The Top 10 Marketing Tools to Grow Your Business in 2004

Written by Jay Lipe


Continued from page 1

#5 Key messages Remember back in English class how we were taught to write down a paper’s thesis before we wroterepparttar paper? This thesis statement wasrepparttar 120340 argument you wanted to assert-the central point ofrepparttar 120341 paper. Think of your company’s key messages asrepparttar 120342 thesis statements for your marketing. The next time you have to write copy for your brochure or website, identifyrepparttar 120343 three most important things that distinguish your company fromrepparttar 120344 rest. Then, write your copy so that these three ideas come through loud and clear.

#4 Results-oriented metrics Can you imagine a doctor examining a patient without a thermometer? Yet this is precisely how many growing businesses approach their marketing analytics. Without metrics to trackrepparttar 120345 effectiveness of your marketing efforts, decisions are just…guesses. Develop two or three key metrics (i.e. # of new leads per month, cost per inquiry, or sales calls per month) that measurerepparttar 120346 true health of your business’ marketing.

#3 Ongoing customer communication Your customers have invested a lot in your company already; time, money and emotional energy to name just a few. Keep in frequent touch with them and they’ll shower your business with repeat purchases, referrals and positive word-of-mouth. Use catch-up phone calls, email blasts or personalized letters to keep customers abreast of new products, promotions or just plain news.

#2 A marketing plan The cornerstone to any successful marketing effort is a marketing plan. A good one laysrepparttar 120347 groundwork for action by coveringrepparttar 120348 “whys” behind each task. It also helps break down a seemingly daunting effort into a series of more manageable chunks. And whenrepparttar 120349 phones stop ringing, it gives you something to go back to. You’ll never again ask “What should we do now?”

#1 A process for implementing your plan Developing a marketing plan is only halfrepparttar 120350 battle. Without a concerted effort to implementrepparttar 120351 plan, your marketing effort will fail. To avoid this common marketing mistake, use weekly project updates and quarterly checkpoint meetings to ensure your plan is successfully implemented. Don’t forget that proper implementation also hinges on havingrepparttar 120352 right person in place. Who is this person? In three words-a project manager. Without a deadline driven, nuts-and-bolts type atrepparttar 120353 helm of your roll out, you’ll drift like a rudderless ship.



Jay B. Lipe is the author of The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses, available at major bookstores and online at www.amazon.com. He is also the CEO of Emerge Marketing (www.emergemarketing.com, a firm devoted to helping small business owners improve their marketing. He can be reached at lipe@emergemarketing.com or (612) 824-4833.


How to Set (and Get) the Right Prices

Written by Jay Lipe


Continued from page 1

After digging around enough, you’ll be able to generate a range of prices that your competitors fall into. Together with your financial prices, you’ll now have two reference points.

Pricing by position The last step is to and ask this question “How do we want to be perceived in our market?” In my book The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses , I identify 13 possible price strategies you could choose from, but to make this easy, consider just three: ·Premium Price;repparttar most expensive 1/3rd of your market ·Middle Market Prices;repparttar 120339 middle 1/3rd ·Budget Price;repparttar 120340 least expensive 1/3rd.

Based onrepparttar 120341 value factors you’ve identified and your chief competitors, which of these 3 price level best matches your product? The lesson in this exercise is that price positions your product.

The worst pricing decision you can make “Because we’re slow right now, we’ll lower our prices. Then as business rebounds, we’ll raise them.” This is a bad marketing decision because lowering your prices immediately positions your product differently to buyers. Plus very few companies make attendant cost reductions, so margins erode. And when you try to raise prices again, customers who bought atrepparttar 120342 lower prices will expect to get more value factors forrepparttar 120343 additional price. A better strategy is to maintain your current prices while seeking cost reductions to maintain your margins.

Another bad pricing decision “If I drop my price to $15, then will you buy?” Here, you signal to a buyer that your list prices are not final. Sensing this, buyers will negotiate harder andrepparttar 120344 resulting price reductions will cut into your margins. Instead, think about coupling price discounts torepparttar 120345 buyer with equivalent reductions in your offering. For example, you could say “OK I can lower my price to $15, but I’ll have to reduce our warranty period from five years to two.”

Sure, pricing is a financial decision. But it has wide ranging impact on your positioning, your selling efforts and your product offering. Rememberrepparttar 120346 words of Thomas Paine “What we obtain too cheap we esteem too little; it is dearness only that gives everything its value”.



About the author Jay Lipe, CEO of EmergeMarketing.com and the author of The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses (Chammerson Press), is a small business marketing expert who helps companies grow faster. He can be reached at lipe@emergemarketing.com or (612) 824-4833.


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