Wildfires

Wildfire Marketing Group asked:


Before you rush out to have 50,000 brochures printed and all of your company vehicles wrapped in vinyl, you need to take a minute to ensure that your marketing materials are going to deliver the results you are looking for. While achieving maximum results is probably something that you won’t be able to do without the help of an experienced marketing professional, there are several things that you can to improve your own results.

Have your marketing materials professionally designed. Even though you and your family and friends may love the new brochure that you designed in Microsoft Word, chances are that it is not going to be as effective as a brochure from a professional graphic designer . As a result your return on investment will be lower.

Have your printed marketing materials produced in full color. Full color printing has been shown to significantly increase response rates compared to any other combination of colors and can be surprisingly affordable for even the smallest of businesses. Another benefit is that it makes your company appear larger and more established while improving your credibility.

Include a call to action in all of your marketing materials. The most beautifully designed brochure will deliver poor results if it doesn’t clearly tell your prospect what they need to do. Do you want them to call you? To visit your web site? To send you something? Tell them exactly what you want and when you want it and your results will improve dramatically.

Include your URL on all of your marketing materials. From your business cards to your vehicles and everything in between, your URL needs to be easily accessible in order to open up another opportunity to expose your company to your prospects and clients.

Ensure that your company’s image stands out from your competitors. No matter how much you love your biggest competitor’s color scheme or style of advertising, copying it will not work for you. Small businesses often try to emulate other companies with the mindset of ” if it works for them it will work for me ” which is not true and will hurt your business in the long run.



LEROY

Wildfire Marketing Group asked:


Before you rush out to have 50,000 brochures printed and all of your company vehicles wrapped in vinyl, you need to take a minute to ensure that your marketing materials are going to deliver the results you are looking for. While achieving maximum results is probably something that you won’t be able to do without the help of an experienced marketing professional, there are several things that you can to improve your own results.

Have your marketing materials professionally designed. Even though you and your family and friends may love the new brochure that you designed in Microsoft Word, chances are that it is not going to be as effective as a brochure from a professional graphic designer . As a result your return on investment will be lower.

Have your printed marketing materials produced in full color. Full color printing has been shown to significantly increase response rates compared to any other combination of colors and can be surprisingly affordable for even the smallest of businesses. Another benefit is that it makes your company appear larger and more established while improving your credibility.

Include a call to action in all of your marketing materials. The most beautifully designed brochure will deliver poor results if it doesn’t clearly tell your prospect what they need to do. Do you want them to call you? To visit your web site? To send you something? Tell them exactly what you want and when you want it and your results will improve dramatically.

Include your URL on all of your marketing materials. From your business cards to your vehicles and everything in between, your URL needs to be easily accessible in order to open up another opportunity to expose your company to your prospects and clients.

Ensure that your company’s image stands out from your competitors. No matter how much you love your biggest competitor’s color scheme or style of advertising, copying it will not work for you. Small businesses often try to emulate other companies with the mindset of ” if it works for them it will work for me ” which is not true and will hurt your business in the long run.



MARTIN

Wildfire Marketing Group asked:


Is it full page newspaper or magazine ads? How about a banner or pay-per-click campaign? Could it be something else, like billboards, direct mail, email or even guerilla marketing? The short answer is that the best advertising is a combination of advertising mediums with a single message.

Media today is fragmented and is becoming even more fragmented each day. As a result, consumers rarely spend the enough time around one medium to receive the same repetition from your message that they would have just a few years ago. If you want to consistently reach them and convert them into revenue producing consumers, you’ll need to target them across multiple mediums. Keep in mind that there is a delicate balance in doing this. It is just as ineffective to spread your message across too many mediums as it is to focus on just one medium.

To get the best results on the kind of budget that many smaller businesses are working with, focus on 2 mediums that work well together and ensure that a similar message is used on each. An example would be a direct mail campaign in conjunction with an internet marketing campaign. A business with a larger budget may consider adding a third or even a fourth medium to their arsenal. Regardless of the number of mediums you end up utilizing, remember that your message has to be consistent across all of them to generate the kind of synergy that this program can generate.

If you’re handling your marketing on your own, take some time to think about how your prospects may conduct their average day. With that in mind you can come up with a starting point to determine an effective pair of advertising mediums. You should be aware of two things though.

1. You will still need to advertise on a consistent basis. You usually need to reach your prospects several times before they become a client/customer.

2. You should expect some trial and error. You are an expert in your industry — not in marketing. If you aren’t getting the results you want from your campaign, test slight changes and adjust accordingly.

If you’re putting your marketing in the hands of a marketing company, ensure that they have experience with the mediums that will be utilized. A search engine optimization firm probably won’t be able to handle your direct mail campaign, likewise, a graphic design firm probably won’t be able to handle your search engine optimization campaign. Unless the company you’re dealing with is a full-service marketing firm, you may have to deal with a few companies to get the services you need.



HENRY