Sep 30, 2010

Outside Marketing

Marketing is most effective when it reaches the target audience. Common sense, right? The question is, where is your target audience?

One suggestion by marketing expert Kim T. Gordon in her article “Fresh Ideas for Innovative Marketing,” is to “take it outside.”

Do your potential customers value environmentalism? Adopt a section of highway. Do they visit the gym? Buy ad space in the locker room. Are they parents of school-age children? Sponsor a little league team. Do they frequent the local coffee shop? Buy a placemat ad. Do they do the grocery shopping? Advertise on the shopping cart. The key is to have the name of your business in front of your potential customer at the right time.

As trite as “think outside the box” may sound, successful marketing strategies go beyond traditional print and media ads. Yet, they’re purposeful- not throwing money at every opportunity, but focused at reaching specific people with your message.

Another “outside” opportunity is to partner with other businesses. For example, if you are a business targeting brides-to-be, you can place your business cards at a photography studio or bakery. You can place an ad on their website, or offer a discount if the customer uses both services. The opportunities created by this kind of partnership, also called affiliate marketing, are only limited by your imagination.

So, take your marketing to the streets, where your customers are.  And don’t forget to check our website for a chance to win 20% off your first project with AMW Marketing!

Sep 27, 2010

Enter for your chance to win!

Our new website is up and running and fabulous!  Tell us what you think about it and you can win 20 percent off your first project with AMW Marketing.  Use the Contact Form on the site to have your name entered in the grand prize drawing.  http://www.amw-marketing.com/

Sep 9, 2010

Get inside your prospect's heart

Michael Fleischner, founder of MarketingScoop.com, states that “marketing, if done correctly, helps us to define how we feel about a product.”


Why did you choose your cell phone? Did it provide services that you need? Do you NEED a phone to call, text, email, surf, take pictures, locate destinations, and calculate tips? Do you need a touch screen AND a keyboard? Or do you like the feel of the textured case, the color of the keys, the ringtones that sound more like a play list than a notification? Your cell phone provider knows the competition is fierce. If the TV ad or salesperson can convince you that your phone is a reflection of your level of coolness, a mind-altering communication experience, a secret advantage, an intimate relationship with the technical world… you will buy a top-of-the-line phone with all the accessories and service agreements to boot.

To market effectively, you have to get inside the head and heart of your potential client. What makes them tick? What do they really want? How do you want them to feel when they use your product or service? Dig deep. Who would have guessed deodorant could make you feel confident, or shampoo could make you feel beautiful? Fortunately for the marketing world, Americans want it all. They want to feel attractive but unique, interesting but accepted, exciting but safe. How can you help them reach those goals?

It’s not about manipulation, trickery or schemes. It’s about tapping into the reason your product or service is desirable for meeting the wants and needs of your potential customers or clients. It’s about stepping out of your business owner/operator shoes and stepping into your customers’ shoes. What do they do on a daily basis? What frustrations and aspirations do they have? What would make their life easier or add value to it?

How are you going to redefine your marketing approach today?