How and where do I spend my advertising dollars? The simple answer is to model the success of others. The more complicated answer is trial and error, and that can be costly.
A few years back I started a home services company and I had the opportunity to learn first hand how to market and yes it was costly. I found out very quickly that everyone was an expert and they were all ready to take my money, big surprise. I started with local phone books and shopper magazines. Each time I committed to an ad campaign I was told of how advertising takes time and I will have to get my name out there to be recognized. This sounds logical and it is, but what I found was - buy the time I figured out if the ad was working or not I had spent thousands of dollars with little to no return on my investment.
So I asked my new expert advisers, how long before I can expect to see results? The average answer was, it takes a potential customer a minimum of 14 times to see your ad to be effective. The other key is timing. Even though your ads are seen multiple times - if they are not in the market for the service then your just wasted your money again, and I did. My marketing failure taught me five valuable lessons.
1 - Get involved and be your own expert.
2 - No one will ever know more about your business then you.
3 - Test different approaches in a concentrated area
4 - Measure Results early and often
5 - Be flexible and make adjustments
This is where I decided to be my own expert and do my own testing. I selected four communities in my local area that fit my description of an ideal customer. This was the beginning of my Micro Marketing campaign. I had already invested in the local yellow pages and shopper magazines so that was covered. Then I focused my flyer distribution exclusively to these homes and I changed from monthly to weekly distribution. Each flyer was changed and personalized to that community. Next I placed ads in each communities local news letters and found my way into the local community center bulletin boards.
After my first month Micro Marketing the calls started coming and my local business grew faster then any other time in my business. I took this one step further and in my new ads I include testimonials of neighbors for their communities. My repeat and referral business jumped dramatically and my advertising costs dropped significantly. Once I found success with Micro Marketing I duplicated it in other areas of my choice.
Micro Marketing works apply the principles to your business and narrow the focus down to get the sales up.
Article Source: http://www.alltopinfo.com
About the Author (text)
www.theSalesSolution.com Paul Peloso is the founder and president of The Sales Solution. This innovative company focuses on developing success by coaching, training, motivating and inspiring people to live with integrity, excellence and accountability.
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