12. Citi
13. Hewlett-Packard
14. American Express
15. Gillette
16. BMW
17. Cisco
18. Louis Vuitton
19. Honda
20. Samsung
Branding Mistakes

Some common branding mistakes made by companies building and maintaining a brand:

1. Thinking branding is a logo or tagline. Branding is much more than that–it’s providing a consistent experience to the consumer.
2. Staying on the same path. Don’t change your brand with the market twists and turns. stay true, and so will your customers.
3. Not being clear on who you are and what your brand stands for. Work on it until you do.
4. Be clever, but don’t be too clever. Branding is mostly for your customers–let them in on the inside secrets.
5. Be yourself–don’t try for the bells and whistles. Simplicity is often best.