Saturday, November 22, 2014

Promotional Items - The Excellent Marketing Tool For Your Business

Whether you are just starting a business or you have one running, marketing is one of the most important things you will need to do. Without proper marketing, it can be hard for your brand to be recognized hence you will find it very hard to put up with the competition that's all around you. Even the most recognized businesses need regular marketing to keep the brand fresh in the minds of the customers. The marketing strategy that you take should be in line with the financial abilities of your business. Promotional items are some of the best for small businesses or startups.They are cost effectiveWith capital limits, the promotional items such as promotional pens are a great way to go. This is because they are inexpensive and by using the right printing services, you can have beautiful marketing pens at a cost that is most appropriate for your business. Items such as pens are cheap to buy especially in bulk and having them printed or personalized is nothing compared to what you would have spent on TV, radio and newspaper ads.They are flexible advertisements The promotional items are basically walking advertisements and this increases your brand visibility. Items such as pens are used in so many different settings and every time that pen is drawn to write down something, your business will stand the chance to be seen more. The best thing about the items is that you have the freedom to include all your business contacts so that every person who comes across them and is interested in your services or products can find it easy to get in touch with you.


They are usable Choosing promotional items with high usability is always a better choice compared to items that are only used for a short period of time. This is why personalized pens make some of the most effective items for any business. You can also choose other usable items like bottle openers or t-shirts among others. The more usable the items the better it will be for your company since it means that the users will constantly be reminded of the existing business. Even if they might not be interested in what you have to offer currently, they might be in the near future and the practical usable items will serve their purpose in guiding the potential clients your way.When choosing items for your marketing plan as a business always consider items that will fetch you amazing results without stressing you financially. Printed pens and pencils can be some of the best and you can choose them in different colors and designs to match with different preferences of your target market. You can also keep them uniform in one color and design, but making sure that the most important business information is included on the pens. However, you also want to avoid over-printing the pens since they can become too busy and unattractive to the eyes.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

3 Smart Ways To Market Your Business

If you own a small company, you know that you need to market yourself effectively in order to stay in business. It is important to attract and retain enough clients to maintain a steady and healthy business growth. Marketing is a good way to attract new clients to your company and spread your message to people who may be interested in the services you are providing.While there are many things that you can do to market yourself, it is important to focus on the ones that will bring you the best results and most revenue. Especially when you have a small business, it is important to use your time efficiently. Wasting time by working on ineffective marketing strategies can severely hurt your company. If you can only do three things for marketing your business, make sure these are the ones that you choose.Use the 80/20 RuleThe 80/20 rule was created in 1906 by an economist in Italy. He noticed that most of the money in a society is held by about twenty percent of the people. This concept can be applied to the business world, as well. Typically, approximately twenty percent of your clients will produce eighty percent of your company's income. Similarly, twenty percent of the products or services that you offer may generate eighty percent of your revenue. It is important to make sure that your marketing and programs focus on this vital twenty percent. Without your core twenty percent of clients or products, your business will likely fail.


Pay Attention to Where Your Target Market IsIt is necessary that you know how to get your message to your target audience. If you sell fitness equipment, you should be focusing your marketing strategy on health clubs, fitness webpages, health and fitness magazines and social media groups relating to working out. By knowing where to reach your target audience in the largest numbers possible, you can efficiently market yourself.Know How to Delegate TasksYou need to learn to assign responsibilities to other members of your team. This frees up your time to work on the most important business matters. You are the public face of your company, so your time is best spent building relationships and strong bonds with people who bring your referrals or new business. Generating leads is vital for any business to succeed. Let the less important tasks fall to someone else in your company.By making sure to market your small business effectively, you can ensure that it will survive and prosper. Many marketing strategies don't work well, so focus on using these to best market your business. You will quickly see results and know that you are focusing on the right areas.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Online Marketing: Rise of Video Production Companies

