Cost-Effective Marketing Tools for Quick Results

According to a McGraw Hill Research study, companies that maintained or increased their marketing throughout the 1981-82 recession saw their sales grow an average of 275% during the following five years. When spending is down, it’s more important than ever to employ a well-executed marketing plan to maintain and grow your market share.

As Andrew Razeghi, Kellog School of Management, puts it in his paper titled Innovating Through a Recession, “The worst thing you can do is disappear from a marketing perspective.”

Our advice is to simply be more thoughtful about how you’re spending your marketing budget. An integrated marketing mix is best for maximum returns, and planning your marketing budget up front is key.

Clients regularly tell us they’re confused about where to spend their marketing budget, and we often see them spend their entire marketing budgets reaching the same audience with the same medium.

We know how confusing it can be to decide how to slice the pie and get the biggest bang for your buck, so we wanted to help you with your homework by offering you some effective marketing tools that are highly effective for quick results.

1) Pay-per-click campaigns: Organic search rankings are optimal, but it takes substantial time to see measurable results. Meanwhile, you can get immediate results from PPC advertising. You can start with as little as $50, but if you can afford $500-$1000, you’ll accomplish your goals faster.There’s strategy behind your key word choices but once you’ve identified them, you simply post a three-line advertisement and sit back and wait for the clicks. You only pay when someone clicks through the ad to your Web site. Just be sure you have calls to action and points of conversion built into your Web pages and target it to accommodate your geographic boundaries.

2) Email Marketing: When managed properly, email campaigns can be a very cost-effective approach to marketing. We agree with Michael Goodman, author of The Potato Chip Difference: How to apply leading edge marketing strategies to landing the job you want, there are four key components to an effective email campaign: Copy, Offer, List and Delivery. Even if you hire an agency, consultant or writer to create the content and manage the delivery, the cost is still minimal and you can expect quick results over a matter of days or weeks.

3) Dynamic Marketing Collateral: Be sure your marketing collateral including your Web site, is professionally prepared. The format and the quality are as important as the content. Professional design, copywriting and production will enhance your image and increase your chances of sales success. Electronic elements and digital format create a more captivating and motivating experience for your audience and set you apart from your competition. Emagazines and Ebrochures are incredibly cost effective and will expand your distribution capabilities tremendously, while enabling you to track your readers every move.

4) Direct-Mail Advertising: For optimum results in a short time, it’s crucial to implement a mixed marketing strategy that includes some traditional advertising. As a complement to your pay-per-click and email campaigns, a professionally-designed direct-mail campaign ensures precise, guaranteed delivery to your target audience. The creative product, including copy and graphics, are key to your success.

Regardless of the size of your marketing budget, if you want quick results, commit to these four key marketing tools, and plan for success.

EasyChair Media is a full-service marketing firm offering a complete line of smart marketing products and services.

For a free quote on any of these cost-effective marketing tools, call 800-741-6308 or request one via email here.

View our products and services online at www.easychairmedia.com.

ECM's Top 10 Recommended PR Techniques

Press releases are often viewed as a top strategy for creating buzz about your company. But, it’s difficult to consistently produce “newsworthy” news. Even if it’s newsworthy in your eyes, it may not be compelling enough to get the media’s attention. There are many other ways to create buzz about your company and keep your target audience informed of your company news. Here are 10 top PR techniques that we recommend for communicating your success stories, new product offerings and expertise.

1. Educational/Informational Newsletters
2. Email Marketing
3. Dynamic/Localized/Timely Press Pitches
4. Dynamic Web & Internet Presence
5. Social Networking
6. Blogging for Business
7. Sponsor/Volunteer at Targeted Events
8. Identify Synergies & Leverage Opportunities with Other Businesses
9. Expert Positioning
10. Merchandise your product & your results

We want to know how you’ve created buzz for your company and how it’s impacted your bottom line. Share your PR success techniques with us here! Post your company news for free on our community portal at www.easylivingfrontrange.com.

Do you need help developing your marketing and PR strategy? Call 800-741-6308 or email us here to schedule your complimentary one-hour marketing and PR analysis and consultation.

Click here to learn more about EasyChair Media’s complete line of smart marketing products and services.

7 Key Ingredients to Smart Public Relations

Public relations are the art of establishing and maintaining a quality image for your company by getting your business in the public eye and keeping it there. The more the public hears and sees about your company, the more brand you create and the more positive your public image. Here are 7 key ingredients we recomend for smart public relations.

