What do I really need?

If you’re thinking of becoming more active in marketing your business, whether it be products or services, know what you want to say and to who.  Be targeted: your investment needs to show a return on what you spend or frankly what’s the point!

Are you a B2B or B2C organisation?  What are your competitors doing and saying? I’m not saying copy them at all but it’s good to do your homework, explore whether there is a different angle you could approach the messages you want to convey.

Don’t ever have a go at your competitors, that’s just bad business practice and unprofessional, but if they’re going down the cut price route you can always choose the quality route and show differentials in your service and/or products. Don’t be tempted to just throw money at the problem, instead decide on your budget and get advice.  I don’t know a single business these days that can afford to spend without a return on investment.

So if you’re targeting a new group of customers do your research, find out their likes and needs.  What makes them tick?  If they’re time reactive they’re less likely to be price sensitive and in return if they’re price sensitive they will just go to the market to get the best possible price.  If you’re dealing with a price sensitive target audience don’t waste your money on high quality marketing material as it’s false economy.

What do you really need? I know a company who spend large amounts on printed marketing materials and their average order is for £10’s of thousands, so worth the spend when it boils down to economies of scale. If you’re creating a flyer and they are being handed out in the thousands, for example a leaflet drop for a discount offer, it’s always a good idea to get the design created but keep the print costs low as these are a throw away item. This kind of leaflet could work for special offers or discounted rates such as buy one get one free (eg. pizza or burger outlets). Service companies should in my opinion always go for a quality product as your marketing materials reflect on your service quality.

But don’t forget, always track your return on investment!