Any business organization that doesn't have videos on its website or lacks a social media presence is considered backward these days. According to a research, 92% of all large businesses in the world use videos as a means of promotion, marketing or customer care. Most of them are beginning to accept how videos and internet have grown in their reach and dominate as a medium today. Newspaper, radio and TV have become obsolete in the field of marketing and no longer remain an effective medium for businesses to reach their customers. Video production companies are living their dream and are catering everyone's creative needs, from small businesses to large corporations. Videos have grown larger in their reach and smaller in their length. Video production companies have travelled a long and successful way so far and have a lot to conquer further. Here is why.1. DigitizationVideo production used to be a big deal a few years back when nothing was digitized. Film production needed bulky rolls, huge production equipment, a big crew and high end editing tools almost cost insane amounts. Nevertheless, today, even a hand held mobile device can record high definition videos. Digital videos are smaller to store and cloud computing makes storage of GBs and TBs of data effortlessly. With advanced graphics and animation, it is now possible to express impossible ideas on screen and 3D technology has made videos unbelievably interactive.2. InternetWith the internet the world has transformed itself into a global village and everyone is connected to each other. Business organizations cannot find a bigger and more over a connected audience anywhere else and that is the reason why online marketing is everyone's favorite today. Research says that 85% of people who watch videos on the internet about some product or service are more likely to buy that product or subscribe that service. Videos create an instant relationship between the consumer and the product attributing to their compact and effective storytelling. Over 72 hours of videos are being uploaded to YouTube every minute and over 3 billion hours of video are watched every month on YouTube. With everyone so closely connected with social media like Facebook and Twitter, the phrase 'word of mouth' has a new definition. With sharing options available, everyone shares everything that is found interesting. Innovative and creative videos of short length from video production companies gain a wider acceptance within hours and go viral. Here, the word is spread from one person to hundreds and thousands of people almost instantly. The internet is a wide, free and well-connected media and currently, the best for businesses to market their product and for video production companies to showcase their creativity.


3. Cost EffectiveWith the advancement in the world of electronics everything is getting compact and cheap. People have moved from large television screens to handheld devices with crystal clear display. This technological advancement is the reason why companies no longer look for big production houses with outdated ideas for their creative needs. They are turning more towards video production startups who come with offbeat ideas that can connect with people. In addition, production equipment is cheaper and editing tools are available for unbelievable prices. These production companies produce quality corporate videos for a lower price. The internet is a free medium and business organizations do not need to invest millions to buy media space anymore. Hence, there is a win-win situation created for both of them, when the videos are going viral in the background!Videos have revolutionized the world of information and internet drastically in a very short span. Video production companies understand this trend and aim at producing creative videos that are of a short span but highly effective. With marketing campaigns embracing videos more than ever before, and technology making video production more simplified, video production companies definitely have a long way to go!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Custom Uniforms Make for a Memorable First Impression

Uniforms do not have to look outdated and boring. Define the image of your staff with custom uniforms. They are an integral element of your brand's awareness and presentation.Many employees of an organization are regularly seen by customers. Once the staff has uniform apparel, they make the brand come alive. Having the staff uniform enhances the brand's visibility and brand awareness. Custom apparel has a powerful effect on the experience of the customers.A company that does not utilize uniforms can lose customers by giving them a confusing shopping experience. Whether a customer is shopping or looking for assistance, the process needs to be easy and employees need to be easily visible. A uniform makes employees not only visible, but it gives customers a way to remember what the employees of your brand wear.According to Entrepreneur magazine, there are more than 32 million U.S. workers who go to work each day wearing a uniform. There are plenty of benefits that come with utilizing custom uniforms for employees. Besides the fact that uniforms are a great brand marketing strategy, they allow customers to easily locate someone for assistance. It is advised that you dress your staff to reflect your product or brand.In 2011, Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, in Boston MA, conducted a research study to find out if uniforms were indeed effective marketing tools. They highlighted the importance of advertising and creating a brand identity in competitive marketplaces. A positive experience with an employee in a branded uniform projects a positive attitude onto the customer about the brand. The positive attitude about the company results in positive responses, influencing the customer's decision to make a purchase.


