25 Professional Marketing Tips, Techniques and Hacks
If anyone has ever told you that marketing is not a creative field, that person is dead wrong. In fact, successful marketers are some of the most creative, ingenious and pragmatic people on the planet. They must develop effective, persuasive strategies to convince people to buy a product, and then develop creative, efficient means of getting the message out.
Throughout a career in marketing, I have developed several notebooks full of little strategies and techniques that have been effective. Some of these were developed independently, but the majority are based upon strategies of industry legends. This little article is meant to share a few of the best tips, techniques and marketing hacks in my notebooks that could help take your business to the next level.
- Create a monthly or bi-weekly newsletter for your business. These should be both in print and email formats.
- Utilize direct mail and direct response campaigns to reach a wider audience.
- Always stay involved in your community by contributing to local charities and events. Take advantage of any local events as an opportunity to grow your business.
- Keep a list of your previous customers and stay in contact with them. Those who have bought your products/services before are the most likely to buy it in the future.
- Develop a short, concise report that summarizes your services and your values. This should be sent to any new prospects, usually as your second touch, or the second time you interact with them.
- Maintain ads in the Yellow Pages. These provide great value and are not yet obsolete.
- Offer free eBooks, webinars, product demos and other digital items that can entice potential customers.
- Contribute to local newspapers and publications. These articles should not be blatantly promotional but should relate to your industry.
- Contribute to blogs and websites that are relevant to your industry.
- Offer free seminars or lectures that can help build awareness of your business.
- Create a podcast that is relevant to your industry. Bring in guest speakers and industry experts who can lend credibility and helpful information to your podcast.
- Tweak, test and adjust your current ads to find the most effective message, format, and medium.
- Offer incentives to new customers, such as one free month, introductory prices, purchasing benefits and other rewards/bonuses.
- Create regular incentive programs for new and current customers. This may include drawings and referral bonuses.
- Always be on the lookout for effective marketing strategies including those of competitors, industry leaders or anyone with good ideas. Tailor these strategies to your audience and make them your own.
- Barter for your marketing services. Offer free products or services (as opposed to money) in exchange for marketing.
- Do a free giveaway for anyone who brings in one of your print ads.
- Be willing to bring in new clients, even if it means taking an initial loss.
- Create and manage affiliate programs that reward referrals and marketing.
- Cultivate relationships with your vendors. These relationships may prove to be crucial, especially if your business hits a rough patch.
- Offer free public clinics to teach your community about industry-relevant information.
- Offer to pay for leads and market data. This may seem difficult at first, but this information will pay off. Just make sure not to pay too much; the key here is value.
- Conduct polls, studies, and customer satisfaction surveys. Some of your most useful information will come directly from your customer base, and it will come for free through these techniques.
- Network and cultivate relationships with others in your industry. You can develop a plan to trade leads with whom you were unsuccessful.
- Approach large companies, organizations and corporations, offering to be their exclusive provider at a significantly discounted rate.
It is unlikely that all of these techniques will apply to your business, but you should be able to identify several which can be tailored to your needs and help your business grow.