We all know that promotions are an important part of the marketing process.  The popularity of the promotions industry is increasing at a phenomenal rate, largely down to the successes that have come from it as well as the decline of some other longer standing ways of making your voice heard. A well thought out promotional campaign can have long and far reaching effects for a brand and its market share.

One of the main reasons that promotions has proved so successful is people LOVE to feel involved, very few other methods of marketing allow the consumer to touch, taste, smell or think about your product.

1)    Give samples or free trials

2)    Have a special offer

3)    Hold product demonstrations

4)    Have a vip night

5)    Run a competition

6)    Talk at a seminar

7)    Attend industry specific tradeshows

8)    Introduce your product to new potential customers

9)    Use the right staff

 The idea behind our top 10 tips is that they give you some understanding of what marketers do, and some of the simplified tools which may help grow your business.

1. Research, Research, Research - As with rule one for sales, research is really crucial to the success of any marketing campain. Before you go any further, get some independent market research carried out - ideally some primary research from the people you would like in as customers as well as lots of your existing ones. As we said with vested interst your customers will feel special and valued if you ask their advice. You wouldn’t jump off a cliff without checking the water below for jagged rocks, so why risk it with your business.

2. Stakeholder Relationships - Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest in your business, this ranges from clients, competitors, local government, suppliers etc. Get a big piece of paper, write down all of your stakeholders and what they want / expect and get from from you.  Is there any way you can give them more?

3) Add Value - Does your marketing campaign add value to your company, or is it advertising for advertisings sake. If you cannot justify the expenditure in 20 words, don’t bother. How much does it cost and what do i get back? More and more organisations are asking this question and are turning their back on intangable marketing practices. Should you?

4.  Competative advantage - Does your existing marketing put you in a place of competative advantage?  In other words, if you carry out this amazing idea, will it beat your competitors and make you number one (or keep you in that coveted number one spot). Again if it doesn’t then don’t waste your money.

5. Never Stand Still - No I don’t mean that you should be running every second of the day, but if you feel that you are slowing down (because you are tired, or maybe running out of things to do) then do some reading, FT.com, brandrepublic.com, buy some Seth Godin books (I recomend Purple Cow), or go to google labs and try some of the new products they are testing. Put simply, the more you learn the easier working will become, and you might even pick up some clever tips on the way.

6. Dont act the clown - I’m not saying you should have fun at work, but please please please don’t use cheap gimmicks or tricks, they don’t work (in the long run) and tricking people into using you is not the way forward, it will devalue your business and could put you at serious risk from a company’s legal team knocking at your door.

7. Don’t Sell - Help People Buy - This may sound weird, but the customers for your business are out there - so stop trying so hard to convert every sale, in fact be genuine, honest and work hard on your customer service and the work will come to you. I use the idea that every phone call I receive is a potential client, and that if I offer the same exemplary service to all conversations, it will lead me one step closer to our next client. Help your customers buy your business, not force it down there throat.

8. Know when to stop - 2o % of the effort often leads to 80% of the result. You may find that by searching for a saving of an extra £10, you actually spend £30 worth of time. 

9. Ask for help - I haven’t got a clue on how to do an oil change on my car, what you need to remember is that if it is not your strong point then ask for some help! This is a 2 way street, you ask someone for help, it may be that they ask for your help too.

10. Be Free - There are tons of small free marketing tools that you can use to enhance your business (as a tip don’t enter this into Google, you will get lots of empty promises), these range from website optimization to bespoke packages.

On the advice of Angela Beeston from business link, Outside ideas have entered the entrepreneur of the year award for the smile campaign, and best business start up in the new forest best in business awards. We’re keeping our fingers well crossed. Entries close next month and they reveal the winners on the 25th November.  

Making sales in todays economic climate is getting harder and harder by the day. We’ve listed some ideas that will hopefully make you look at your business from a different perspective and concentrate on making some positive changes.

1)    vested ineterest

Making the sale rarely comes down to the fact that your stuff is great. A great product with no demand isn’t such a great product at all. To maximise the potential for sales, it’s really vital that you know that there’s demand. Do some research; ask people if they like it, if they would buy it and what price they would pay. Giving people vested interest is a great way of improving your sales and it’s a million times easier to sell something that people want than not. The best way to get someone genuinely interested is to ask them lots of questions and really listen to what they say.

2)    Plan for success

A wise man once said that failing to plan is planning to fail. Make sure you’re fully prepped for every potential meeting. Know your target business inside out and really focus on the benefits.

3)    Have clearly defined goals

You’re a million times more likely to score if you have something to shoot at.  If you know what your goals are for the day, the week, month and year it’s proven that you’ll be closer to them than if you don’t write them down.

4)    Make more phone calls

Fact: successful salespeople pick up the phone. If you’re no good at it, outsource it.

5)    Invest in client relationship management

Keeping on track of what prospects said the last time you talked is a brilliant idea for every businesses. CRM software will help you keep track of contacts and help convert more leads, there are loads of different models out there so shop around for the one that offers the features that you need.

6)    Smile more

People like happy people, a smile is infectious and way more likely to increase yours and your potential clients enthusiasm.

7)    Attend networking events

Networking events are a brilliant way of getting your products and services out in front of potential clients.

8) Go online, the worlds your oyster.

The internet is the fastest growing way to generate sales, in the past ten years the world has changed beyond our imaginations; people are able shop in ways they never could have dreamed a few years back. Statistics state that within the next 10 years, 40% of all purchases will be online. Avoid this sales outlet at your peril.

9)    Ask for the business.

The shy kid at school never got any sweets, if you want the business, ask for it.

10)    Don’t give up.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. There’s always help available to you, if you’re struggling to make sales at this difficult time, contact us. We really can help.