What'a USP?Written by Scott
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A Contest/Promotion - This covers a broad area, but can be extremely successful when implemented and marketed properly, so be creative and if possible, develop one for your business, product or service. After our discussions, and research, we have begun developing this idea. Example: Every time you buy from us, you get another chance at winning "Free Toner for a Year". I know you're saying... free toner for a year - what are you crazy? Bear with me on this... first of all, most of their customers use 4 to 6 toners in normal use in one year (In our contest, we can actually cap that in our rules, i.e., "Not to exceed 6 cartridges". So we associate our costs to that, which does not make this a cost prohibitive program at all, depending upon program success. Again, mileage and customers we gain from our contest is potentially huge, and if it works well, we continue it... at a maximum cost of 6 toners per year for a Grand Prize. Free Gifts - Don't discount this one, many people grab hold of these 'offers' to feel like they are making out. All else being same, customer does get something for nothing. Now, if item truly has no value, then customer has little to no interest. And, it actually 'cheapens' image of your firm (be careful). We decided with our products and business customer profile, this would not work for this business. But it could work for you or your products. Referral Programs - Another potential attraction (savings) for your customer. I say potential because this type of referral program, like price, should not be only USP. When used in conjunction with others, this can steadily grow your business (sales) as well. You need to develop a program that somehow rewards referrals. For example, it can be something simple like "Refer a customer to our business and when we ship their order you will receive or accrue credits, dollars, points, or 5% off your next order". Get idea? The key is to make it of value, and still keep it cost effective. Reminders - This was it! The big one, it was unique, it has value to customer, and it reinforces our Customer Satisfaction! This was also laughed at when first mentioned. So? What was plan? We acquire a software program (our recommendation Mailloop™ Software) that can be set to automatically e-mail each customer based on their own usage when their toner and supplies were potentially running low (i.e., 30 or 90 days or any date we choose. Once set-up it is all automated (cost effective)! It also gave us their e-mail address (important anytime) and with our reminders we could include any special or seasonal offers that might further attract more sales. So, what did this company find? In a nutshell - Their products are priced well to compete. In this case, we discarded free shipping as not really cost effective. We stressed Satisfied Customers in all of our marketing materials with testimonials and real-life examples. We are also developing a contest to further set us apart from our competitors. We could not find a free gift we thought would add any value to customer (but continue to look). They are considering a Referral Program as well. The real USP in combination with others was our unique E-mail Reminder System. At that time, no other competitor was offering anything like this! This IS a Unique Selling Proposition and was perfect for our example. Put all these together, and this company has numerous 'edges' on their competition. Once customers are aware of these differences that set you apart from all rest - growth is almost certain! That company is in a much better position to 'own' their market online, or at a minimum increase their market share. The more you get word out, more you're sure to benefit from these type ideas. I understand this was a pretty broad example but you should get idea. You won't always come up with an idea that no competitor has or offers, but if only 3-6 competitors offer that same USP, you are still in top tier of your competition instead of lost somewhere un-noticed while buyers continue to purchase through your competition. You decide. Use this article for your training, website, or newsletter by simply adding following footer; Written by and Copyright © 2003 www.hyperformancemedia.com
About The Author Scott is the Founder and Sr. Project Manager for Hyperformance Media.com, a Technology Marketing Company serving business since 1996. His 23+ years of experience in the computuer industry can help you succeed. Their website offers free education to assist any business in successfully marketing their company online. http://www.hyperformancemedia.com ss@hyperformancemedia.com
| | A single email is never enoughWritten by JD Burson
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Repetition helps consumer comprehend your offer, emphasizes how it would benefit them, and reinforces urgency. Try revamping your next email marketing campaign into a string of messages and you will likely see a major improvement over individual mailings. By creating a sense of “NOW” with your email recipients, and reinforcing that urgency in subsequent mailings, you influence and guide your unresponsive prospects into action. Also, try adding an extra incentive with each mailing and your offer will become more valuable and more difficult to pass-up. Email marketing campaigns can be entirely automated with autoresponders. Your series of pre-written follow-up email messages can be automatically delivered to someone who responds to your offer or requests more information. Keep in mind that your email marketing campaign is only for your opt-in subscribers. Just as repeating your offer can increase response rate, unsolicited email (spam) can increase your chances of earning a bad reputation. Conclusion…In order for any marketing campaign to work, majority of your market needs to see your offer more than once. When an offer is seen over and over, people will start to remember it and realize importance of it.
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