Had a great conversation last night with a long time client. He went back to when we first started working together and told us that the best decision he made to grow his company was realizing he couldn’t do everything and he needed to find people he could trust to help him. He said that’s when he decided to partner with Marketing Firepower. Wow, that was awesome to hear!
Business
Tracking your ROI (solution revealed!)
So how do you know if the money and time you are investing in your marketing and advertising is working? It’s quite simple when you understand the purpose of your efforts. Advertising has one job and that is to communicate your message. What that message communicates determines if someone will come to your business, visit your site or give you a call. At this point, you still have not made the sale but advertising has done it’s job. Now you have to do the rest. So how to you know if your advertising efforts are working, do more people come in to your store than before? Do more people call? Do more people visit your website? It really is that simple. The problem, most companies don’t know how many people are connecting with them today so they won’t be able to know if that number goes up or down. Know your baseline and you will know if your advertising is working.
Tracking Your ROI!
There is not a business owner out there that does not want to know if the money they are investing in advertising is working or not. So what do they do to find out? Many will ask that infamous question, “How did you hear about us?”. I hate to break it to you but most of us don’t remember where we heard about a business. Aren’t you happy that we are simply there to buy something? The other common solution by small business is the infamous coupon. We rationalize that if the coupon comes back, our advertising is working. Really? All that worked was the offer. We just spent money to give someone a discount for our product or service. And let’s think like a consumer. Once we receive a product or service at a set price, have we not just created a value in our mind? Why would be come back at a later date and pay full price? You can judge if your advertising is working. You can create an ROI for your investment. Come back in a few days and I’ll share with you how. If you want to know right away, give me a call (402) 817-4864 or send me an email to jeff@marketingfirepower.info.
Do You Treat Them Right
February 11 | Advertising, Business, Customer Relations, Marketing, Marketing Bridge, News | JDostal
Over 65% of customers who leave a business say they do so because of a “perceived attitude of indifference”. They don’t think the company cares. Do you. Do you show your customers you value their business. How many companies offer special deals and one time opportunities to “new customers” leaving loyal customers out in the cold? Too many. Your first priority should be your current customers. If you need help understanding how to do that, give me a call. We’ll visit about a lot of ways that are free or very inexpensive.
Don’t Fall Into the Yellow Page trap!
A client we partner with has gone from investing over $100,000 a year in the yellow pages to just a few years ago to only $11,000 this coming year. They have taken the difference and become much more intrusive and effective with their advertising. This is just one of the many benefits of a partnership with us here at Marketing Firepower. It just might be the best marketing decision you’ll make.
How to “Play the Percentages” and Win
You’ve heard of the 80-20 rule, right? Ask a business owner what the 80-20 rule is and he or she will tell you 80% of the sales come from 20% of the customers. The opposite side of that equation is also true, 80% of your customers account for only 20% of your sales.
Let’s look at some more 80-20 examples that, for the most part, hold true:
80% of the wealth in this country is held by 20% of the population.
80% of your results are produced by 20% of your efforts.
80% of your time on the phone is spent with 20% of your acquaintances.
80% of the population resides in 20% of the cities. Continue Reading
First the Goal, Then the Means
Your strategy begins with a goal. Corporate consultant Peter Drucker claims that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” Your goals predict the future of your enterprise. When you establish goals and commit yourself to them, you become a slave to the master you have created. Once you swear allegiance to your company’s vision, you’ll have the means to accomplish it. The information, personnel, opportunities, and resources you need will become available to you. It’s like magic, and it unleashes power that you—the magician—never knew you had.
Napoleon Hill, one of the first to codify the principles of personal achievement, called this mysterious power The Law of Cosmic Habit Force. Hill’s premise is that once you decide on a goal of any kind, you “send your little men out” and they bring back the information and resources necessary to accomplish it. Continue Reading
We All Need to Create Our Own Consumer Franchise
A consumer franchise is when a consumer patronizes your business to the exclusion of your competition. Do you have a consumer franchise with any of your clients? If you do, how did you achieve it? Advertising is simple when you think about it. What did you do with, or for, that consumer over time that they now buy from you at the exclusion of the competition? You may not know unless you ask, but isn’t it worth a conversation to find out? Isn’t it worth a few minutes to find out what single act or long term action you provided that took that consumer from being a
customer to being a customer with no thoughts of the competition? Sure it is. So, why don’t we do it? Why don’t we take a few moments to talk to our customers and find out what was so great and what is so great that they keep coming back for more? Continue Reading
The Importance of “Price” and “Value”
One of the most essential ingredients of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise—or any enterprise. Every business has one. Most don’t even realize it. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, also just happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower, Norton E. Warner.
In future articles, we’ll focus on each and every element necessary to build your successful Marketing Bridge. This month, let’s talk about “price” and “value.”
To state the obvious, the “cost” of an item refers only to price. Either the cost you paid to stock the item in your inventory, or the price the customer paid to take it off your shelf. Or, as Warren Buffett once stated, “Cost is what you pay, value is what you get.” Continue Reading
Are You Going Up…or Coming Down?
If you look at a picture of a big airplane that’s close to the ground, it’s difficult to determine if it’s taking off, or coming down. Landing gear is down. Nose is slightly up. Yet you can’t really tell if it’s landing or taking off. But watching the airplane in motion makes everything obvious.
A similar phenomenon occurs when you look at a business. You may see a well-kept, modern facade, nice parking lot and beautifully lighted at night. But just like the airplane, you have to see the business “in motion” to determine if it’s going up or coming down.
Truth is, nearly everything reveals its true status when you see it in action. What about your business? Are you going up with outstanding service to your customers? Or are you coming down with a bad attitude, bad advertising and lots of other baggage?
Are your shelves clean, well-stocked, and neatly displayed? Is your personal radar constantly scanning the horizon for new opportunities? Continue Reading