The research proved that for all industries that were surveyed, the average response indicated that the use of uniforms were more effective marketing tools when compared to the top 6 popular forms of advertising. When compared to internet advertising, which is considered to be an extremely effective marketing strategy, uniform programs still showed to be more effective!Developing a brand identity is crucial to any brand's long term success. There is no better brand identity and recognition than uniforms. Uniforms are also a great form of "walking advertising". Unlike online advertising, your uniform will continue to advertise your brand long after it has been paid for.When selecting uniforms for your company it is best to involve the employees in the process as well. A lot of the negative stigmas about employee uniforms can be solved with direct participation from employees. In larger companies this can be done efficiently by having each tier of management reach out to their subordinates to gather opinions for uniforms.If you are looking for a cost effective way to promote your brand and make a memorable first impression on potential customers, than employee uniforms are the best choice for you. Research has clearly shown that uniforms outperform other media such as billboards, radio, internet, and printed press!

Monday, November 10, 2014

5 Things You Can Do This Month To Increase Online Traffic

When the quality and value of your product speaks for itself, making sales are easy. However, even with the best product or service, getting the word out to build awareness and educate the public about your amazing business is of critical importance. When it comes down to it, you still need to increase online traffic and develop a steady stream of visitors, you need to follow a few important tips. Here are 5 methods for increasing traffic.1. Long Tail KeywordsFor brand new sites, targeting your search engine campaigns around popular and obvious keywords right away can yield few results. Instead, write your article and blog content around highly specific long-tail keywords. Long tail simply means that the keyword or phrase contains 3-4 individual words. For instance, "buy roses" vs. "buy long stemmed red roses". There are a number of great software applications that allow you to find highly competitive long tail keywords.2. Persistence is KeyThe longer you stay in business and continue to produce high quality, engaging content. Over several months or years of creating content and tweaking your website, you will start appearing higher and higher for search results for your targeted keywords. While setting up blogs and creating a lot of content in the short-term is easy, making it a daily or weekly habit of creating content for a year or more can be difficult.3. Optimize Blog Posts and ArticlesWhile search engine optimization sounds like a complicated and scary topic, there are really only three primary components to successfully optimizing any webpage or blog post: the meta title, description, and keywords. The meta title are the words that appear at the top of your browser while on any webpage. The description is what appears in the search result right above the link to the page. Optimizing these for your target keywords is a great way to increase traffic.


4. Link BuildingThere are a couple of ways to go about link building, but the important thing is to build all of your links in an ethical manner. This means avoid scammy backlinking practices like plagiarizing or posting the same content in multiple places. One great methods are to create free websites, fill them with content, and link back to your site. The other, is to create even higher quality guest posts and articles and pitch them to high-traffic websites with the understanding they will link back to your site.5. Provide Value to Your AudienceFinally, the most important component to website success is to consistently provide value to your audience. The way you do this is up to you, but most marketers either create informative, engaging, entertaining or useful articles, videos, or blogs. These can be how-to videos, or buying guides for expensive products. Some marketers prefer to offer these items for free in exchange for their audience taking specific action, such as entering an email address to get on the newsletter.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Customized Coffee Mug: Powerful Marketing Tool For Your Business

