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!