Securities Market Line

     Attractive features of SMS (mobile) marketing

     1. It is instant, direct and fast.
     2. It is 2- Way communication.
     3. It is again effective as email marketing as it is targeted to particular age, gender or profession.
     4. It is again cost effective.
     5. It can be easily promoted through cross-media like radio, TV or print.
     6. As customer forward messages in a group it opens opportunities of Viral Marketing.
     7. SMS is fun loving tool. It is catching up record breaking usage.

     ICM telephone survey

     (Done by: – Enpocket, Oct 2001 to Jan 2003)

     1. For the best performing campaigns, the study reveals outstanding results as follows: 46% response (of any type), 27% Reply to a message, 19% visit a web site, 15% Visit a store.

     2. 94% of messages are ‘read’, which helps explain the high levels of response and brand impact.

     3. The average campaign delivers 15% response (of any type), which is more than twice the average other industry reports have given for direct mail (sources: Gartner, DMIS)

     Where is it so effective?

     “Mobile marketing is suited best to drive sales of consumer packaged goods, restaurant menu items and high-street retail commodities — sectors that have advertised very little online to date.” – Jupiter Research analyst Dylan Brooks Read the rest of this entry »

     One of the hardest, yet most effective, forms of marketing or sales is what is known as door to door sales. The concept is to have face to face contact with potential clients or consumers. While some may shun the ideas others live by and have become very successful by way of door to door sales. It can be a very trying and difficult way to grow a business or book of business, but if done right it can pay dividends. This article should give you some perspective and ideas for becoming a better door to door marketer.

     Before you even set foot out the door you need to make a plan for yourself. Set up an area that you want to canvas and create a detailed map of that area. It is going to be extremely physically exhausting to do all that walking, don’t make it harder on yourself by not knowing where you are going or getting lost. The map should also help you define your route and give you an idea of what is the best route to take. Also you can get an idea of how much ground you are covering and how many prospects you can expect to contact.

     In order to be as personable as possible you are going to have to get these people to here you out. The best way to do this is have a pitch that they can understand and a way for your to connect with them. Since you are selling something you will have to keep them entertained and interested in what you are pitching, but you also want to be reasonable and respectful. Not everyone is going to enjoy you knocking on their door to sell something, but with the right words you may just have a potential customer.

     You will soon realize after your first few runs of door to door sales that it is not the kindest of things, but you have to stay positive. You are going to find many people that are not going to be happy with you knocking on their door and interrupting what ever they may be doing. Expect to have a couple of slamming doors and even some one chase after you. After a long days of work you may have come up with no leads, but that does not mean this is all for nothing. At the end of the day you have to stay positive and understand that what you are doing will pay off in the end. Read the rest of this entry »

     Individual interpretation of the marketing function appears to be driven by (and rather unfortunately limited to) the realm of the interpreter’s experience. When I am not pitching a client, I frequently hear casual conversations where marketing is confused with sales, advertising, design or other niche function.

     A Better Definition of Marketing

     The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Many other firms and organizations have similar definitions. But what does this mean for a small business?

     Peter Drucker, management guru, defines it quite succinctly when he said “The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.” The idea is that marketing can help a company to understand its customer so well that its product or service effectively sells itself.

    To achieve this, we require a number of distinct but inter-related competencies. Having worked with large-cap and start-up clients across multiple industries around the globe, I have found that marketing needs generally fall into the following categories:

     – Business planning: developing the idea behind a business, assessing market demand and evaluating the feasibility of the revenue model (Market research and business case development)

     – Marketing strategy: building a marketing plan to enter a new market or grow your market share (Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP), pricing, growth strategy and competitive strategy)

     – Brand strategy: identifying key differentiators for your company and using them to build mindshare (Corporate identity, logo design, co-branding and product or service branding) Read the rest of this entry »

     1. Health and Safety: Planting the Seeds of a Customer Dynasty.

     Moms can see danger around every corner. Spills in the aisle, cholesterol-laden food, inedible decorative plants, rickety roller-coaster wheels, bad sightlines at the arcade, and nasty restrooms at the stadium all represent a very slippery slope. On the other hand, if a business provides quick cleanups, appetizing healthy alternatives, barriers to overinquisitive little fingers, evidence of regular safety inspections and maintenance, a clear view of the little ones, and sparkling restrooms, it might well have a customer for life, or, even more important, the beginnings of a customer dynasty with Mom at the center.

     2. Customer Service: The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow.

     Mom says, “Pay attention to me,” but often in a soft, self-deprecating voice. Snooty waiters who prefer adults lose both tips and repeat business, but the waiter who brings the toddler some crackers and the first-grader a set of crayons–without being asked–is golden. In good mall design, service and safety include a well-marked pickup and drop-off location for the teens who don’t want to be seen with Mom. The clerk who is empowered to make a decision on a return or a sale price beats the heck out of “Duh, I’ll have to get the
manager, who might be back after lunch.”

     3. Value: Cheap Does Not Always Equal a Good Deal. Read the rest of this entry »