Whether a business is a newly created start up firm or ten years old established company which has created a position in the market, every successful business group needs intelligent and effective marketing and advertising to add value to their brand. Successful marketers are always on prowl of an ideal medium to facilitate result driven dialogue to persuade buyers to purchase their products and services.Since times immemorial, businesses are using some staple products such as key chains, pens, pen stands, coasters and t-shirts for their marketing campaigns. There is no shortage of promotional tools for marketing these days but contemporary marketers must select an impressive as well as meaningful item which adds a "wow factor'' to the success of their marketing campaign.Let us explore why it is wiser to invest in a promotional coffee mug for the success of your business:-a) Wide Use:- People use coffee mugs across the world. It can be seen in homes, offices, shops, crowded marketplaces, trade fairs, exhibitions etc. People use it at least once a day to drink their favourite beverage. Coffee mugs remain in the eyes of people. It is used throughout the year in all seasons. Coffee or tea ritual is the standard way to welcome guests at home. Chances are good that guests may find a printed coffee mug intriguing and ask questions about it.b) Availability of ample space:- A coffee mug is usually bigger in size compared to a regular tea mug. Since there's plenty of space available on a coffee mug, you can customize it easily and plan to customize it in different ways. You can print thank you messages, congratulatory messages, name of a new product or your company logo or tagline. All you need to do is uniquely customize it with your message, make it look fascinating and distribute it at different places.c) Emotional appeal:- People form emotional bonds with physical objects. Sipping your favourite drink in an amazing coffee mug gives a person a sense of comfort, peace of mind and enthusiasm to maximize his or her day. Effective marketing is all about forming an emotional connection with people. Great looking coffee mugs can be very effective in building an affinity between your customers and your products or services.


d) Long time benefit: Promotional coffee mugs can be used over and over for a long time. Businesses spend huge amount of money on television commercials which last for just a minute. It does not stay on the mind of customers forever. A coffee mug will work over and over to let new people know that the business exists.e) Economically cost effective:- You can save a good deal of time, money and energy by shopping for customized promotional mugs online. One can choose from a variety of mugs available. Online shopping websites usually run various weekly, monthly or end of the season discount offers, just cash in on the opportunity and save huge money. If you can not think of a unique idea to customize coffee mugs, you can take the help of product designer in an online shopping store.f) Perfect giveaways: Be it celebration of a new product launch, an employee's retirement party or birthday, a press meet or any other occasion; you can distribute coffee mugs printed with your marketing message at any occasion. An amazing coffee mug designed in different colours of your company will look beautiful on your client's work desk.To conclude, drinking tea or coffee is a part of modern-day life style around the world. People share their thoughts, ideas over a cup of coffee. To market effectively, you just have to unlock the path your buyers take towards a purchase. Select a right tool and make sure you remain in their conversations over a cup of coffee.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Custom Promotional Products, The Most Cost Effective Form of Marketing

When it comes to marketing your brand, there are several avenues you can take and all of them can lead to certain degrees of success. However, some are more effective than others. Choosing the right method for your company can mean the difference between your company growing, and your company sinking like so many others over the recent years.So exactly which one is the best for your company to use? One of the most cost effective forms of marketing available today is by using promotional items to send your message to your clients and prospects. The effect of these items on consumers is very positive. In fact, 83% of consumers that surveyed in a recent study, stated that they like receiving promotional products that contained a message from the company that sent it. Additionally, 38% said these promotional items served as a constant reminder of the company that sent it.Making It Useful Makes It EffectiveConsumers that were offered free promotional products while at an event, tradeshows or malls for example, said they would take one if they found it useful. Ensuring that you are using items that are found to be useful by your audience is the key to cost effective marketing when using promotional items as you medium to deliver your message.The average consumer is flooded with advertising on a nearly daily basis. One of the challenges you are going to face is cutting through all of the marketing clutter your target audience deals with and make your message stand out from the pack. Promotional items and corporate gifts are great tools for helping you to achieve this. With your brand professionally imprinted on a high quality promotional gift, it will bring more attention to your company while at the same time, setting it in a positive light. This method is so effective, in a recent study, a staggering 76% of those that had received a promotional item, could remember the company, the item, and the message the company was communicating to their audience.


Residual EffectBecause they possess great staying power due to their usefulness, promotional items have an outstanding residual effect on your marketing campaign. Your high quality promotional item will be integrated into the life of your clients or prospects, professionally, personally, or possibly both. In another study revolving around the subject of promotional products, 91% of the participants involved, stated that they had a promotional item in their kitchen, 74% had one in their work areas, and 55% had at least one promotional item in the closet in their bedroom or in a storage area.