1. Develop and work from a written program. Detail, target and budget for specific results.
2. Consider timing and create timely communications and promotions.
3. Make additional impressions by merchandising your product and your results.
4. Look for leverage opportunities. Leverage occurs when a public relations opportunity arises that can benefit two companies simultaneously.
5. Maintain a continuous effort. Frequency is essential to public relations messaging. A communications program is an investment over an extended period. People might not respond the first time they hear your message, but your chances for a response improve with every impression.
6. Use your Marketing and PR firm to help you in areas where you lack internal expertise and where you need a specialized capability for a limited period of time.
7. Integrate public relations with advertising and other elements of the marketing mix to ensure you get the message across, i.e. advertising, direct mail, sales promotion, etc.

EasyChair Media is a full-service marketing firm offering smart marketing and public relations solutions for smart business. Call now to request your complimentary one-hour marketing and public relations analysis and consultation. 800-741-6308.

Learn more about our complete line of smart marketing products and services at www.easychairmedia.com.

Visit our community portal and view our latest issue of EasyLiving Front Range Magazine at www.easylivingfrontrange.com.

Share your public relations tips and success stories here or let us know what public relations challenges you need help with. We welcome your participation!

Flipped For Digital Magazines

Have you flipped over digital magazines? Nobody likes to curl up with a print magazine or catalog more than I do, but once I find something that interests me, I immediately go online to see it closer, explore it deeper, compare it to other brands, and get the opinions of other buyers.

A short time ago, we had to rely on boring, frustrating Web sites to search for our products and information. Although the live links were there, they were difficult to navigate. How many times has your Web page returned with an error or froze while loading? Have you found yourself getting exhausted during the process, losing interest and bailing before you completed your task? And, yes, exclaimed it ALOUD!

Today’s trendy digital marketing materials are finally designed with the reader and buyer in mind. They’re designed to captivate rather than frustrate. Digital photo albums, video, animation, and audio keep us engaged for hours. We find ourselves curiously navigating from one special feature to the next, excited for the next sensory experience. We now email, text and tweet our way through the publication feeling completely fulfilled when we’re done, and encouraging friends and colleagues, “Take a look at this! How cool is that? Did you know this?”

Digital magazines, catalogs and brochures are not meant to replace the printed copy, but to build on and enhance the printed product and build brand loyalty. Digital marketing collateral enables readers to share content via Email, text messaging and social networking. And, it’s designed to keep readers interested and coming back for more, long after they’ve thrown out their printed copy.

For the most rewarding experience for both you and your customer, we think it’s smart to combine the two mediums. Some readers demand a hard copy and some prefer browsing online. By using a combination of print and digital you can reach both a contemporary, high-tech audience and still satisfy your print customers.  

EasyChair Media is a turnkey custom publisher of print and digital magazines. Contact us to learn how to:

1. Save money on print and distribution costs
2. Expand your reach
3. Create an enriching experience for your audience
4. Track every move
5. Maximize returns on your marketing investment  

Tel: 1-800-741-6308 or Email: pam@easychairmedia.com

See sample digital magazines

Custom Publishing is Smarter than Ever

Custom magazines and other custom publishing vehicles are now considered stronger marketing tools than ever before. A recent study published  by the Custom Publishing Council reflects that more than 80% of today’s marketers are using custom publishing as an integral marketing component. And, custom publishers are embracing the online marketing trends.

Smart custom publishers are combining the strength of traditional print with online marketing components like digital and electronic magazines, interactive Web sites and social media to create integrated campaigns that ensure maximum ROI. We use the print product to drive traffic online to create an interactive experience between our customers and their audience. An electronic version of the print magazine online yields expanded content in many forms. For example, a single print photograph can turn into a digital photo album in the online version, or even open up to a video, which is an excellent tool for establishing a personal connection with your audience. 

An integrated print and Web product mix works together to build a sense of loyalty and community, with the allure of more helpful or interesting content and live links to additional resources online. Savvy companies are fighting their economic woes with custom magazines integrated with custom online components that connect them with their customers on a more personal level. The results are increased brand loyalty and increased sales. 

Visit www.easychairmedia.com to learn about our integrated mix of custom magazines and online components, and our full line of marketing products and services.

To request a complimentary custom publishing consultation, call 800-611-3316 or 800-741-6308.